So far so good! I have made it through Orientation and now on to the fun stuff! I am in my second week and I have had the opportunity to work in the Wet Lab and go out in the field.
The Wet Lab (see below) is a space shared by the Aquaponics, Aquaculture, and Flats Teams. This space is a 5000 square foot solar powered wet lab and is responsible for brood stock husbandry, rotifer and artemia culture, larval rearing, fingerling grow out,
and laboratory research studies on various fish species. Mainly my chores here have included taking morning tank conditions, and helping to reorganize and clean the lab. I am still getting
acclimated to what I will be working on in this lab so I will keep you
all posted!
I went out in the field for the first time yesterday. We went to a flat called broad creek hoping to catch and tag bonefish. I think the best part of the day was creating a "scare-line". The general idea was to line everyone out across the flat/inlet and walk forward together splashing and make as much sound as we could to try and move the school to the back corner in order to corral and capture them using a seine net. No bonefish caught, BUT I did see 5 juvenile lemon sharks, and 4 houndfish!
For those of you that don't know, here is what a bonefish looks like:
Bonefish are an ecologically and commercially important species in the Bahamas. The adult bonefish spend the majority of their time benthic foraging which helps shape the flats' substrate. However more research is needed to understand these important species. Flats researchers at the Cape Eleuthera Institute (where I am staying and working) as well as visiting researchers are collectively gathering information on bonefish. Such studies include (
http://www.ceibahamas.org/bonefish.aspx):
-
Quantifying the effects of catch-and-release angling on bonefish
-
Determining the attributes of the angling event that affect the susceptibility of bonefish to mortality post-release
-
Quantifying the movements and interactions between bonefish and their predators
-
Determining how predators cue in on bonefish following catch-and-release angling
-
Examining the physiological response of bonefish to angling
-
Assessing whether catch-and-release angling is compatible with
fisheries management strategies, including marine protected areas
-
Determining the effects of habitat disturbance on the population ecology of bonefish
-
Determining where and when bonefish spawn
-
Determining the effects of global climate change on the metabolic rates of bonefish
-
Tracking the movements and growth rates of bonefish
I am so excited to work on the many projects open to me over the next 4 months!
Until next time!
Sincerely,
Your fish corralling - equipment de-algalfying - fish punning Field Biologist
