Peddie EXP 2014: Sophie Kennedy BIOS Week 3

Monday, July 21, 2014

Sophie Kennedy BIOS Week 3

So it turns out that my lab is not studying the effects of ocean acidification on coral growth (bummer) but is indeed studying the effects of light and temperature on coral growth. One of the species we are studying (Porites astreoides) can be found on two different kinds of reefs: a patch reef and a rim reef. Patch reefs are closer to shore and therefore are not very deep- allowing fluctuating temperatures. In addition, the water around patch reefs is known to be pretty murky, so less light is available to the corals. However rim reefs lay near the deep ocean water, which has pretty consistent temperatures that are a bit cooler than the patch reefs. Also the water is much clearer- allowing for more light to reach the corals.

Another topic we are looking into is the relationship between coral reproduction and the lunar cycle also known as lunar perodicity. As we have seen but still need to analyze, the coral’s reproduction periods do coincide with the lunar cycle and do have a peek. What we are doing is taking twenty pictures of each coral’s daily collection of planula and using Image J to measure the size of the planula (length and width). When doing this we can also look at the planula fitness between patch and rim reef corals to compare their similarites and differences. Just from observation it seems that patch reef corals spawn more and for a longer period than the rim reef corals but the rim reef corals had amazing settlement rates in a shorter time period.

I am really enjoying my time at B.I.O.S.! On Thursday I got my Lionfish spearfishing permit. I had to listen in on a lecture for around 90 minutes and they gave me a flag and a tag with my permit number on it. This permit allows me to spearfish for only Lionfish anywhere and use dive equipment in comparison to a normal spearfishing license which makes it illegal to spearfish in protected areas, anywhere closer than 1 knotical mile from shore, and using dive equipment. Later that day Sam, my P.I., asked me to take her 19 month old son to his swimming lesson because she hurt her back. I am so thankful to have this kind of relationship with my P.I. Not only do I get to see her almost everyday but when I do it is not always in a lab setting. Also this week we got a new intern, Lea! At the moment Lea is following my lead on a few things and always comes to me with questions- reminding me of my first week here. Luckily it is a slow week so I have more time to explain things to her and correct tiny mistakes without stressing about time. It’s really neat to think that I am working side-by-side with interns from all over the world and some of the best universities and many tend to forget that I am even in highschool.