Shark Research and Conservation Associate Researcher Dr. Owen O’Shea recently attended the 30th annual meeting of the American Elasmobranch Society in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Dr. O’Shea presented his paper ‘novel observations on an opportunistic predation event by four marine apex predators’ co-authored by John Mandelman of the New England Aquarium, Brendan Talwar of Florida State University and Edward Brooks, program manager at The Cape Eleuthera Institute.
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Teachers and Vice Principal, Ms. Knowles, from Preston H. Albury High School came to visit during teacher’s planning week in late August. This visit served as the start to a collaboration regarding ways that CEI may support their curriculum planning with a focus on scientific research, native Bahamian resources, and small island sustainability. We hope that teachers of all subject areas, not just biology and the sciences but also math, English, art and other subjects, see a connection with the projects we have here at CEIS. Continue reading
by This past summer was a busy time for the sustainable fisheries team, with numerous conch and lionfish lab trials.
On the lionfish side of things, Helen, one of the visiting Newcastle students, is looking at prey density as well as whether or not it benefits lionfish to hunt in groups. She does this by adding 1 (or more) lionfish to a tank containing varying densities of prey fish (grunts) and observing the rate at which the grunts are eaten. Emily (another student from Newcastle University) is exploring prey preference in lionfish. She ran a series of trials to determine whether lionfish are more likely to attack a grunt or a damselfish if given the choice. She is now determining if lionfish rely more on visual or olfactory signals when hunting.
Oli, a third student from Newcastle, was running behavioral trials on conch. A fisherman’s tale suggests that the declining numbers of conch available is due to the fact that the animals run away from knocked shells that have been thrown back into the water by other fishermen (as opposed to overfishing). Oli is testing this explanation by dropping empty conch shells (as well as rocks as a control) in a tank with a live conch and monitoring its movement for 4 hours. We will keep you updated on the results of these trials as they progress!
by Earlier this month was the return of Camden Hills Regional High School for their sixth visit to CEI, and Oceanside High School’s second trip alongside Camden. It was another stellar year of exploration, science, research and reflection.
Students focused on research during their time at CEI. They were not only getting out there and assisting our resident scientists with their data collection, but also coming back to the lab, sifting through video footage, % cover of seagrass and trying to work out where all the conch have gone. For these students science came alive. They were able to see what goes into real research, where time, weather, tide, and sharing resources play factors into every minute of every day.
The students final presentations were outstanding. With only three – four field days and approximately 10 hours of data analysis and thought time, they provided the community with well-rounded projects. Not only did they analyze data, they were able to offer thoughtful insights into why their research matters. Continue reading
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Major man-made changes to the geography of Grand Bahama in the 1960s – 1970s altered the connection between the shallow Little Bahama Bank on the North side and the deep New Providence Channel on the South side of the island. In particular, the construction of the Grand Lucayan Waterway created a new connection, while construction of a shipping harbor obstructed a natural waterway, Hawksbill Creek. These land-use changes potentially altered the spawning migration patterns of fish around Grand Bahama.
Bonefish, sometimes referred to as the gray ghost by anglers because of their elusive nature, are extremely important sport fish in the Bahamas. Recent research on Eleuthera, Abaco, and Andros has shown that these fish migrate from shallow flats to form pre-spawning aggregations near deep water. The goal of this project was to assess present-day movement corridors of bonefish around Grand Bahama during the spawning season (October to May).
To accomplish this task, CEI in collaboration with Fisheries Conservation Foundation, College of the Bahamas (Freeport), University of Illinois, Illinois Natural History Survey, Carleton University, and H2O Bonefishing surgically implanted 30 acoustic tags into bonefish and deployed 17 acoustic receivers around the island in October 2013. The receivers were downloaded in June of 2014 and revealed that 7 of the 24 fish tagged on the North side used the Grand Lucayan Waterway as a corridor from the north side to the south side of the island. 2 fish were recorded swimming around the west end and 2 others around the east end of the island, which are each over 80 km journeys. This indicates that bonefish are most likely forming pre-spawning aggregations on the South side of Grand Bahama and will guide research efforts during the next spawning season. The outcomes of this project will be shared with decision makers so they can make informed decisions about protecting migration corridors from spawning grounds to aggregation sites.
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Mark Hixon’s Ph.D. students from Oregon State University have returned to CEI for a third summer of invasive lionfish research! This year, they have been busy both above and below the water, performing field and lab experiments. Alex Davis is observing the natural locations of lionfish on large reefs in order to understand whether different types of habitat affect whether lionfish frequent certain areas of a reef and/or leave a reef altogether. Tye Kindinger is testing for competition between two native basslets (popular aquarium fish) by comparing basslets on reef ledges where the two basslets co-occur versus on ledges where she has removed all the individuals of one basslet species. She is interested in seeing whether basslets are less or more vulnerable to lionfish predation when they are competing under ledges.
Lillian Tuttle wants to know if lionfish harm the cleaner goby, a small but important reef fish because it keeps other fish healthy by picking parasites off their skin. To do this, she moved gobies to small reefs and is now comparing their survival, growth, and behavior before and after adding lionfish, and between reefs with lionfish and those without.
Led by Eric Dilley and Dr. Stephanie Green, the OSU team is also working on a lab experiment that measures how 3 small fish species react to the presence of native predators versus invasive lionfish. Can small native fish recognize and evade this novel predator? How “appropriate” is their reaction given the serious threat that lionfish pose to their survival? Alex, Tye, Lillian, and Eric are excited to be back working at CEI, and we can’t wait to see what they discover this summer about the ongoing lionfish invasion!
by The Island school summer term went out with the deep-water research group, led by Mackellar Violich to pull up traps from 1200 meters deep. The baited traps are set off the wall, and traps are pulled in the following day. Researchers then identify, measure, and record all of the organisms from the traps.
This research project is focusing on finding the biodiversity and abundance of benthic scavenging species that live between 500-1400 meters deep in the Northeast Exuma sound.
The team recently pulled up Bathynomus giganteus, a large isopod and some Simenchelys parasitica, or pugnose eels.
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This year, CEI had a booth at Deep Creek’s Homecoming, called Conch Fest, that was geared towards promoting sustainable fisheries. The team was frying up lionfish samples, so local community members can sample the invasive fish that is abundant on the reefs, but also delicious to eat. The team was also promoting the “You slay, we pay” campaign, where fishermen can bring in lionfish, fillets or whole fish, to sell to CEI. The goal is to create a market for lionfish on Eleuthera.
Aside from free fish, the team also had a board with conservation trivia, hoping to dispel some common misconceptions. For example, do green turtles eat conch? The answer is no! Green turtles eat plant material like turtlegrass, and their serrated jaw is perfect for this type of diet.
The booth was open for two nights, and hundreds of lionfish samples were handed out. Thanks to everyone who participated, and the team enjoyed the opportunity to spread the word about the invasive lionfish and what we can do to help (Eat them!).
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Congratulations to all of the Spring 2014 Island School students who gave oral and poster presentations at the Research Symposium. This event is a culmination a semester-long research class, where students become involved in all aspects of research. It is a chance for them to showcase the data that they collected, along with real world implications of the work.
We had many special guests in attendance this semester:
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