Looe Key National Marine Sanctuary

Looe Key National Marine Sanctuary

 

Cute Fish

Thursday Dr. Voss and Dr. Hanisak took us out to Looe Key National Marine Sanctuary. The two sites we visited were easily accessible from Summerland Key. We had early morning sun followed by overcast skies with calm conditions. Both sites were along the reef crest with site one being further east than site two. Species diversity was consistent between both sites given their proximity.

 

School of Blue Tangs

                                                                      

Although our recorded turbidity was 1 FTU the second locations visibility was patchy due to an increased amount of sediment distributed in the water column. Overall the visibility was fair given the conditions. We recorded pH to be 7.8 which may be slightly lower than expected for ideal reef conditions. Our YSI probe measured salinity to be 32.4 ppt which given the excess rain from previous days may explain a lower reading.

Reef Morphology 

The reef morphology that we observed would be classified as a spur and groove formation. This type of formation helps dissipate wave action and protect the coast from powerful waves and storm surge. This was clearly observed on certain areas of the reef crest where it was particularly shallow. However, the depths in some of the grooves reached 15 meters.  

 

School of French Grunts

Acropora palmata

This location was the most diverse that we encountered with a total of 40 species of fish and 16 corals. Some of the more notable species we encountered include a Carribean Reef Shark, a school of Blue Tangs, and a curious Gray Angelfish. We also encountered some memorable species including Dichocoenia stokesii, Orbicella faveolata, and the ESA listed Acropora Palmata.

Caribbean Reef Shark

-Emily Birdsall & Chris Kurtz

All photos EXCEPT the Reef Shark were taken by Dr. Voss