July 10, 2013

10 days on the island of Cayos Cochinos.  Wish it could be 10 months.  Finished SCUBA open water certification so finally able to get to deeper waters for a comparison of sea life.  Saw many sea fans, much larger but more yellow ones compared to purple healthy ones.  Less flamingo tongues seen also, being they like shallower waters.  Dove to 40 feet + for most dives completed.  Went to Lionshead reef and Jennas cove during the last 2 days.  A forest underwater with pillars of coral 20 - 30 feet tall and many areas to swim under and through.  Unfortunately my camera took a c..p and I was unable to film these wonderful pillars.  I will most likely be able to get out again to film these wonders.  During the dives we saw a scorpion fish, an upside down jellyfish many types of wrasse and tang, brittle stars hiding in the tube sponges and every form of coral and sponge you could imagine.
    We also climbed the mountain to the top of the lighthouse for a view of the whole island.  Awesome! Whew! What a climb but worth it.  
   Continued with flamingo tongue research laying out grids and marking sites.  Will continue laying out grids in different locations around the bay.  Hope my camera starts working.

Getting into the Island Rhythm

These last few days we've been snorkeling and setting up our experiments in the bay.  Tiphaine and Darla have been documenting flamingo tongue presence on sea fans and I've been marking elkhorn coral colonies to track their location and also so that when I go collecting before dawn that I can find them easily.

[Elkhorn coral on the left, and sea fans to the right, along with one of my flags]

Along the way we've had the pleasure of seeing other organisms in the bay, including a green sea turtle.

Unfortunately we've also had to deal with jellies, who can't get through our wetsuits but have been pretty successful at stinging our hands and faces.

Still, the amount of diversity here is incredible.. I think we're all creating mental schemes of how to stay here as long as possible.

1ST FULL DAY ON ISLAND CAYOS COCHINOS

July 2, 2013

3rd day in Honduras.  Finally, first day testing the waters and checking out the coral reefs and all they have to offer.  Headed out mid-morning, weather awesome and water crystal clear.  Saw many varieties of sponges, corals and fishes.  Several types of parrot fish, brain coral, tube sponges, sea fans, tang fish and even a turtle at a distance.  Investigated the purple sea fans looking for flamingo tongues attached to them.  We were investigating whether they have any affect on the sea fans since several sea fans have turned yellow and flamingo tongues seem to be the only noticeable reason.  Although while researching I came across a brilliant purple sea fan where 3-4 fish of an unknown variety at this time where appearing to eat the edges of the fan.  Whether this has any affect on the sea fan is unknown and further research is needed.  It may be the flamingo tongues are a vector carrying a disease than turns them yellow or there could be other factors, such as the fish, that may affect them.  This will continue to be studied along with an overall view of the coral reef habitat.

First Day in Cayos Cochinos

Hola de Honduras!

We've arrived at our destination, Turtle Bay Resort in Cayos Cochinos, after two plane trips, a delay, a 3 hour drive and hour plus boat ride.  For someone who's never been outside the country before, the journey was absolutely worth it.  There is an abundance of beauty and life here. On the island we've seen hermit crabs, geckos, and hummingbirds. We went snorkeling in the afternoon on the reef (pictures to come!) Right now we've just eaten dinner in the lounge and are getting ready to help with labeling Dr. Gilchrist's shells.

Buenas Noches!

-Heather 

We will embark on our trip Sunday 30 June.  The resort that we use as our field station has changed names and philosophies (somewhat).  They are now the Turtle Bay Eco Resort.  The place is lovely and the upgrades that we have seen online are welcome.  The price has gone up and is comparable now to the rates on Roatan....too bad for the groups who want to just do research.

We are still having trouble getting our permits for work.  My shells from last year are still languishing at customs in San Pedro Sula.  I am hoping that we can get issues resolved so that we can continue to work in Honduras.  It is a beautiful country and there are so many projects that can be done that will benefit our students as well as contribute to the understanding of their aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.

The three students traveling with me are planning interesting projects.  One is looking at how lionfish may affect the coral health indirectly by killing reef fish.  The others are helping me, learning about underwater photography, and working on smaller projects.

We will try to post at least every other day, so stay tuned.