Quick Keys Recap

I had an absolute blast in the keys!! 

I grew up hanging out in and around Key West, and the past two summers I have camped in Bahia Honda, so it was very interesting to me to see how things have changed after Hurricane Irma and to hang out on an island I normally would only drive through.

Happy Place

We stayed at the Keys Marine Lab in Long Key. This was my first time at a real field station! It was really nice. Naturally, I loved being able to watch the sun rise and set over the dock where the Research Vessels were. There was something about it that I couldn't help think "this is exactly where I want to be". 

It wasn't so bad getting to snorkel every day either! Despite some of the rain, and the bad visibility I think I could easily get used to snorkeling for "work".

Monday 
We snorkeled Old Sweat Bank and Loch Key. Old Sweat Bank was a shallow, seagrass bed, with lots of small, free-living corals. Loch Key was a mangrove island, and although we saw many of the same species, it was interesting to see how adding a little bit of depth and physical structure changes how the community builds itself. Both of these sites were also bayside, meaning much calmer waters!


Tuesday
Zane Grey Creek, more mangrove islands but this chain was artificially dredged to allow more boat traffic. It was very cool to get up under all the roots and see what kind of organisms were living on them.

Wednesday

Some beautiful Acropora palmata (Elkhorn Coral) on Looe Key
Photo Credits: Dr. Joshua Voss

Sombrero Reef!! Of all my time spent in the Florida Keys, I have never stopped and snorkeled this place. It's marked by a giant lighthouse to make sure that no one hits the reef. Conditions in the Atlantic were really rocky, and most of the class got seasick. This meant we saw a lot of fish though! We also got to see the first ever field application of an antibiotic to a diseased coral. You can go read my post about that! 

Thursday
Time for Looe Key! It was interesting to me to see how this reef had changed since it hasn't even been a full year since the last time I was here, but unfortunately, visibility was pretty bad so it was hard for me to get a solid observation. I also thought it was interesting just to reflect on all the different spots we snorkeled, and the differences and similarities between them all.

Friday
We started the day off at Windley Key, which is a geological site of old fossilized limestone with coral skeletons in it! It was a very cool history spot on top of the science, and it was probably my favorite spot of this week. It was an excellent review for our skills test as well, and I was feeling pretty good about my Latin on the way home.

I was sad to leave the Keys, but I am looking forward to the next round of field work! I'm sure I'll be back to Keys whether it's for my career or my personal life. It was great to work with both Dr. Hanisak and Dr. Voss again after Harbor Branch. Thanks for all your guidance this week!

This was a lot harder to take than it looks
Photo Credit Amanda Schaaf

P.S. I don't want to take up too much space with pictures, so I've linked to all the "site blogs" by other students. Check them out!!

-Delanie

Caribbean sea anemone - Chris Kurtz

The Giant Caribbean Sea Anemone (Condylactis gigantea) is under the phylum of Cnidarian and is commonly found throughout shallow reefs in the West Indies attaching itself in rocky crevices. Typically, these anemones reach sizes of 15 cm high and a disk diameter of 40 cm. This anemone has long brownish tentacles with purple tips, although they can vary in color as some may be purely purple. 

These free-floating tentacles are used for defense and capturing prey, as they have cnidocytes that help stun prey with their paralyzing toxins. Their diet includes anything from smaller juvenile fish to shrimp. An exception to this is a symbiosis these anemones share with cleaner shrimps. They may also use these cnidocytes on other anemones when competing for space. When this occurs an advantage anemones have is their mobility, as they’re able to move about the ocean floor to find areas of reduced competition.  The giant Caribbean sea anemone is, in most cases, dioecious but in rare cases hermaphroditic specimens have been observed. 

Bluehead Wrasse - Jessica Miller

Two bluehead wrasse, Thalassoma bifasciatum, the one on the right is an initial phase,

the one on the left is a terminal phase.

Initial phase Thalassoma bifasciatum

Initial phase Thalassoma bifasciatum

Bluehead wrasse (Thalassoma bifasciatum) are a small species of saltwater fish that are native to coral reefs in the western Atlantic and the southeast area of the Gulf of Mexico, including the tropical waters surrounding the Florida Keys. These small wrasse are less then 110m standard length, on average. The blue head wrasse eat zooplankton, mollusks and other small crustaceans including parasites on other fish.They are an important cleaner fish on the reef and form large schools. Like most other wrasse they have several different phases, their initial phase when they are juveniles has a yellow upper body and a white lower body. The initial phase may also have green or black lateral stripes or dark vertical bars. 

Bluehead wrasse can quickly change their appearance and intensity of the colors on their bodies, it is thought to be related to behavioral changes. The terminal phase of both males and females has a blue head, green body and black and white vertical bars behind its head. Bluehead wrasse are protogynous sequential hermaphrodite; individuals may begin life either as males or females, but females can change sex later in life and become males. This change is permanent and once an initial phase female or male turns into a terminal phase male they cannot change back. 

Terminal phase Thalassoma bifasciatum