Category Archives: Student Research

Educational Programs, Research Programs, Sea turtles, Sharks, Student Research

Exeter field course visits CEI

February 5, 2014 ceiblogger

Visiting CEI for the first time, 26 students and 4 professors from the University of Exeter, UK, completed a 12 day program during 6th- 17th January. As part of a field trip module, where students can choose to explore South Africa, Borneo, the Canary Island or The Bahamas, these final-year college students started off the New Year with an immersion into tropical marine ecosystems and conservation. Over the course of 12 days, students got hands-on lessons about the major ecosystems and habitats right on their doorstep here at Cape Eleuthera. What better way to learn about mangrove flats than snorkeling through the creek channels and peaking into the roots of red mangroves and seeing all sorts of juvenile fish species that would normally live in this type of habitat? The team also had a class on bonefishing in the Bahamas, reef fish identification and patch reef surveys.

Edd securing the head of a bluntnose sixgill Hexanchus griseus caught in 700 meters of water

The students spent time with the shark research team at CEI. Highlights included catching a smoothskin dogfish and a rare sighting of a recaptured bluntnose sixgill shark with the deepwater shark team; they also tagged several sea turtles! The group also visited Jacks Bay to survey seagrass and encountered numerous turtles and spotted eagle stingrays there.

The group also had the opportunity to explore Eleuthera and went down island to check out the most narrow place on the island, Glass Window Bridge. They also swam like royalty in the Queens Bath and paid a visit to the Rock Sound Ocean Hole. Over a BBQ on their last night, students and professors reflected on how anxious they were a year ago while planning for this trip and how fast it went by now it is over. Some students commenting that this trip had exceeded their expectations. Everyone in this group experienced something that they had never seen or done before, whether it be snorkeling, touching a shark or holding a turtle.

A Cuban dogfish Squalus cubensis immediately prior to release

The University of Exeter left CEI and The Island School satisfied.Their first field course to the Bahamas was a fun-filled, educational, and life-changing one. The professors of this group are now planning for another visit next year and more years to come, with more students! Thank you everyone that took part in working with this group. Your hard work is really appreciated!

Educational Programs, Lionfish, Research Programs, Sharks, Student Research, Sustainable Fisheries

MSSM presents on the effects of longline capture stress

January 31, 2014 ceiblogger

Shark research associate, Owen O'shea, with juvenile tiger shark caught on longline. — Shark research associate, Owen O’shea, with juvenile tiger shark caught on longline.

The Maine School of Science & Mathematics blessed us with their presence for the 4th year in a row here at the Cape Eleuthera Institute! Dr. Debbie Eustis-Grandy and Dr. Gregory Hamlin, both teachers from MSSM in Limestone, Maine, lead five brilliant boarding students through a two week research program with Cape Eleuthera Institute’s shark researchers- Edd Brooks, Owen O’shea, Ian Bouyoucos, Ollie Shipley, and Mackey Violich.

Students learning about the anatomy of the invasive lionfish with Alicia Hendrix, CEI's research technician for the sustainable fisheries program. — Students learning about the anatomy of the invasive lionfish with Alicia Hendrix, CEI’s research technician for the sustainable fisheries program.

Students were specifically looking at the effects of longline capture stress on the blood chemistry of Caribbean reef sharks & nurse sharks, focusing on glucose and lactate levels within the first 30 minutes of capture. Students worked alongside the shark crew in the field longlining for shark. Their first day in the field they caught a juvenile tiger shark with a total length of just 134 cms! This data will contribute to CEI’s shark longlining database and be used to research the potential effects commercial longline on shark species. Students analyzed blood chemistry data on Caribbean reef sharks and nurse sharks provided by the CEI’s long term database. This data was used to draw conclusions on the different stress response of species with various life history characteristics. Continue reading →

Educational Programs, Flats, Research Programs, SCUBA, Student Research

Spring Gap students are here!

January 29, 2014 ceiblogger

The Spring Gappers are on campus! Our first week was busy getting oriented to all the exciting opportunities that are waiting for us in the next two months.

While we’ve only started our Environmental Issues class we’ve already had so many opportunities to learn, attending Dr. Conrad Speed’s presentation on his work with sharks in western Australia as well as the presentations held by three soon-to-be departing researchers on their work with checkered puffers, bonefish, and personality in sharks and rays.

Team Gap learning to SCUBA dive with Ron

Aside from learning, we’re all training to compete in athletic events organized for the end of our semester. Two of us are training for a more traditional triathlon, with our first run-swim at 6:30 Wednesday morning. Not to be deterred, our very own Stef Tai is in training for the newly created “biathlon” (swimming and now, kayaking). Continue reading →

Educational Programs, Outreach, Plastics, Student Research

Plastics outreach with Preston H Albury school

January 28, 2014 ceiblogger

A PHA student searching for plastic debris

This past fall, CEI’s resident plastic researcher, Kristal Ambrose teamed up with local high school teacher Joanna Parker’s geography class to conduct two consecutive beach plastic surveys for their BGCSE course work, a national exam required for graduation. Their plastic lesson began when Kristal visited the high school to talk about plastic pollution and her research being done on the island. They were very receptive and interested in learning more about the issue.

The students surveyed two beaches in South Eleuthera and compared how debris levels varied between beaches. Thirty two students from grades 10, 11 and 12 at the Preston H Albury High School in Rock Sound ended their lesson on the beach to test the hypothesis for their project. The educational programs team assisted in this venture and helped to make it a success. Students were impacted by the amount of debris discovered on the beaches and are excited to conduct more surveys!

Educational Programs, Outreach, Research Programs, Sea turtles, Student Research

Earthwatch Expeditions starting soon!

January 23, 2014 ceiblogger

The Sea Turtle Research Program at CEI was recently awarded funding through the Earthwatch Institute! Starting in February, 8 expeditions are planned throughout 2014 where people of all ages and all nationalities can join the research team and assist with this important study.

Earthwatch expeditions allow individuals to spend a meaningful vacation working with scientists in the field, getting a unique experience, learning new skills and assisting in tackling environmental issues. Participants on the sea turtle expedition will live on the CEI campus and be immersed in all it has to offer, be trained in the skills necessary for field work, collect and enter data and participate in evening activities such as guest lectures and island exploration.

Over the course of the next few years, Earthwatch volunteers will assist in the collection of data that will lead to several peer-reviewed scientific publications. The topics focus on the

selection of and fine scale movements in foraging grounds, by green and hawksbill turtles, so that these areas can be conserved. To better understand this volunteers will be surveying for turtles on nearshore reefs and in tidal mangrove creeks, capturing and tagging turtles, surveying the habitats they are found in, and assessing predator abundance and diversity (sharks!) in these habitats.

Stay tuned for updates from the field and click here for more information:

http://earthwatch.org/expeditions/swimming-with-sea-turtles-in-the-bahamas

Conch, Educational Programs, Flats, Research Programs, Student Research, Sustainable Fisheries, Visiting Scientists

Monmouth University students continue ongoing research projects at CEI

January 21, 2014 ceiblogger 1 Comment

January at the Cape Eleuthera Institute is an exciting time: a new year, new interns, and a heap of new students visiting during their university’s January term!

Monmouth University joined CEI for the 9^th consecutive January, with two weeks packed full of research. Among other tenets of tropical marine ecology, students continued their investigations of the carbon cycling potential of mangroves, the benthic macroinvertebrate distribution within mangrove flats, and the age and life stage distribution of various conch middens. During their time in the flats, students experienced the full range of Bahamian winter biodiversity, including sharks, turtles, bonefish, and more!

Research of various middens in the Cape Eleuthera area found that newer middens include a high concentration of juvenile shells, affirming the fact that immature conch are being harvested at an increased rate. This is often an indication of a struggling fishery, and students will continue to analyze potential protective measures for queen conch in years to come.

Samples of mangrove roots, leaves, and stems returned to NJ with the students for further analyses in hopes of better understanding the carbon sequestration occurring within mangrove flats. A strong correlation between certain types of mangrove environments and high carbon sequestration may lead to increased protection of such areas.

Professor John Tiedemann talking to students out in the mangroves

Led by Dr. John Tiedemann and Dr. Pedram Daneshgar, and supported by Ph.D. candidates Elizabeth Wallace and Christopher Haak, the students logged countless hours of field time investigating various elements of flats ecology.

Dr. Tiedemann was also instrumental in coordinating a visit from Todd Pover and Stephanie Egger, conservation biologists from New Jersey’s Conserve Wildlife Foundation (http://www.conservewildlifenj.org/). The two scientists gave a campus-wide presentation on the international work they’ve been doing with the piping plover, a shorebird who breeds along the New Jersey shoreline and winters in the Bahamas. CEI is excited about the possibility of partnering in CWF’s educational initiatives in years to come!

Educational Programs, Outreach, Research Programs, Student Research

Outreach in Spanish Wells

January 17, 2014 ceiblogger

In November, Kristal Ambrose, working for the Center for Sustainable Development, and CEI’s outdoor educator Tiffany Gray, made the trip down island to visit Ms. Thompson’s grade 12 geography class at Spanish Wells All Age School. Students were completing a comparative reef study for their BGCSE course work, a national exam required for graduation. The students surveyed two reefs and made comparisons based on the diversity of indicator fish species, algae and coral competition, surrounding habitat, and coral disease.

Continue reading →

Conch, Educational Programs, Research Programs, Student Research

Visiting program from Exeter University visits Schooner Cays for juvenile conch surveys

January 16, 2014 ceiblogger

This weekend saw visiting Exeter students and professors heading to the Schooner Cays with the CEI Queen Conch team. A 30-minute ride and short swim allowed us to conduct shallow water surveys around the relatively remote and seldom-visited islands. Since they were last surveyed in 1993, little data has been collected on population densities around the island. Recent questions regarding changing larval supplies and reduced reproduction as a result of fishing pressures meant that collecting new data was particularly important.

The group split into two teams of undergrads to complete surveys in two different areas of the shore. Calipers, measuring tapes, and snorkel gear were distributed and lines of observers began advancing through the surf. Forty minutes later, one group had found only 2 live juvenile conch. Just down the beach, the second group found almost 350.

Continue reading →

Research Programs, Sharks, Student Research

The Shark Research team posts footage of their deepwater research with the Medusa!

December 30, 2013 ceiblogger

The Island School Deepwater Sharks Research Team with the Medusa

The Cape Eleuthera Institute and The Island School have recently begun their deepwater exploration of The Exuma Sound with almost 100 hours of footage from the deep ocean. This study is being run as an Island School research project in collaboration with Dr. Edith Widder of the Ocean Research and Conservation Association (ORCA: http://www.teamorca.org) and has seen the successful completion of six drops in depths ranging from 661 – 912 meters. This has been made possible through the loan and use of Medusa – a deep ocean camera system that was responsible for the first ever live images of the giant squid.

Continue reading →

Research Programs, Sharks, Student Research

Update on RA semester project: Ian Bouyoucos

December 16, 2013 ceiblogger

Preliminary data collection and preparation are underway for the yellow stingray immunology study. Following experimental wounding to illicit an immune response, stingrays will be subjected to low-pH conditions, acidified with CO₂. However, prior to conducting these trials, it is imperative to understand how yellow stingrays react to low-pH conditions. To do so, 10 stingrays (six males and four females) were observed under increasingly acidic conditions to determine their tolerance for low pH. Water pH was lowered by approximately 0.1 units every minute until stingrays ceased spiracle contraction (i.e., stingrays became too stressed to ventilate). Under our experimental conditions cessation of spiracle contractions occurred at a mean pH of 5.35.

This methodology was adapted from Aaron Shultz’s doctoral research, which is observing how extreme environmental conditions in mangrove creeks affect several fishes. In preparation for the immunological study, however, researchers are learning more about the seasonal (lack of) abundance of yellow stingrays. A first replicate of 20 stingrays should be completed by December.

Education, Research, Outreach