Educational Programs, Gap Year

CEI Gap Year Triathalon

Education and research may be the staples of CEI, but they are just the tip of the iceberg. As part of the Gap Program, the students train throughout their semester for a culminating event- a Triathlon. Tuesday marked the third bi-annual Gap Triathlon.

The triathletes before getting in the water to start the race
The triathletes before getting in the water to start the race
The triathletes in the first stage of the triathlon, the swim
The triathletes in the first stage of the triathlon, the swim

Comprised of three events, the triathlon aims to challenge the students using all aspects of our environment and our resources. Individually each aspect is more than manageable – ½ mile swim, 13 mile bike, 3 mile run; together they provide a veritable challenge for any competitors. In our typical unconventional style, each competitor must complete the triathlon on one of the schools beach cruisers, giving our triathlon an island feel.

Emilio Vargas (Gap student) on the 13 mile cycle
Emilio Vargas (Gap student) on the 13 mile cycle

On Tuesday, nine competitors completed the course we have fondly come to know as the Talapia-thon (after our aquaponics system). The effort put into the event by the competitors was matched, if not surpassed, by the support the community gave during the event. Congratulations to all who competed, assisted, and cheered, and here’s to the next bi-annual triathlon later this year.

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Flats

Grand Bahama Bonefish Update #2

In October 2014, the Flats Ecology and Conservation Program visited Grand Bahama Island to set out an array of acoustic receivers to track bonefish movements during their spawning season. This was part of an effort to determine aggregation sites and spawning areas.

A healthy bonefish being released after surgery.
A healthy bonefish being released after surgery.
Justin Lewis (Bahamas Initiative coordinator for the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust) and Malcom Goodman (Research Assistant with the Cape Eleuthera Institute) perform surgery on a bonefish in October, 2014
Justin Lewis (Bahamas Initiative coordinator for the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust) and Malcom Goodman (Research Assistant with the Cape Eleuthera Institute) perform surgery on a bonefish in October, 2014

In December 2014, the project received a substantial equipment grant from the Ocean Tracking Network (OTN), providing an extra 32 receivers for the study array.  The team, consisting of CEIS board member Dr. Dave Philipp, College of the Bahamas professor Dr. Karen Murchie, CEI Research Assistant Eric Schneider and Bonefish and Tarpon Trust’s (BTT) Bahamas Initiative Coordinator, Justin Lewis, downloaded the initial array in January 2015 to determine where the additional receivers should be deployed based on preliminary data.

Out of the 56 fish tagged in October 2014, 19 had been detected in the array.  Movements to date included use of the Grand Lucayan Waterway, along with at least two key areas that appear to be aggregation sites on the south side of Grand Bahama.  Movements to the aggregation sites typically occurred during moon phases during which spawning events normally occur. Continue reading →

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Flats, Research Programs, Visiting Scientists

Pufferfish shine in video contest

What happens to the research done at CEI after the excitement of the field season and the hours in the lab are over? Researchers need to find interesting and accessible ways to share their discoveries with others. Naomi Pleizier, a student from Carleton University, is doing this by showcasing her research on pufferfish at CEI in the NSERC Science, Action! video contest.

Take a look at the 60 second video to get a glimpse of one of the emerging projects from CEI, and like and share it to show your support!

Naomi and her team studied several key survival behaviours of checkered pufferfish, a common mangrove fish, to determine whether consistent individual behaviours can be altered by a stress hormone, cortisol. The results help us understand how a resident of these vulnerable ecosystems might respond to natural challenges and stress caused by humans. Follow the link to see research at CEI in action!

 

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Communications

Winter 2015 eNews available online now!

Follow this link to check out the Winter 2015 edition of the CEI eNews. Content includes deep water sharks, dolphinfish tagging program, and an update on the Deep Creek Primary garden.

http://www.islandschool.org/staticFiles/enews/cei/2015_Winter/2015_Winter_CEI.html

If you would like to be added to the enews list-serv, please email clairethomas@ceibahamas.org

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Educational Programs, Gap Year, SCUBA

Update From the Spring 2015 Gap Year Team

Here is an update from our Spring gappers:

Travel. A new place. A different rhythm. Novel colours, sounds and smells assail many a traveler as they set foot on foreign land. With this often comes the unmistakable adventure; something is just different as if the air itself was charged with anticipation. Arrival at CEI was no different (well maybe a little). With warm smiles and enthusiastic introductions, we were welcomed inside the community. The openness of those already here seemed to mitigate the shock of adjustment as we fell into the tight yet comprehensive embrace that defines the community.

August and the team teaching DCMS Fish ID class
August and the team teaching DCMS Fish ID class
Getting to know the aquaponics system first hand
Getting to know the aquaponics system first hand

From Aquaponics and permaculture, to ocean research with conservation in mind, we witnessed stimulating, cutting-edge projects that radiated a vibrant atmosphere of purpose and progress to the facility. Being exposed to this environment where sustainability is the main focus in all aspects prompted a plethora of concerns and reflections shared by the Gap students in the Human Ecology and Environmental Issues classes. How we’ve lived here will undoubtedly influence the way we act in relation to our environment and resources for the better, inspiring those around us, as we were here, to achieve a society where we can live in harmony with nature and its flows. And so on we strive. Continue reading →

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Sea turtles

Rachel Miller Attends Sea Turtle Conference in GA

Earlier in February, Rachel Miller, the Research Assistant for the Sea Turtle Research and Conservation Program at CEI, attended the Southeast Regional Sea Turtle Meeting in Jekyll Island, GA. The conference was a five-day conference that focused on the newest sea turtle research from the Southeast United States.

Rachel Miller sea turtle conference

Even though Rachel doesn’t live or work in the Southeast United States, many of the sea turtles that nest or hatch from that area come to The Bahamas to eat and grow, so it is important that the Sea Turtle Research and Conservation Program at CEI keep up-to-date with important research from that area of the world. Rachel also had the opportunity to meet with a number of individuals involved in sea turtle research and conservation, including distinguished scientists such as Dr. Peter Pritchard and Dr. Kate Mansfield, as well as Island School alumni.

The Sea Turtle Research and Conservation Program is gearing up for a busy year, and hopes to use some of the newly acquired information from the meeting to help the program run smoothly. If you are interested in keeping track of what the program is doing, please check out the Tracking Sea Turtles in the Bahamas page on Facebook!

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Outreach, Sea turtles

Sea Turtle Team Takes DCMS Students in the Field

sea turtle release
Program Manager Annabelle Brooks releases a recaptured green sea turtle.

On Friday, January 23, the Sea Turtle Research Team was joined by the Grade 7 students from Deep Creek Middle School. The day was started by reviewing the biology of different species of sea turtles and talking about why sea turtle species are declining.  The effects that humans are having on sea turtles worldwide were also discussed, as well as what students can do to protect the threatened species.  The knowledge that DCMS students already had about sea turtles and their habitats was impressive! Continue reading →

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Educational Programs, Lionfish

The Lillian and Betty Ratner School Learns All About Lionfish

lionfish dissection ratner
LREP Intern Alanna Waldman shows students from the Ratner School how to safely remove venomous lionfish spines.

This past week, visiting students from Ohio’s Lillian and Betty Ratner School spent a week at The Island School stretching their comfort zones and exploring what it means to live sustainably while simultaneously learning about the marine life of The Bahamas. As a part of their educational experience, the Ratner students listened attentively to Dr. Jocelyn Curtis-Quick, the head of the Lionfish Research and Education Program, present on the detrimental impact of the non-native lionfish on Caribbean marine ecosystems. The students learned that these fish, originally from the Indo-Pacific, are resilient creatures that can live in environments with a wide range of salinity, depth, and habitat conditions, are seldom predated upon by Caribbean natives, and as a result are ravaging reefs by consuming native fish and invertebrates.  Such intense predation impedes important ecosystems services that otherwise keep the reefs healthy and alive.

lionfish spine dissection
LREP Research Assistant Alicia Hendrix describes envenomation mechanisms to listening students and shows them a lionfish spine close-up.

After viewing footage of bobbit worm predation in the lionfish’s native range, the school relocated to the CEI wet lab to assist Alanna and Alicia, an LREP intern and research assistant (respectively) with lionfish dissections. The students were able to point out the venomous spines of the lionfish: 13 dorsally located, 2 pelvic, and 3 anal. Once the fins were removed, the kids were enthralled with finding the heart and the otoliths of the fish, and looked on closely as the stomach was removed to check for stomach contents. Many of the students even ventured to touch the ocular lens of the eyeball as well as stick their fingers into the mouth and touch the gills. Continue reading →

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Educational Programs, Outreach, Plastics, Sustainable Systems

PH Albury & DCMS Eco Clubs Team Up for SEEP Recycling

All volunteers and adults congratulate themselves on a job well done! Photo credit: Nicole Elliot
All volunteers and adults congratulate themselves on a job well done! Photo credit: Nicole Elliot

This past Saturday, the Deep Creek Middle School Early Act and Eco Club teamed up with Preston H. Albury High School’s newly formed Eco Club to sort plastics 1, 2, and 5. It wasn’t the prettiest job – sorting plastic bags and food containers and removing bottle caps from a few hundred bottles – but friendly competition made it fun as three groups each tried to sort the most! Continue reading →

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