Visiting Team of Mangrove Killifish Reseachers

When I first arrived at Blackbird, I had an opportunity to work briefly with a team of Canadian, American and British researchers lead by friend and colleague Prof. Pat Wright of the University of Guelph. They were hosted to a visit of the Blackbird Field Station and the Blackbird Resort. Team Killifish carried out field and lab studies on Kryptolebias marmoratus (the mangrove rivulus) at the Calabash Caye Field Station, University of Belize, November 30 – December 21, 2009. They conducted a series of experiment involving field observations, behavioural lab experiments and genetic analysis. The team also included Prof. Suzie Currie of Mt. Allison University (Canada), Prof. Sonia Consuegra and Amy Ellison (Ph.D. student) of Aberystwyth University (Wales) and Dr. D. Scott Taylor of the Brevard County Environmentally Endangered Lands Program (USA). They also plan to return in 2 years at which time I hope to be more actively involved in this project. In the mean time, I will be conducted complementary observations of K. marmoratus during the dry season. Team Killifish was also very kind in that they left me with a wealth of supplies to help me start setting up a lab at the station.

The mangrove rivulus is distributed between southern Florida and northern South America where it survives in mangrove swamps under highly variable conditions of temperature, oxygen, salinity and ammonia. This fish can grow up to 7.5 cm TL and will seek refuge in crab burrows at low tide. The environmental conditions where K. marmoratus lives are particularly severe and the species has developed unique adaptations to cope with the environmental uncertainty including the ability to respire through the skin and live out of water for prolonged periods of time, in very unusual habitats for fish (e.g. packed in logs; and was featured in National Geographic News, 6 November 2007). It also represents the only vertebrate with a mixed mating reproductive strategy that until recently was thought to be present only in plants and invertebrates, making this species a unique model in evolutionary biology.

23 December 2009

We are now up and running with our first groups of the season at the Blackbird Station. We had a couple of very pleasant snorkels on patch reefs south of the station. There was a focus on fish identification training with a good variety of species noted. Some coral bleaching was noted which included many Montastrea colonies off Calabash Caye as well as on large patches of Agaricia or lettuce coral. Hopefully these colonies will recover with cooler winter water temperatures approaching.

Something that was truly amazing on these snorkels where the abundance of the long spined sea urchin Diadema antillarum. I counted over 700 individuals at these 2 sites which I found mind boggling for there was a pan-Caribbean disease outbreak which wiped out these urchins in the early 1980’s. Further, their loss to the ecosystem has been associated with the regional decline of Caribbean coral reefs since they are considered a very important herbivore which helped prevent macroalgae from overgrowing corals. Seeing these urchins is very encouraging and may signal the local reestablishment of an important herbivore. Further, and perhaps more importantly, it could indicate the huge importance of Turneffe Atoll as a potential natural source of Diadema larvae to replenish other coral reefs in the region.

I am currently writing from Half Moon Caye at the Lighthouse Reef Atoll which is an enchantingly beautiful destination with white sand beaches and nice little upland forest with gumbo limbos and ziricote trees, the latter of which serve as booby nesting sites. We had a great morning snorkel at the famed Blue Hole. Conditions were ideal and we saw a good variety of marine life which included a variety of large parrot fishes, snappers, angel fishes and damselfishes. We also watched cleaner shrimp diligently working on an endangered Nassau grouper (~30 cm TL). An abundance of soft corals was noted as well as small pockets of elkhorn and staghorn corals (Acropora spp.); however, no long spined urchins were seen.

On Half Moon, we had a look at the Red Footed Booby and Magnificent Frigatebird colonies where there was a great vantage point from an observation platform. The male Frigates were displaying their courtship rituals which included inflating their red-colored throat pouches called "gular pouches" and at times sword fighting with their long beaks. We snorkeled of the eastern tip of the caye and saw lots of marine life as well as a few nurse sharks and another Nassau grouper

Back on Blackbird Caye, we have also been exploring the terrestrial environments in the form of guided nature walks. We have had two sightings of the Common Black Hawk which is a majestic raptor with white banding on its tail feathers. We are trying to determine if this bird is transient or a local resident. This species is known to occur on Caye Caulker and the mainland but as far as I’m aware, there are no previous reports of this raptor on Blackbird Caye. We have also been keeping an eye on the resident American crocodiles in a pond on Oceanic Society property.

Gearing up for a new season

Greetings All,

Welcome to the lauching of a blog for the Oceanic Society Field Station at Blackbird Caye, Belize. We are located in Turneffe Atoll with is about 15 miles offshore from Belize City. The Oceanic Society is a non-profit organization and a wealth of information can be found on this group and its activities at: http://www.oceanicsociety.org/home

My family and I just arrived here on December 10th, were warmly greeted by the staff and instantly made to feel right at home. I will be acting as the new field coordinator and coral reef biologist for the field station. This is an exciting opportunity for me to lead groups in such a setting and involve them in meaningful research and conservation efforts.

There is a great deal of construction activity ongoing with repair work to the kitchen, palapa and docks. We are settling in and preparing for our first group of visitors on December 19th. Part of this group will be lead by Dr. Michelle Paddack, a colleague who is faculty at Santa Barbara City College.

We had our first snorkel off the stations dock to the nearby reef where we noted some paling or light bleaching on several colonies of Porities, Siderastrea and Diploria. The water was a bit rough with a storm system moving through over the past couple of days. The late afternoon air temperature is 83F and the surf temp is 81F, which is just a tad warmer than the Olympic Peninsula of Washington where we just moved from. We've also spotted crocodiles and dolphins albeit not while snorkeling.

I also had an opportunity to work with fellow colleagues from Canada, Wales, England and the US over the past couple of days at the nearby Calabash Caye Field Station of the University of Belize which I will detail in an upcoming entry.

We wish you all the best and hope that you can soon come for a visit to experience the natural beauty of Belize. It's time now to take a gander at the sunset.

Cheers,
John