This past Saturday was the launch of the national Conchservation campaign, as part of One Eleuthera’s Earth Day event at the Rock Sound Ocean Hole. CEI had researchers and staff from Educational Programs to man a booth aimed at educating the public on queen conch life history and reproductive ecology.
Deep Creek Middle School students working the CEI Conchservation booth
The booth was also manned by a group of 8 students from the Deep Creek Middle School. They talked to community members about the important of saving conch, so that we have conch in the future! CEI and One Eleuthera are only two parties in the team effort of Conchservation- other partners include Bahamas National Trust, with Jared Dillet spearheading the campaign, BREEF, Friends of the Environment, the Shedd Aquarium (Chicago, IL), the Moore Foundation, Community Conch, and the Department of Marine Resources. Continue reading →
This past Thursday, April 18, the Island School and CEI hosted a Tourism and Coastal Development Symposium. This event was organized by CEI, One Eleuthera, the Kinship Conservation Fellows, and other partners.The focus of the symposium was to discuss the future of Eleuthera, and guests included government officials, representatives from BREEF, One Eleuthera, FIsheries Conservation Foundation, Bahamas Electric Company, Bahamas Waste Ltd., and the Bahamas National Trust to name a few. Island School students also got the opportunity to attend the symposium, and to hear about these timely issues facing Eleuthera.
There were several productive breakout sessions, with topics ranging from “Tourism and Development” to “Fisheries and Agricultural Parks” to “the Cultural History of the Bahamas”. There were many important comments from the audience, including questions posed by Island School and Deep Creek Middle School students. Continue reading →
This past week, the SP13 Island School students presented Project Introduction presentations to their peers, staff, faculty, and the many visitors on campus. These presentations gave the students a chance to stand up in front of a crowd, and display their knowledge of the background, purpose, and methodology of their specific research projects.
Research projects this year include 1) lionfish and lobster competition, 2) shark physiology after longline capture, 3) effects of climate change on bonefish swimming capacity, 4) effects of decreasing pH on mangrove fish, 5) identifying juvenile queen conch nurseries, 6) green sea turtle habitat use, 7) the settlement of juvenile lionfish, and 8) coral vs. algae cover on patch reefs. These projects are led by CEI researchers, and the students have the chance to work closely with with researchers for the duration of their Island School research class. The class culminates with a Research Symposium, where the students present a scientific poster on the findings of their projects. Continue reading →
Emma E. Cooper Primary school joined us last week for an afternoon tour. However, this was no typical tour of campus! The entire primary school came with Kindergarten through grade 6, a total of 83 students and 8 teachers; we had quite the group! It was their first visit in 4 years and all were more than excited to be here at Island School.
Seven Queens University students, a group of visiting students from Ontario, Canada here fulfilling the field requirement for their teaching degree, came to lend a hand. We split the students into groups where they rotated between three different stations. In the Wet lab, they not only saw all the checkered puffers, bonefish, juvenile lemon sharks, lionfish, yellow stingrays, cobia, tilapia, etc. but they also learned how and why we are studying these marine species. The next station was a virtual tour of a coral reef – a movie by BREEF (Bahamas Reef Environmental Education Foundation) where the students learned what makes a coral reef, its importance in the Bahamas, and how to protect this fragile coastal ecosystem. The third station was split between the farm with pigs, ducks and a permaculture garden, and the sustainable systems of campus. The systems tour exposed students to how we make biodiesel for our school vans, resource/recycle ~90% of what we use, and how we reduce our energy “footprint” by using solar panels and a wind turbine to produce energy. Continue reading →
This semester the Lionfish Island School Research Class students will focus on the interaction between the invasive lionfish and the native spiny lobster. It has been scientifically established that the lionfish invasion has a negative effect on the native marine life, with recruitment of native fish being reduced by 80% by a single lionfish.However, the economic impact has not been assessed.
The people of the Bahamas depend largely on their marine resources, particularly the lobster fishery, which is the largest fishery in the country. A recent study found an inverse relationship between lionfish and lobster in lobster shelter traps (condos). Where lionfish were present in the traps the density of lobster was lower. Continue reading →
On Thursday of last week, the Marine Plastic Pollution Team at CEI embarked on their first full day of plastic research. The team, which was led by Kristal Ambrose and consisted of several CEI staff members and IS students, set out to analyze macro- and micro-plastic concentrations on beaches in South Eleuthera. Using precise survey protocols designed by NOAA, the team managed to successfully survey three beaches on the Atlantic side of the island, including North Side Beach and Winding Bay
Taking into account the local, regional, and global threats to sharks, the Shark Research and Conservation Program was developed to increase the capacity of basic and applied shark research in The Bahamas. Our research this spring is focused on the stress physiology of elasmobranchs. We are investigating the physiological and behavioral stress response of sharks to longline capture, as well as quantifying the effects of stress on the immune system of yellow stingrays.
Additionally, we are conducting studies pertaining to the basic spatial and temporal patterns of Caribbean reef sharks and oceanic whitetips, an important first step toward addressing the conservation needs of species that likely transcend many different coastal habitats and political boundaries. Continue reading →
The Flats Ecology and Conservation Program is continuing to move forward on several lab-based experiments, as well as adding some new work to the agenda for this spring:
-Shuttlebox: To test behavioral avoidance of flats fishes to changes in water pH and temperature in relation to climate change, the Flats program is continuing with its shuttlebox trials. Researchers are manipulating water conditions to determine the avoidance threshold of bonefish, yellowfin mojarra, checkered puffer, and schoolmaster snapper to increasing water acidity and temperature. To better understand the ecological implications of avoidance thresholds, a predator (in this case, juvenile lemon shark) is included as part of the experiment, forcing individual fish to choose between changing water conditions or risk of predation.
-The Bahamas Initiative: The Bonefish tagging program will continue through 2013, with increased tagging efforts aimed at North Eleuthera, and a proposed tagging trip to Grand Bahama this coming April.
-Connectivity of Mangrove Ecosystems: Mangrove creeks across The Bahamas and the Caribbean are highly fragmented by the construction of access roads. Preliminary data is being collected by the Flats program to assess how these roads impact hydrology and ecology of these systems, with the intention of identifying restoration priorities in South Eleuthera. Continue reading →
CEI attended the 2013 Rock Sound Homecoming as part of their community outreach, and engaged the local community members in a conversation about marine conservation.
The CEI booth was packed with information on a range of issues including plastics awareness, conch conservation, sharks, climate change, bonefish best handling practices, aquaponics, and aquaculture info. We also had free giveaways! The fried lionfish and tilapia samples were a big hit, especially with all the local kids! The aquaculture mini system and free lettuce was also very popular. The day in Rock Sound was great fun – thank-you to all the CEI staff and interns who help run the booth. Look forward to the next homecoming!
For the past two weeks, Mark Hixon’s graduate students from Oregon State University (Alex Davis, Tye Kindinger, and Lillian Tuttle) have been busy SCUBA diving on their experimental reefs where they are observing the ecological effects of invasive lionfish on native communities. Alex has been filming lionfish behavior at dusk, when lionfish are often actively hunting on the reefs. Tye is monitoring two species of native basslets (one of which is a popular aquarium fish) that could be threatened by lionfish predation. Lillian has been measuring densities of cleaner fishes, potential lionfish prey, which pick parasites off of other larger fishes, and are thus an important part of maintaining a healthy reef-fish community. Continue reading →
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