Category Archives: Conch

Conch, Educational Programs, Research Programs, Student Research

Gap Year Students Perform Shallow Water Conch Surveys

This fall the gap year team has undertaken the task of completing Fall 2013 shallow water conch surveys. Once complete this data will be a part of a larger effort to conserve this economically and culturally important species.

IMG_1753The sites we are surveying are in the Bight of Eleuthera; there are 18 sites total, and so far 10 have been completed. They involve snorkeling three transects, each 30 meters in length and 2 meters wide, and counting and measuring the conch we find. So far the juveniles are pulling through, and almost 100% of the conch found have been juveniles, demonstrating the environment still able to support the nursery for this species.

IMG_1761The surveys prove to be quite exciting, and we have spotted a plethora of other species while surveying (such as lemon sharks), and there are a lot of Echinoderms who share their habitat with the queen conch. During the surveys we are often fighting strong currents, dodging an array of jellyfish, and dealing with the hot sun. However, as tough as these times are we know we are doing something awesome for this gastropod.

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Conch, Educational Programs, Outreach, Plastics, Research Programs, Sea turtles, Sharks, Student Research, Sustainable Systems

Time flies when you are turtling!

DSCN1321Our Gap Year crew has been very busy in their first month here at CEI with marine research, road trips, classes and community service. We’ve studied human ecology, coral reefs, mangroves and more.  We analyzed sustainable aspects of our Island School/CEI community here and compared them to our home communities with the ultimate goal of designing a solution to an issue of sustainability at home.

Outside of our classes, we’ve helped out with many on-site research projects studying everything from green sea turtles to Caribbean sharks to a local favorite, queen conch. We’ve also conducted plastic surveys and helped out in our permaculture garden. Last week we explored outside our immediate community and volunteered at the Tarpum Bay Arts & Cultural center doing a landscaping project (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Eleutheras-Art-and-Cultural-Centre/234550843232729). There we met the lovely director, Audrey Carey, who regaled us with stories about what life was like when she grew up in the Bahamas (very sustainable!) and showed us the local students’ and artists’ work.  Continue reading →

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Conch, Lionfish, Research Programs, SCUBA

Highlighting 3 Fall Interns with the Lionfish/Conch Programs

This Fall semester, The Lionfish and Conch Programs decided to do something new. They instituted a dual internship, which would focus on sustainable fisheries and marine conservation; interns would work with both the lionfish and conch projects. Three lucky interns are being put to the task this fall to work among projects in both programs, and their bios are below.

picAlicia Hendrix: A Washington state native, Alicia finished her B.A. in Biology and Fine Art at Scripps College this past January.  Since then she has been at the University of Washington labs in the San Juan Islands expanding upon the work completed for her undergraduate biology thesis and teaching high school students scientific illustration. During the course of her undergraduate studies, Alicia conducted research on trace metal chelation by jelly DOM at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Science and on protein localization in trypanosomes at the Seattle Biomedical Research Institute.  In 2011 she earned her Divemaster certification at Utila Dive Center, where she also assisted with the Coral Watch program on the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef. She is thrilled to be a part of the internship program here at CEI, and is already learning so much! Continue reading →

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Conch, Educational Programs, Flats, Student Research, Sustainable Systems

Camden Hills returns for their fourth year joined by Oceanside and Medomak

This blog was written by the 18 incredible students visiting us from Maine.

Campus Life

Students at Lighthouse Beach
Students at Lighthouse Beach

The Island School/CEI is located in Cape Eleuthera. The campus faces the water with exotic beaches and fish-filled boat launches as a part of its grounds. Everything about the campus is energy efficient, from its compost at meals to their homemade biodiesel for the vans. The food waste is fed to the pigs on campus and the rest is composted and used for their gardens. The gardens are then used for meals creating the basis of permaculture. We’ve already become aware of the energy we waste every day and can’t wait to put our new energy efficient methods to use at home.

Research

Students socializing at the sand bar.
Students socializing at the sand bar.

A big part of our experience here on Eleuthera has been conducting research through the Cape Eleuthera Institute (CEI). Our Camden Hills students have been split into three different research groups, led by CEI researchers: conch, bonefish (field), and another bonefish team (lab). The Oceanside-Medomak students are studying patch reefs, and the effects of their complexity on the abundance of fish. All four groups will be presenting their findings to an audience of peers, interns, researchers, graduate students, and staff next week. Continue reading →

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Conch

Shallow water conch surveys used to evaluate the local juvenile population

The conch team performs snorkel transects in the shallow waters off CEI beach.
The conch team performs snorkel transects in the shallow waters off CEI beach.

Due to overfishing for food and export, The Bahamas are one of the only countries with a large population of queen conch left, and we are very keen to try and protect them as best we can. One major issue is the lack of enforcement, with juveniles being fished illegally throughout South Eleuthera. Removing juveniles means they never have a chance to reproduce, and the population suffers.

Team member Rey measure conch siphonal length.
Team member Rey measure conch siphonal length.

To try and understand how the local population is doing at the moment, the conch team (consisting of Newcastle undergraduate Rey and conch intern Holly, with the help of others!) has been conducting snorkel surveys of the shallow areas off Cape Eleuthera, which have been shown to be nurseries for juvenile conch. The data will be compared to a study that was done in 2003 (Clark et al. 2005) in order to get a 10 year comparison, and an idea of how the population is responding to the increased fishing pressure of the last decade. Continue reading →

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Conch, Educational Programs, Flats, Sustainable Systems

Pacific Ridge School experiences the Atlantic 2013

The past 12 days have been a whirlwind for a group of 15 students from Carlsbad, Northern San Diego, California. The first week of the program, the students embarked in discovering all the different research areas that CEI is currently involved in. These are just a few of the plethora of activities that we delved into: snorkelling the cage, cutting glass with Sam for the new resource building, jumping off high rock, playing in the pink sand on Harbour Island, observing echinoderms and their tubed feet frenzy over on the sand bar, night wading around the boathouse,  followed by many more.

pac ridge pac ridgeOn day one we were out with the flats team seining in some adverse conditions. The rain held us indoors for a couple days, where the student’s day varied from discussing sustainability to dissecting a sponge and learning all about the critters that inhabit the watery pores of a lovely smelling stinker sponge!

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Conch, Lionfish, Outreach

Conch Fest 2013

This past weekend, CEI participated in Conch Fest, the Homecoming celebration for the settlement of Deep Creek, where several CEI staff call home. The focus of this year’s booth was to promote the National Conchservation Campaign, as well as to serve lionfish samples as an alternative to conch.

Deep Creek Middle School students gathered around the CEI booth for a lionfish sample. They had to answer trivia questions on conch and lionfish to get a taste!
Deep Creek Middle School students gathered around the CEI booth for a lionfish sample. They had to answer trivia questions on conch and lionfish to get a taste!
CEI staff Claire Thomas, Meredith Lemon, and Jocelyn Curtis-Quick posing by the CEI booth, ready to cook some lionfish!
CEI staff Claire Thomas, Meredith Lemon, and Jocelyn Curtis-Quick posing by the CEI booth, ready to cook some lionfish!

On Friday night, we served up fried lionfish, fresh out of the fryer. We gave away over 100 samples! Dozens of people came up saying “no you can’t eat that, it’ll kill you!” The truth is, lionfish do have venomous spines, but the meat is healthy and delicious, and once the fish is filleted it can be enjoyed in a variety of ways. Educating the community on the truth behind handling and eating lionfish was a priority for the researchers who came out to volunteer at the fest. Continue reading →

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Conch, Flats, Lionfish, Research Programs, Sea turtles, Sharks, Student Research

Spring 2013 CEI/IS Research Symposium was a success!

Students standing by their scientific poster during the Symposium poster session
Students standing by their scientific poster during the Symposium poster session

This past Saturday, CEI and IS hosted their Spring 2013 Research Symposium. The event consisted of research presentations and poster sessions, where Island School students got the chance to present their semester’s worth of work to staff, community members, visiting scientists, and representatives from some Bahamian NGO’s, including Save our Bays. After giving brief presentations that discussed everything from the purpose of the research to data analysis and interpretation, IS students had the chance to attend their first poster session as

Students engaging a visitor, answering questions on their research.
Students engaging a visitor, answering questions on their research.

young scientists. After working on the posters all semester, students were proud to showcase their effort, and share what they learned with those that were interested. The Symposium culminated with keynote speakers Dr. John Tiedemann (Monmouth University) and Dr. Mark Hixon (University of Hawaii), addressing the students and motivating them to continue their critical thinking as they move on to college.

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Conch

Queen Conch Research Update

This past semester, researchers, students, and volunteers have been busy surveying South Eleuthera’s shoreline, looking for queen conch juveniles. Under the direction of CEI researcher Claire Thomas, survey methods were implemented to identify essential queen conch nursery habitat.

Island School students perform a walking transect, identifying and marking juvenile queen conch on Sunrise Beach.
Island School students perform a walking transect, identifying and marking juvenile queen conch on Sunrise Beach.

Queen conch populations are declining in Eleuthera. Past research has shown that protection of adult conch alone is not adequate to protect the whole population, as juveniles and adults utilize different habitat types. Adults are generally found in deeper water in sandy areas, whereas juveniles will be in shallow water, most often in seagrass beds, where they graze on detritus and algae. To ensure that protection is sufficient, juvenile populations also have to be protected.

A juvenile queen conch coming out of its shell.
A juvenile queen conch coming out of its shell.

The government of the Bahamas, along with the Bahamas National Trust, are interested in creating a Marine Protected Area, or No-Take Zone, off the waters of South Eleuthera. The CEI Queen Conch Research Program aims to identify hot spots of juvenile queen conch, through their shoreline surveys, to inform officials of an important place to protect. In the summer, during queen conch mating season, SCUBA transects will be done to identify aggregations of adult queen conch. This information is also important, as breeding grounds are another essential habitat in the queen conch life cycle.

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