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

Parents Weekend Spring 2013

This past weekend, the CEI and Island School campus had many visitors eager to hear about CEI research- Island School parents! Parents attended presentations given by IS students on current research projects that the students have been working on since they arrived in March. Research presentations discussed during the event included:

  • The abundance and distribution of sea turtles in Half Sound
  • Effects of longline capture on shark physiology
  • Competitive interactions between lobsters and lionfish
  • Identifying ideal nursery habitat for juvenile queen conch
  • Effects of climate change on bonefish and other mangrove species
  • The relationship between herbivore abundance on patch reefs and proximity to mangroves
  • Assessing settlement of post-larval lionfish
Parents Weekend Spring 2013
SP’13 IS students posing for a group picture after research presentations.

Each presentation was followed by a question and answer session, where students demonstrated their extensive knowledge on the background and applications of their study. Parents also got the opportunity to learn about all of the research happening at CEI, and to meet with research advisors.

facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedinby feather
Sharks

Shark Expedition Update #2

Shark on the line On May 19th we made the crossing home to Eleuthera after a two week journey to Cat Island. We successfully deployed over 20 satellite tags from Microwave Telemetry on oceanic whitetips, with a number of confirmed pregnancies and confirmed non-pregnant females caught and tested with an ultrasound from UNF’s Brenda Anderson. Hopefully with this new data we can pinpoint critical habitats for oceanic whitetip reproduction.

With the first leg of the expedition complete, we are all very excited to move on to the next phase of the research cruise. The first stop is Nassau, where an outreach event with our P1080242(1)partners at BREEF and Stony Brook University are hosting marine biology students around the city for shark education lectures and even a trip to see Caribbean reef sharks. Hopefully we can generate awareness in the Bahamas and let people know how incredibly valuable the new shark sanctuary can be for the region. Continue reading →

facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedinby feather
Flats

Mangrove nursery established in McKinney Creek on the Island School campus

making potsA new project focused on the rehabilitation of tidal mangrove creeks in South Eleuthera has been put into action by the Flats Ecology and Conservation Program. A part of this project is the establishment of a red mangrove nursery in the creek on campus. Armored cultivator pots have been built to house the young mangrove propagules which will be transplanted to areas that would benefit from the reestablishment of a mangrove forest once prop roots start to grow.

potsThe initial plan for the armored cultivator pots was derived from a design used by the Mangrove Solutions Division of the Reef Ball Division. The cultivator pot acts as a growing medium for the propagule as it becomes established, and further acts as a protective shield once the young mangrove is transplanted to a predetermined area that would benefit from mangrove rehabilitation that may experience wave, wind, and tide action. We strive to use the highest percentage possible of locally sourced materials in the mixture and to include organic materials that provide nutrients to the plant as it grows. The mixture we have employed includes mud collected from the mangrove creek, sand, compost, shredded coconut husk, and Portland cement. Continue reading →

facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedinby feather
Sharks

Oceanic Whitetip Shark Expedition

As a continuation of two years of research on the elusive, critically endangered oceanic whitetip, we made the crossing to the southern tip of Cat Island on Tuesday, May 7th with the goal of learning more about this understudied, and historically abundant, pelagic shark. We have been at Cat oceanicIsland for less than a week and have been extremely successful. With 17 satellite tags on oceanic whitetips and countless in-water experiences, the first leg of the trip has gone smoothly. We have over a week left here and less than ten tags to deploy, making our main purpose to put out sat tags on males and recaptures, as well as conduct ultrasounds on all females to determine reproductive state. We have also caught, tagged, and taken biometrics on a blue shark and a small but curious tiger shark while out in the blue water. To learn more, check out the link to our collaborator’s blog at the Stony Brook University School of Marine and Atmospheric Science :http://www.somas.stonybrook.edu/research/highlights/Chapman/index.html

Continue reading →

facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedinby feather
Educational Programs, Outreach, Plastics, Student Research

More beach plastic surveys around Cape Eleuthera

IS students beach plastic surveyThe plastic pioneers of CEI have struck again!  Recently the Cape Eleuthera Institute embarked on a historical project studying macro and micro  plastic pollution on beaches in South Eleuthera. This unique project is the first of its kind here in The Bahamas and is led by Bahamian researcher Kristal Ambrose.

 

IMIs students beach plastic surveyThe project which is aided solely by the help of educational programs visiting CEI and students of the Island School and Deep Creek Middle School, has welcomed nearly 150 volunteers to this research project. So far the plastic team has surveyed 14 beaches on the island, with 4 remaining for assessment. Continue reading →

facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedinby feather
Flats

Bonefish tagging trip to Hummingbird Cay

The bonefish tagging project continues to study the movements, population size and structure, and the possible impacts of angling on these important fish. By capturing and tagging large numbers of bonefish at multiple sites throughout The Bahamas, we hope to better understand bonefish movements, as well as determine how many spawning aggregations exist and where they are located.  This information can help identify coastal areas that should be protected.

A view from a beach on Hummingbird Cay, Exuma
A view from a beach on Hummingbird Cay, Exuma
Proper handling of a bonefish before tagging.
Proper handling of a bonefish before tagging.

A team of scientists visited Exuma early this spring with hopes to expand the bonefish tagging program to this island.  The team, consisting of Aaron and Brian Shultz (The Cape Eleuthera Institute), Dave Philipp, Julie Claussen, and Chris Haak (Fisheries Conservation Foundation), met up with the staff at Hummingbird Cay and were later joined by the family that owns the small island located to the west of Great Exuma.  Brian Shultz conducted a sustainability audit for Hummingbird Cay, while the rest of the team surveyed the creek systems and tidal flats.  The scientists also connected with several bonefish  guides on Great Exuma to discuss the importance of the bonefish tagging program and the recent tagging efforts on other islands such as Abaco, Grand Bahama, and Eleuthera.  Stevie Ferguson, Reno Rolle, Drexel Rolle and several other bonefish guides agreed to help capture and tag 500+ bonefish later this year.  Overall, this was a very successful trip that would not have been possible without the support of the Hummingbird Cay Foundation and Exuma Foundation. 

Continue reading →

facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedinby feather
Aquaculture, SCUBA

Aquaculture team moves the off-shore cage

Last October, Hurricane Sandy caused a dilemma by shifting the off-shore aquaculture cage. Last week the aquaculture team, along with the help of a number of CEI and IS faculty members, successfully moved the off-shore cage back into its pre-Hurricane Sandy position. The move went off without a hitch and has been a long time in the making after months of prep work.cage moveGOPR0914
After a few dives, with a large team of helpers, new anchor lines have been installed and we are now in the process of re-positioning the anchors in order to prevent a repeat of last year’s unfortunate events. With the cage back in its original position, preparation can now begin for a new batch of Cobia fingerlings in the coming months. Continue reading →
facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedinby feather
Educational Programs, Lionfish, Plastics, Student Research

Lyford Cay at CEI

Lyfor Cay Grade 8Lyford Cay grade 8 had a busy 3 days here at CEI diving into the plastics curriculum as well as some of the fun yet educational activities typical of our Island School programs: Sandbar geology, Lionfish lesson/dissection, and reef ecology lesson & snorkel.
Weather was a tad windy for snorkeling at 4th hole but they did have a chance to check out the reef balls. Successful plastics research was conducted on 4th hole beach with Miss Kristal Ocean herself and the results will be used in their science class back at Lyford.

Lyford Cay Grade 8

Continue reading →

facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedinby feather
Lionfish, SCUBA

SFU sends two scientists to study lionfish in the food web

Here are two short bios from two visiting scientists from Simon Fraser University:

PhD Student from SFU Luis ready to dive for lionfish.
PhD student from SFU Luis ready to dive for lionfish.

Luis- I am a marine ecologist with background in oceanography and fisheries ecology; my
research interests are the study of food web interactions and energy transfer in the marine ecosystem. For my PhD at The Marine Ecology Lab in Simon Fraser University, I will focus on evaluating how food webs are affected under different stressors, one very important one being the lionfish invasion on the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean. During the following three months I will be collecting samples of different fish species using non-invasive techniques to study the structure of food webs in reefs off Eleuthera. This is an existing project and having the opportunity of doing it with the help and support of the CEI and Island School staff makes it even better!

 

 

SFU Student Sev checking a trap.
SFU Student Sev checking a trap.

Severin- I am a third year biology student from Simon Fraser University. For my cooperative education placement and NSERC – Undergratuate Student Research Award, I have the good fortune of assisting Luis Malpica with his food-web research in the field (under the supervision of Dr. Côté) as well as conducting my own studies on site fidelity and habitat use of yellow stingrays (Urobatis jamaicensis). Although I’ve been diving for several years, my interest for marine ecology was ignited after participating in Dr. Côté’s graduate level, underwater research methods course at SFU.

 

 

Continue reading →

facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedinby feather