Category Archives: Research Programs

Flats, Outreach, Research Programs, Visiting Scientists

Update on Acoustic Tagging Project: Grand Bahama Jan 2014

A team of scientists consisting of Aaron Shultz and Malcom Goodman from the Cape Eleuthera Institute, David Philipp and Julie Claussen from the Fisheries Conservation Foundation, Karen Murchie from College of the Bahamas (Freeport), and Greg Vincent and Jason Franklin of H2O

Bonefishing from Grand Bahama gathered in Freeport in January to track bonefish movements. This project began in October 2013, when 30 bonefish from around the island of Grand Bahama were captured and implanted with acoustic tags. Electronic receivers were then placed in strategic locations throughout the island and recorded if a tagged fish swam nearby.  Fish were also located periodically using a manual receiver.

The first goal of this trip was to retreive each of the receivers and download the data to determine if any bonefish had been recorded. January, however, is still early in the spawning season for bonefish, so that data recorded over the next few months is expected to be highly valuable in understanding bonefish movements and the habitats they use for spawning.  The second goal was to use the manual tracking device to determine if bonefish were travelling to possible spawning locations around the new moon.

This early retrieval of data from the receivers was very encouraging, with several of the tagged fish being detected.  Two fish with transmitters, likely travelling to spawning locations, were recorded
traveling from one side of the island around to the other and back again, one covering over 140 miles roundtrip.  Greg and Jason from H2O Bonefishing were instrumental  in  finding schools of bonefish to see if tagged fish could be located using the manual receiver. Many fish were
located very near where they were tagged.

Scientist Karen Murchie will be analyzing the movement data from the project, and many thanks to her for providing housing and logistical support during the trip.

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Outreach, Research Programs, Sharks

Exploring the Depths with DCMS & CEI Shark Team

The importance of scientific outreach is empirical to the goals and objectives of the Cape Eleuthera Foundation, aiming to educate and inspire the next generation of young scientists.

Friday 14th February saw the arrival of the Deep Creek Middle School’s seventh grade to the Cape Eleuthera Institute, as part of their current ‘Schools Without Walls Program’. The program allows students to experience education outside the 4 walls of an ordinary classroom, and throws them head first into aiding and studying current scientific research practices. The goal of the project is to offer an alternate learning experience in which students have the opportunity to ‘learn-by-doing’.

Fridays class lead by shark team's Mackellar Violich and Oliver Shipley
Fridays class lead by shark team’s Mackellar Violich and Oliver Shipley

Friday’s class was led by the Shark Research and Conservation Program’s Mackellar Violich and Oliver Shipley who tackled the topic of deep ocean exploration using the MEDUSA BRUV (Baited Remote Underwater Video) Unit. The MEDUSA Unit was kindly donated by CEI collaborator and senior board member Dr Edith Widder, from the Ocean Research and Conservation Association (ORCA – www.teamorca.org) in fall 2013 for her second spell here at CEI. This specific study aims to assess the abundance and diversity of organisms occupying the great depths of the north-east Exuma Sound ocean trench, using a relatively non-invasive video technique.

Retrieving the MEDUSA alongside the Cobia.
Retrieving the MEDUSA alongside the Cobia.

The session exposed students to the different oceanic depths zones, and their associated biological characteristics, as well as an informative breakdown of MEDUSA’s components and mechanical operation. Students then travelled out on the Cobia to aid and witness the first Medusa deployment and recovery since October 2013, as well as having the opportunity to snorkel the deep-blue of the Exuma Sound.

The Shark Team plan to continue their seasonal deep-water surveys in the coming weeks, allowing for a comparative analysis with the 9 successful deployments last semester.

 

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Flats, Research Programs

Sunscreen and Handling Experiments

An estimated 4,000 to 6,000 metric tons of sunscreen washes off swimmers annually. This can affect the ocean in many different ways. This semester the Flats Research Program at CEI is looking at how different types of sunscreen affect bonefish. Bonefish are a very important fish commercially in the Bahamas. There is a common theory in the angling world that certain chemicals, including sunscreen, can discourage fish from biting flies. The flats team would like to test if sunscreen affects bite choice of bonefish.

Seining for bonefish in Plum Creek
Seining for bonefish in Plum Creek

We are capturing bonefish from the local tidal creeks in seines. These fish will then be fed shrimp to satiation. The next day we will come back with the shrimp coated in different types of sunscreen. We will record their behavior and the amount they eat again to see if sunscreen changes their feeding behavior.

To further look at the effects sunscreen has on the bonefish catch and release industry, we are going to perform an experiment where we will exercise the bonefish for 3 minutes to simulate the exhaustion from angling, and then we will have sunscreen on our hands when handling bonefish, as anglers possibly would. We will keep the fish in holding tanks in the lab for at least two weeks to observe any lasting effects. We are hoping to share these results with Bonefish & Tarpon Trust and other journals, and encourage better catch and release practices.

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Lionfish

Mitigating the Threats of Invasive Alien Species in the Insular Caribbean (MTIASIC) Project video competition

Check out this video that Island School communications assistant and IS alumnus Will Strathmann (F’07) created on lionfish for the Mitigating the Threats of Invasive Alien Species in the Insular Caribbean (MTIASIC) Project video competition. The 5 minute video aims to raise awareness throughout the Caribbean and Bahamas about lionfish and what can be done to help mitigate their impact.  Please enjoy the video and eat more lionfish as we await results from the competition!

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Flats, Outreach, Plastics, Research Programs, Sustainable Fisheries

CEI Researchers present at the 2nd Bahamas National Natural History Conference in Nassau

CEI presenters at the conference.
CEI presenters at the conference.

CEI researchers were busy in Nassau over the past week.  On March 4th, Aaron Shultz and Kate Kincaid attended an IUCN Red List Workshop, held at The Bahamas National Trust. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is the world’s oldest and largest global environmental organization (www.iucn.org).  As an expert commission member for several IUCN groups, Kate is regularly involved in IUCN work.  This workshop was open to scientists to come together and discuss plans for a National Red List for The Bahamas.  The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (www.iucnredlist.org) promotes conservation and is an assessment of the conservation status of species to highlight taxa that are threatened with extinction.   Species are evaluated using set criteria; this catalogue of threatened species is an internationally recognized inventory and important for conservation, decision making and highlighting biodiversity loss.

Many species have not yet been assessed and many countries are conducting national Red Lists.  A national Red List for The Bahamas can be used for conservation planning and to assess their progress towards the 2020 Conventional on Biological Diversity Aichi targets.   At this workshop, Kate and Aaron expressed CEI’s interest to be involved in the planning process and in species focus groups for sharks, corals and turtles.

Aaron Shultz presenting.
Aaron Shultz presenting.

Following this workshop, CEI researchers Aaron Shultz, Kate Kincaid and Kristal Ambrose attended the 2nd Bahamas National Natural History Conference.  This was a 3 day conference from 5th-8th March led by the Bahamas National Trust (www.bnt.bs) that highlighted the importance of research, conservation, and environmental stewardship in The Bahamas.  The conference began with an opening ceremony at Atlantis followed by 3 days of talks.  Continue reading →

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Educational Programs, Outreach, Sea turtles, Student Research

First Earthwatch team assists in Sea turtle research at CEI

Team members chasing a turtle.

The first of 8 teams for 2014 were at CEI last week assisting with sea turtle research. 9 volunteers, from across America and Canada, spent 9 days collecting data from boats, on foot and by snorkeling in 11 sites across South Eleuthera. They collected vast amounts of data that would otherwise have taken much longer without their support. Using baited remote underwater video surveys for predators, they surveyed 9 sites and ‘captured’ 7 individuals from 3 different species: nurse, lemon and tiger sharks! They also caught and tagged 9 turtles, setting the record for catching 6 using the rodeo method in one day!

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Earthwatch team members with a captured turtle.

Continue reading →

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Lionfish, Outreach, Research Programs

Lionfish Outreach at Central Eleuthera High School

Fire up the grill! As the 22nd annual Bahamian Young Chef Championship rolls nearer, high school students around the island are fine-tuning their culinary skills and perfecting recipes featuring local ingredients and flavor combinations.

Students learning the location of lionfish’s 18 venomous spines

This week the CEI lionfish team headed to Central Eleuthera High School’s Family and Consumer Science class to speak with Mrs. Williams-Sands’ and Mrs. McKinney’s students about preparation of lionfish.  A student representative from CEHS will be headed to the Young Chef’s district-based competition next week and is considering featuring lionfish as a local ingredient.  This shows marked and exciting progress toward cultivating demand for the invader from the fisheries industry.

Alicia Hendrix, CEI's sustainable fisheries research technition speaking about the introduction of lionfish in the Bahamas
Alicia Hendrix, CEI’s sustainable fisheries research technician, presenting on the impact of lionfish in the Bahamas

CEHS students learned about the invasion of lionfish in the Bahamas and some of the work done at CEI both to manage and to understand its implications for affected ecosystems.  After being shown where lionfish spines were located and having their proper removal demonstrated, students Nigel and Sam faced off to fillet two lionfish, and they and their fellow students worked together to prepare them. Lionfish were fried, baked, and sampled by all students, many of whom had never tried the fish before!

Not only was it exciting to share this delicious white-meat fish with so many new samplers, but being enthusiastically approached by CEHS to introduce this dish was equally thrilling.  With the help of more students, teachers, and community members there may yet be a booming lionfish market.  Stay tuned for updates regarding the lionfish team’s plans for a local fisherman campaign; best of luck to CEHS in their competition next week!

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Outreach, Research Programs, Sea turtles

CEI Participates in Deep Creek Middle School’s “School Without Walls”

CEI Researchers Annabelle Brooks and Meagan Gary took a class of Grade 7 students from Deep Creek Middle School to get hands-on learning experience, capturing and tagging sea turtles in Half Sound, Eleuthera.  The class was part of the middle school’s “School Without Walls” program which aims to tackle unique and pertinent issues confronting the surrounding community.  Students waded out into the mangroves and captured 5 turtles and multiple bonefish.  All were measured and tagged and released back into the wild.  For many of the students, this was their first time exploring the mangroves ecosystems of Eleuthera.  Two of the turtles were captured for the first time, which the kids named “Franklin” and “Slash”.

Students form a “scare line” that spans the creek, chasing turtles and fish into the net near the mouth
The seine net is carefully rolled up, removing any debris.
Vital statistics were recorded.
DCMS Grade 7 and CEI Turtle Research Team

 

 

 

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Research Programs, Sharks

Stingray Physiology Project Update

Handling a yellow stingray prior to blood sampling.
Handling a yellow stingray prior to blood sampling.

Thursday, February 13th, researchers from the Shark Research and Conservation Program completed the second round of sampling for the program’s stingray physiology project. The project aims to understand how the immune response of yellow stingrays (Urobatis jamaicensis) changes as a result of long-term exposure to a chronic stressor. After Thursday’s sampling, stingrays will be exposed to increased levels of dissolved carbon dioxide for two weeks at levels forecasted from climate change models. This project has implications for better understanding the long-term responses of sharks to a chronic stressor since stingrays are closely related to sharks, and it is more practical to keep stingrays in a lab for long durations.

Drawing blood from the caudal vein using 27 gauge needles

A typical sampling event involves drawing blood from all 20 stingrays. Blood is drawn from the caudal vein running along the bottom of the tail. The vein is encased in a cartilage sheath and is so small that needles used are 0.016 inches, or 0.4 millimeters, wide. Blood is prepared in a neutral buffered formalin solution and smeared on slides in preparation for tests to determine the total white blood cell count and proportions in which different white blood cells occur together. Sampling will occur three more times until the end of the month, at which point all current animals will be released, and 20 more will be caught for a second replicate.

Preparing blood smears on slides for differential white blood cell counts

The research team is particularly excited because this is only the third study to observe changes in immune function in sharks and rays, and this is the first study to observe changes in the immune response over a long duration. This project is a collaborative effort between researchers at the New England Aquarium, Carleton University, the Baltimore Aquarium, and the University of Illinois.

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Lionfish, Outreach, Visiting Scientists

RSMAS help with the lionfish invasion

This week, the RSMAS group had a class on invasive species.  As part of the class, team RSMAS got to go out with the lionfish researchers and help with spearing, dissecting, and filleting of fish.
RSMAS team
Megan Gleason said, “The spears were easy to use, and the lionfish were abundant. We got 14 of them!” Team RSMAS had the opportunity to dive and spear in an uncharted spot which was great.
It was alarming to see the amount of lionfish on a reef that had not been monitored, but it was also a cool experience having so many potential targets to spear!

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They got back to campus and began to dissect the fish in order to see what they had been eating. There were some baby crabs and shrimp in their stomachs; it was incredible that we were able to see them in their whole form. Then it was time to fillet the fish. Afterwards, the group reflected, “We are all looking forward to eating them and experimenting with ways they can be prepared. The cookbook we had the chance to look through gave us some good ideas.”

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