Shortly following, we were able to make it into the water and I had my first ocean dive! What an incredible experience that was!

Week Two: June 5 - June 11

Time to put in some work! Right away, we began diving anywhere from four to six times each day to survey our sites. Most of my time was spent surveying the structure for neon goby (Elacantinus oceanops, pictured left) and damselfish (family Pomacentridae, pictured right) presence, and taking a numerical count based on species and location.

Neon gobies are integral in a symbiotic relationship as the cleaner fish that consume food bits stuck to larger fishes' bodies, mouths, and gills without being preyed upon themselves. The gobies receive a meal, and the larger fish are cleaned of particles that could potentially cause irritation or infection. Gobies set up "cleaning stations" where they manage territory on a large coral head and allow other larger fish to stop by for grooming (McBirney 2009).

Damselfishes are small (usually not exceeding 15 cm in length), highly territorial and aggressive omnivores that live around corals, ledges, and hard structures along reefs in the tropical Atlantic and Pacific. The damselfish we survey span several species, and are indicative of reef health due to their presence when large structure occurs (Britannica 2018).

I also assist Kylie with her coral transplant work by surveying the PVC-framed cages that surround the coral transplants and determining the state of the coral, as well as various substrate changes, evidence of disturbance, and fish residency. Mainly, I photograph the transplants using the large camera frame and organize this data back home in Clemson.

Dr. Childress arrived later in the week, and we deployed Kara's structures at two of our sites!

We divided up our reef tract into eight quadrants by laying out a fifty-meter transect, and then laying out four thirty-meter transects at the ten, twenty, thirty, and forty meter marks on the main transect. After the concrete bases for the four artificial structures were deployed on the site from the boat, Dr. Childress and Kara descended to dive while Kylie snorkled above them, making a map of the site and structure locations. Isaac and I also snorkeled as available surface resources for the divers, supplying them with the structures to be attached to the concrete bases, more zip ties, and also as base marker buoy retrievers.

Kara then retrieved the map from Kylie and used cattle tags and zip ties to mark a healthy coral, a diseased coral, a deceased coral, and a soft coral for monitoring during the course of the artificial structure study, as indicated on Kylie's map.

Each artificial structure was marked with a HOBO tag, a device used to measure light level and temperature, which is data that we will collect when periodically checking the structures to analyze as other mechanisms of fish settlement.

June 12-June 18

Diving, diving and more diving! We continued our census of the reef sites, and also helped start the initial stages of Dr. Childress's Caribbean spiny lobster project!

Dr. Childress works with Dr. Rod Bertelsen and his students from Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to tag spiny lobsters with acoustic tags and track them using receivers placed strategically around the reef site, using a method known as acoustic telemetry. Our team helped by deploying the acoustic receiver stands on one of our inshore reefs, Coral Gardens, and then Dr. Rod joined us in finding, tagging, and documenting the spiny lobsters.

Kylie and Dr. Childress were our divers, searching for spiny lobsters with tickle sticks and catch bags. Isaac and I snorkled above them with extra supplies, and also acted as the transporters of the lobsters to the boat. Kara and Dr. Rod stayed on the boat to document information on each lobster, including sex, carapace size, previous injury, and original den location. They marked the lobsters using color coded tags, and then placed the acoustic tags on the lobsters' carapaces using super glue. Two lobsters from the southern edge of the reef and two from the northern end were tagged, and then reciprocally transplanted to opposite sides of the reef. Two other non-tagged lobsters were acquired from each end of the reef and marked using the color coded tags, and put back in their original reef with the acoustic tagged lobsters. Using the receivers, the tagged lobsters will be tracked to determine their homing behavior, and if they make it back to their original den.

June 19-June 22

During my final week in the field, we initially built more PVC cages to place around the coral transplants, to assist in identification when underwater, and to maintain consistent experimental conditions.

We also went on a few fun dives, including my first night dive, which was daunting, but I enjoyed it so much! It was an excellent way to celebrate the progress of the month and my participation in these projects. And, much to my absolute joy, I finally saw the sharks I had been longing to see!

A trip to Key West was due by the end of the week. My father and his family spent a few years of his childhood living in the Key West area, and I have heard many stories of their fond memories from this time, so I was very excited to see a piece of my father's childhood home.

Concluding remarks

I greatly enjoyed my time in the field this summer! When I came to Clemson as a freshman, I never would have imagined having the opportunity to be in close contact with graduate students and their faculty advisers, working with them in hands-on research. Not only is this experience opportunity rare for undergraduates, but I have also gained the mentoring and advising from older and established scientists that are experts marine ecology, a field that I would like to pursue. I appreciate the time I spent getting to know the members of this team, and the connections we have made within the scientific community.

Acknowledgements

Thank you so much to the Creative Inquiry program at Clemson University for providing the mechanism of this opportunity for me, and providing financial compensation during my time in the field. Thank you to the entire Conservation of Marine Resources Team, including Dr. Childress, Kylie Smith, and Kara Noonan for being such influential leaders and instructors. Thank you to the College of Science and Department of Biological Sciences at Clemson University for the equipment and transportation to the Florida Keys, as well as the Keys Marine Lab, Florida Wildlife Commission, and Key Dives for their continued support of our team and program. Funding for this summer research was provided in part by a Grant-in-Aid of Research from Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society.