Daily Dilemma: Should we shower on our 6 day voyage? Or not?

We stress water conservation on the Coral Reef II because of its limited supply. We can only use the water that is put aboard the boat before we leave, even though we are surrounded by it. We started our trip with roughly 2100 gallons aboard the boat and already by the end of our first full day we are down to 1750 gallons.

Another reason to limit water usage is because we stress limiting water usage for environmental purposes. Most of the planet is covered in water, yet most of it can not be used directly. There is a limited supply of fresh water on Earth. Here on Bimini they needed to install a reverse osmosis plant in order to sustain their water needs. Water is extremely important, our lives and many others depend on it.

So do we really need to shower? Tell us what you think we should do?

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Today on the R/V Coral Reef II, we learned more on the importance of focusing our research on how man-made changes in the envirnment can affect biodiversity. We decided to research habitats of Bimini that could be affected by future developments and compare it to ecosystems that have already been altered by development.

During our first day on the research vessel, it felt great because our time and hard work has finally paid off. It finally hit us that we were actually going to the Bimini Islands in the Bahamas! We can hardly wait to see the coral reefs and to discover new animals that we have never seen before. At 5:00 in the morning, many of us are planning to get up and watch the sun rise and maybe even see manatees, dolphins and flying fish during the crossing from Miami to the Bimini Islands.
On the boat, we learned how to use some of the equipment. We went over some of the safety rules of the boat and had a life vest "drill". We got rewarded from our hard work by getting an excellent lunch, dinner and sundaes for dessert.
Brock Malenke
Maria Murray

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How do man-made changes in one habitat affect nearby habitats? For example, will the destruction of a mangrove affect a nearby coral reef or grassy bottom? On board the Coral Reef II, we have the capabilities to do plankton tows, beach seines, study fish and environments. How can we use data from these investigations to further our understanding of changes in habitats through human use?

Basically, we have 6 more days in the Bahamas. There's tons of possible research to be done. We want to know what YOU think we should focus on.

Maddy Huerta
Alana Hernandez

As our pre-trip classes come to an end, the task of packing is rapidly approaching. With limited space on the boat to store belongings, it can become difficult deciding what to bring. Because of the limited space on board, we need to have our bags and belongings in our bunks. As a result, bringing lots of clothing or bulky baggage is out of the question.

Because we are out at sea for a week and snorkeling in a variety of environments, it is of the utmost importance to pack the appropriate items for the task at hand. One item that seems to stump people is the long pants needed for the mangrove snorkel. The HSMB participants have been debating what kind of pants to get that will be light weight and easy to snorkel in. It will definitely take some smart thinking to pack everything that is a necessity while keeping it compact.

We need your help! What are some things that you think we should bring? What should we consider leaving at home?

Over the three days that we have been in the pre-trip classes, we have been doing many team building activities to expand our knowledge of each other. During this process we have learned that communication is the key to a well functioning group. As we were handed the task of completing the "Human Knot."

Many students entangled in the human knot
The object of this game was to lock hands with two people in a random fashion, therefore leaving you in a knot to untangle. At first glance it looked as if it was not difficult, but to our amazement we were faced with the difficult task of untangling ourselves. Learning to trust one another is also one of the many things we have to accomplish as a group.

Tyvae "Getting to know her tree"
With the game "Get to know your tree." With this game one person was blindfolded while their partner lead them to a tree in which they would have a minute to feel the distinctions in their tree, and after words we were required to find our tree. We were able to put our trust in our teammates hand as they guide to our destination.

Team building activity(The tent pole game)
Teambuilding brought us closer together as a group, and through these processes we learned to communicate and most importantly, motivate each other with positive attitudes. Last but not least, we had lots of fun during these exercises.

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Through out HSMB pre and post-trip classes, we have participated in a "waste-free Lunch" challenge. Our goal throughout experience has been to eliminate as much waste from going to land fills as possible. In this effort, we have recycled as much plastic, glass, metal and paper as possible and deposited our organic waste into worm bins to be transformed into compost.

We learned how worms can be used to compost our food waste.

There were many challenges involved in this task because many items in everyday lunches are non-recyclable. Many food items designed for students to take to school in their lunches, items like chip bags, individually wrapped fruit snack wrappers, food trays, containers, etc are non-recyclable. To eliminate these and other items that could very easily end up in landfills, we utilized things like Tupperware containers to carry our sandwiches and chips, reusable lunch boxes to carry our meals, and reusable water bottles, thermoses to carry our drinks and tried to buy in bulk instead of purchasing individually wrapped items. Organic items such as apple cores, banana peels, brown paper bags, and other similar items were places into compost bins instead sending them to a landfill where often even organic items don't get a chance to break down because of lack of oxygen and landfill conditions. Plastic were a particular challenge at first because of some confusion about the different kinds of plastics and which ones could be recycled in different areas, but now we have the hang of it and will always remember to buy plastic items with recycling logos on them and match the numbers with the ones that can be recycled in our area.

It may be difficult at first and take some getting used to, but in the end you too can make a difference by reducing your human footprint and the amount of waste that you send to a landfill!

On July 23, 2008, both weeks of HSMB 2008 re-united to begin our post trip classes. During these classes, most of what we worked on prepared us for the final event in August. Some activities included; collaborating on our research projects, exploring careers in the marine science field, and sharing our experiences from the trip.

Most of what the trip gave each of us was inspiration to continue marine biology as a career, so we headed to Shedd's computer lab. There, we explored many career options and variations of how we could continue our new knowledge to the future. Being a marine biologist wasn't the only way to express ourselves through environmental research. Oceanography, engineering, writing, filmmaking; there were so many options we learned that would still impact conservation. We also had a few Shedd employees come to our classroom and explain how they got to where they are today. Their stories gave us an idea of what we could do with Shedd as well as possible paths we can take after high school.

Throughout the three days, we also created posters within our research groups. We put up data supporting our research and summarizing our experiments. With this, we had the opportunity to unveil our creative sides by putting together the posters. Having shared the experience together, it was more fun to assemble them. Teamwork, dedication, and motivation allowed us all to complete it productively. This project strengthened the anticipation for the final event.

On the third day of class, we took our group photos on the main stairs in front of the Shedd. Standing on the staircase, the atmosphere filled with unity and affection. It gave us the strong sense of family. The friends we've made, the interests we've shared, and knowledge we've gained, has, in one way or another, changed us all. What we experienced with Shedd's High School Marine Biology will never be forgotten.

HSMB 2008!

Here at Shedd Aquarium, we have created a new family together. We are a very unique group that has been able to unite our ideas and form similar beliefs. Our basic question is, when HSMB 2008 has ended, will we be able to stay strong with our beliefs, opinions, and actions as individuals?

In a large group, it seems easy to simply be a follower, but as HSMB comes to a close, we must realize that we need to become our own leaders and make efforts to gain and inform new followers. For example, at HSMB we were able to comprehend how much waste we were producing everyday by weighing our trash. Now that we are going back to our individual lives, we need to be responsible enough to stay aware of our garbage production. We must not fall back into our old habits. Throughout this program, our instructors, as leaders, have successfully transformed us into leaders ourselves.

Now we need to complete the cycle and take in new followers to teach them to be leaders as well. Half the battle in leading is getting out of your comfort zone. We need to make an effort to stay informed and start informing the public as well. Even if our opinions are not heard, it is still important to try because along the way, someone will listen. If we continue this cycle on and on, this can be our first major breakthrough on making a huge difference in this complicated world.

At the start of day three, we got the opportunity to go snorkeling in the mangroves. Despite the rainy weather, we all had a great time observing the plants and animals in this unique habitat. We learned that mangroves provide an important home for many species of animals - particularly juvenile fish, sharks and invertebrates. During our first snorkel at La Chance Rocks we observed an ongoing construction project in an area north of Alice Town called Bimini Bay. Our instructors told us that the project in progressing quickly and they have added many news homes, a sea wall, a beach and a harbor just since the project began. The next phase of the project is scheduled to include lots more new homes and an 18-hole golf course that could put a lot of the mangroves, including the area where we snorkeled, in jeopardy.

When we visited the Bimini Biological Station (Shark Lab) we learned about how the destruction of this vital habitat may have a negative impact not only on the species living in Bimini, but the Caribbean at large. We discussed this matter with a few Biminites at the straw market in Alicetown. Many of them related to us that they have lost business to the new shops at Bimini Bay and have noticed that the dredging for the new harbors have already had an impact on the islands reefs, as well as conch and lobster populations that are so important for the islands economy.

Can you think of ways that the natural resources of Bimini can be preserved, while providing jobs and economic growth for the people of Bimini?

The goal of our vegetation survey was to answer the question of whether the invasive species, Australian pine, would impact the occurrence of native plant species in the surrounding area. From this question, we drew our hypothesis. It states that the presence Australian pines will reduce the amount of native vegetation in the surrounding area. In order to calculate this, we measured both the height and canopy cover of Australian Pines in two locations around Bimini because we believe that it is the height and the width of these trees that are eliminating native vegetation from the area by blocking out the valuable sunlight needed for photosynthesis. Vegetation native to Bimini is generally low lying, none of which grow to higher than 10 feet. Therefore we believe that a tall tree species like Australian pine could easily out compete these native species for sunlight, thus establishing itself in a given area. To measure the tree height, we used a clinometer, while we used densiometer to measure canopy cover.

Our last day in the Bahamas was one to remember. We did some work, had a lot of fun, and realized how thankful we were for the opportunity to be part of the High School Marine Biology research team of 2008. We woke up to the smell of cinnamon rolls at 7 a.m. Breakfast was delicious, as usual. We then had our article discussion on the slaughter of some Blue Iguanas. The leaders helped us to understand why someone may commit crimes like this. It was interesting to hear about various scenarios and make connections to similar incidents like the Gorilla killings last year in Democratic Republic of the Congo in Virunga National Park.

Hypothesis:

Plankton are organisms that drift in water currents. There are two types of plankton; zooplankton and phytoplankton. Phytoplankton are primary producers that are light-dependent. Zooplanktons, on the other hand, are microscopic animals that feed on the phytoplankton. The majority of plankton lives in the photic zone. Plankton can be an indirect or direct source of food for most aquatic organisms and are the base of the aquatic food web. In order to better understand the quantity of plankton communities in the Bahamas during different times of day, we conducted the plankton tow.

We hypothesized that phytoplankton would be the most common plankton found. In our experiment, we expected to find more of the primary producers mainly because they are light dependent and would most likely drift near the surface opposed to deeper waters. In our experiment, another variable we put to the test was time of day; two of our plankton tows were conducted during the day as well as 2 more during the night. With this, we hypothesized that we would find more zooplankton during the night tows because they feed at night; their vertical migration also occurs at this time.

Data Summary:

Our collected data opposed our hypothesis. We found that more zooplankton were found both during the day as well as during the night. Although the numbers of zoo and phytoplankton were somewhat similar for the day, the night numbers showed a significant difference in the amount of zoo and phytoplankton. As we know, this was because the zooplankton vertically migrated in the evening to feed, greatly increasing its number. According to our research, stormy weather also had an effect on the amount of plankton collected. The results we collected after the squall were significantly greater than on a calm day. With the plankton, the squall also increased the amount of sedimentation, inorganic matter suspended in water. Our results helped us propose other questions we may ask about plankton quantities such as; Would the depth of the plankton tow affect the amount of plankton collected?

While we were in shallow water performing a grassy bottom beach seine a stingray swam around us. It returned several times circling our group. We were told by our instructors that stingrays are fed at this location and that it was looking to be fed. Many people and tour outfits feed wild animals like rays and sharks to bring people closer to these animals. By feeding these animals they begin to associate humans with food. This association brings humans and wildlife in more frequent contact which poses hazards to both wildlife and humans.

What are some ways that we can educate people about the importance of not feeding wild animals?

In our hypothesis we stated that the grassy bottom would have more biodiversity than the sandy bottom. We came up with this hypothesis because we thought that there would be more fish that lived within the grass of the ocean. The smaller fish and juvenile fish used the combination of shallow water and the turtle grass as protection from the larger carnivores. We predicted that the sandy bottom would not have a large biodiversity because most fish would not camouflage in with the sand and therefore their predators would be able to see them and eat them.

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This morning we woke up finding out that many of us were sunburned from the day before. We started off our day with a snorkel to Gun Cay were we collected different types of algae. Each person was assigned a different type of common algae to collect around the small coral reef. We carried small amounts of algae in our mesh bags back to the ship. There we sorted out and identified the different species of algae. We then used herbarium paper to make algae presses.

Then we snorkeled back to Gun Cay for another beach seine and vegetation survey. This time our beach seine was conducted in the sea grass beds near shore. We caught many species of fish including puffer fish, filefish, cowfish, wrasse, flounder, and mojaro fish. We also caught shrimp, swimming crabs and other tiny invertebrates. Heading back down the beach we spotted a southern sting ray. After two trials we reapplied sunscreen and headed down the beach to work on vegetation survey. We looked at how the Australia pine trees were blocking sunlight for other native plants by there canopy coverage. We were able to see some of the different types of lizards which included anoles, geckos and, amieva. We headed back to the ship where Chef Matt was waiting for us with a cold snack. Eating our ice cream desserts on the captain's patio, we headed over to Moxen Rocks.

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Australian Pines are invasive plants that are originally from Australia and were brought to the Bahamas to help protect homes against storms. Because the Australian Pine has shallow roots and will blow over in winds in excess of 60 mph, they proved ineffective against storms. However, they are effective at seed dispersal. The Australian Pines seed can remain dormant for up to a year allowing it to travel great distances by bird and ocean. This has allowed the Australian Pine to populate all the islands we've visited.

Their leaves are rolled up tightly giving them the appearance of pine needles, but this tree is not a pine tree it is a deciduous tree like an oak or maple tree. Their pine needles both create canopy cover that blocks light from passing and fall to the ground smothering surrounding plants which prevents native, deep rooted species from growing. The Australian Pine has become a serious problem for Bimini and the rest of the Bahamas due to the fact that it's eliminating all of the native vegetation.

Here are some ways to get rid of this invasive species. Mass burnings of the pines would eliminate this invasive species because native plant seeds are fire resistant while the Australian Pines seeds are not. Also the process of girdling, a deep cut that goes along the diameter of the tree, will kill individual trees targeting specifically the Australian Pine. Do you have any other suggestions on how to eliminate this invasive species?

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We woke up to a grey, drizzly morning and ate our breakfast sluggishly. When we were told that we would be visiting the Shark Lab, our lethargic behavior quickly became one of excitement. We took the skiff to South Bimini, where the Shark Lab is located. There we were greeted by Kat, one of the managers at the facility, she guided us through the building to the research room. There she discussed with us shark conservation and the types of research Shark Lab carries out. Afterwards she took us outside and showed us a Bimini Boa. Some of the HSMB students were scared at first but they faced their fears and all of us were able to hold it. Kat then led us to the shark pen at the research center. Two Lemon sharks and three Nurse Sharks were in the pen. One of the Nurse Sharks was a baby and Kat caught the baby in her net first. She held it out for us to observe, discussing different aspects of its body. She then held out a Lemon shark for us to compare body structures. She told us about the proper way to hold a shark, and explained that when you turn a Lemon shark upside down, tonic immobility kicks in, and it becomes very calm, as if it's in a trance. While holding this shark, she also discussed how to differentiate a Black-tip Reef Shark and a Lemon Shark. She taught us about the "sixth-sense" of sharks, which is called the Ampulae of Lorenzini. This provides sharks with the ability to sense electromagnetic currents, which helps them pick out the injured fish in schools of fish. Shark Lab was really fascinating for all of the HSMB crew.

Lionfish are amazing and very poisinous fish. They are a non native species to the eastern hemisphere,originally from Aisa. The Lionfish are always in a competition with the native fish. The big problem with the Lionfish in the Bahamas is that there are too many. The reason for this is because they have no natural preditors,therefore they can reproduce a lot without being disturbed.

What can be done to keep the Lionfish population from growing?

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Upon waking up and having a delicious breakfast of French toast and fruit, we quickly dawned our snorkel gear and prepared for our mangrove experience. It was not long until we headed for the skiff and rode towards the mangroves, seeing numerous starfish, a great barracuda, and two southern stingrays. It was not long after we entered the water that a storm rolled in, causing the sedimentation to be stirred up, impairing our vision. Despite the powerful storm, we continued our snorkel and saw a spiny lobster and an upside-down jelly. Nearly all of the students experienced the wrath of the upside-down jellies, causing our lips and face to tingle irritably. Deciding enough is enough, we returned to the skiffs and headed back to the Coral Reef II.