On the morning of January 13^th, it was announced that we were going on a tour of the Green Grotto caves. Although I was over the moon to be going on another field trip, I wasn’t sure quite what to expect from the cave tour. After all, we went into it totally blind, just like the cave fish! (But no seriously, the rumor that the fish living in the Green Grotto caves are blind was debunked). I was somewhat perplexed when we were all handed hard hats, but the reasoning for this became abundantly clear when I nearly smacked my head into low-hanging rock formations an embarrassing number of times. At one point, I looked up too high and my hardhat fell right off my head and created the loudest, most reverberated noise known to man. Oops…

Here’s an extremely washed-out photo of me wearing my stylish hard hat before entering the caves. Photo creds to Lauren, who took it with my underwater camera that should probably stick to taking photos underwater.

The caves themselves were very interesting, especially when we had to duck under low ceilings and squeeze through openings (nothing too strenuous, but enough to make me feel adventurous). The tour lasted for about an hour, and included both underground and aboveground portions. The highlights included the families of bats that could be spotted swooping around or hunkering down in rock formations high above us, and the underground lake that housed the aforementioned not-blind fish.

The underground lake in the cave system. Any photo or video that I take at night or in any sort of darkness with my underwater camera is immediately granted a certain… found-footage quality. I can’t tell if it’s the lack of color or the yellow timestamp straight from the 2000s, but I appreciate the eerie vibe.

An end-of-tour group photo organized by Tegan (and captured on her phone). We were very happy to be out exploring!

Overall, I had a great time at the Green Grotto caves. Seeing sights around Jamaica besides the marine lab was such an important part of the trip for me, even if I felt a little like a tourist. I’m not looking forward to January in New York, but I have a few days left to soak up the sun. Till next time!

• Egg Bagel Emma

The past few days have been extremely busy as our class is coming to an end. All of us are putting the finishing touches on posts, collecting the last of our data, and analyzing what we have found. However, we still had some time for fun, and unrelated to a project, experiences. So far, my favorite has been the diving trip we took a couple of days ago to a shipwreck. I’ve only been to a shipwreck on a dive once before, and this ship was easily twice the size. Descending to the sand and seeing the ship coming into view felt like a scene from Pirates of the Caribbean!

Here you can see the hull of the ship encrusted with algae and coral as it has become a home for many organisms in the deep.

Not only was the ship itself amazing, but the life that called it home was also stunning. The entire ship was swarming with fish when we first descended (though they dispersed a little when we came), along with great clumps of algae and layers of coral. Some of the most amazing things I saw were the gigantic sponges we found attached to the sides.

This giant yellow tube sponge, Aplysina fistularis, was attached closer to the prow of the ship, standing out among the green algae.

However, I did not find out till after the dive that we were allowed to go inside the ship, since there were some fairly large openings. Thought that was a miniscule disappointment to an amazing dive!

Through the hole in the ship’s deck, you can see the cavernous opening to the ship’s interior.

-Avocado Ariana

“Linguini” Lillian and I spent the bulk of yesterday and the day before working on our transects. For the uninitiated, we put out 15 meters of transect tape and count all the herbivores (urchins, parrotfish, damselfish, and surgeonfish) that we can see within around 1 meter of the tape, then we record what substrate is underneath the tape every 10 centimeters. I have to say, I quite enjoy doing these, as I find them relaxing (although I’m sure I will regret posting this thought as soon as I submit this blog post; I am preparing internally to have to do 50-meter transects as soon as Prof. Warren sees this). [Ed note: What a fantastic idea Neil !  We’re on it!]  When you do a fish count for a transect, you must move very slowly so as not to scare them away, and so I’ve been noticing smaller, more unusual animals that might escape my view had I been moving at my normal speed. That’s how I came across this mantis shrimp, which I believe is Gonodactylus curacaoensis.

A very skittish mantis shrimp (Gonodactylus curacaoensis)]

I have seen several mantis shrimps on this trip, but they are small and incredibly skittish, so getting close to them is near impossible. For comparison, the estuary mantis shrimps (Squilla empusa) that we have on Long Island are huge, up to a foot, and extremely aggressive. You can’t get too close to a Gonodactylus because you’ll spook it away, but you can’t get close to S. empusa because it’ll spear you with its claws.

A VERY angry estuary mantis shrimp (Squilla empusa) that my friends and I found in Old Field Bay on June 17, 2021. DO NOT pick them up unless you know how to handle them!]

While Lillian did her final fish and urchin count, I poked around in the patch reefs a little more, emboldened by my (admittedly not very good) mantis shrimp photos, and that’s when I saw a species I’ve been wanting to see since the day I made my application for this program: the Christmas tree worm (Spirobranchus giganteus).

Christmas tree worms (Spirobranchus giganteus)]

These little, coral-dwelling worms come in a wide array of colors, and are aptly named for their festive whirl of radioles, which they use to catch tiny planktonic organisms. Seeing the mantis shrimp, a fearsome hunter, and the Christmas tree worms, small filter feeders, situated in the same area of patch reefs, I couldn’t help but think of how diverse the animal kingdom is. To me, these little animals are just small, shy curiosities, but if you’re a fish or a copepod, the mere thought of these organisms may strike fear into your heart. These are both full-on, specialized predators and—oops, Lillian’s done with her fish count. See you later!

“Nutter Butter” Neil

Here at Discovery Bay, we’re hard at work getting our transects, fish counts, and other assignments completed as our time in Jamaica is unfortunately almost over. One of these projects is a photo ID presentation, where we work in groups to photograph and identify as many marine organisms as possible. Due to the learning curve required to take underwater photos, as well as my camera really struggling to take clear pictures, I have had so-so success with my photography. While unfortunate, many of my photos of the rarest and most cryptic species I’ve encountered are also my lowest quality.

The tip of a tentacle, belonging to what I believe is a common octopus (Octopus vulgaris), next to a king helmet sea snail (Cassis tuberosa)

The tentacle’s owner, hiding under a coral outcropping. The eye is barely visible, along with its head and part of a second tentacle

I’m very glad my camera captured this cephalopod at all, as my snorkel buddy Neil wasn’t able to see it at all in his. While it is a shame my photographs of such an interesting and rare creature aren’t crisp, I have had better success with other cute animals. As the days before departure grow smaller and smaller, I hope to get the opportunity to photograph many more amazing tropical marine organisms before we leave!

A long-spine porcupinefish (Diodon holocanthus) peeking out from behind some turtle grass (Thalassia testudinum)

-Lillian

7 AM we were RTG at the dock to go on another boat trip but this time to a brand-new location, Flavor Beach. This was my 3^rd and best boat ride since I knew what to expect. The boat we took was called the Scomber and Captain Snow was our driver on the way to Flavor Beach. He provides a calm boat ride experience perfect for early morning. The water was calm and beautiful. It was so peaceful taking in the breeze and the early morning sun as we rode across the water. When we arrived after a 20-minute ride our captains switched boats and Captain Jack Sparrow took the snorkelers to our spot. This was my favorite snorkel location that we’ve been to. There was SOOO much life there. We saw amazing schools of fish that our captain was kind enough to spot and point out for us to swim over and see. I specifically enjoyed the school of Seargent majors AKA Abudefduf saxatillis which Jello J. writes more about. I even saw a Moray Eel which I found very cute because he was slightly hiding between rocks. I personally crossed many things off of my touch list like tube and encrusting sponges, Common Sea fans AKA Gorgonia ventalina, and some Octocorals. I touched many a sea star that Lime L. found and retrieved. I dove down to pick up Tripneustes ventricosas all by myself which tested my diving and breath-holding skills but also kinda irritated my ears while I was down there. There was even an all-white Tripneustes. Also, I feel as though I have mastered the art of slow swimming and hovering in order to truly appreciate the things you miss when going too fast. The ride back to DBML was new and enjoyable for me because I actually stood up on the boat this time while Captain Jack Sparrow took us on a very fun and very fast boat ride back so we could beat everyone to the showers and breakfast. 10/10 boat trip 😊

A sea star with battle scars. He was deformed in the battle of the stars. (idk if that’s true but it could be) Picture taken by Hamburger H.

Me holding a really cute sea star, I think he’s pretty chunky. Picture taken by Hamburger H.

An all-white Tripneustes ventricosa AKA the West Indian Sea Egg, which I thought was dead until I picked it up and it stuck to me. Picture taken by Hamburger H.

Kiwi Kiyanni <3

Starting our day bright an early at the dock at 7 a.m. RTG (ready to go) the sunrise was beautiful. The clouds were a light pink color, and the water was as calm as a sea cucumber. As we loaded on to the boats I was accompanied by my fellow snorkelers Hamburger Hannah, Lime Liana, Kiwi Kiyanni, Guava Gabby, and Coca-cola Crystal. About 20 minutes later we arrived at our snorkel destination, and we assembled our gear and jumped in! As we swam around, I had never seen so many West Indian Sea Eggs (Tripneustes ventricosas). Everywhere I looked I could see one and the seafloor was filled with many corals ranging from Bladed Fire Coral (Millepora complanata) to Grooved Brain Coral (Diploria labrynthiforms).

As I kept diving down over coral and through schools of fish, I had noticed our boat driver Captain Jack Sparrow was telling us to come near the boat because he had something to show us. As we swam closer, he was throwing little pieces of bread into the water and schools of Sergeant Major’s (Abudefduf saxatilis) were all surrounding the boat to get a piece of his breakfast. After the divers finished their dive, it was time to get back on the boat and head back. On the boat ride back, Kiwi Keyanni had asked Captain Jack Sparrow what the name of the snorkel spot was, and he said, “Flavors Beach”. We all concluded that Flavors Beach was the best snorkel spot on the trip and yes there was a lot of flavors in the array of animals present, but I think Hamburger Hannah knows how it really tasted considering she swallowed some sea water on the way back to the boat.

A small group of sergeant majors swimming

Grooved brain coral on the seafloor

All photos taken by Hamburger Hannah

Jello Jordyn

In my last terrestrial focused blog post, I showed some of the animals I have seen so far, however everyday I continue to see more and more new species. Some of the other non-marine species I have seen so far include the:

Zebra longwing butterfly (Heliconius charithonia), a black butterfly with yellow stripes and markings. This butterfly is native to Jamaica.

An orange spiny orb weaver (Gasteracantha cancriformis), these spiders come in many different colors, and have 6 predominant spines on their head, a hard shell like abdomen, and are native to Jamaica.

Ruddy turnstone (Arenaria interpres), a shoreline, highly migratory bird. native to Jamaica. These bids have a unique behavior of flipping over rocks, shells, and other debris to locate and eat invertebrates.
***Ruddy turnstones are not terrestrial animals, they are considered to be coastal or marine birds

Some other honorable mentions are the various number of bat species we have right within the ground of the marine lab. These bats are very active right around dusk, feeding for an hour or two, then calming down, before sometimes feeding again before dawn. Professor Dr. Warren also brought a bat sound detector that helps identify the many species of bats. The detector also modifies the bats echolocation sounds to a frequency that is audible for the average human ear. There are also many turkey vultures (Cathartes aura) that fly within the grounds as well. These vultures are dark colored with heads that look similar to that of a turkey. Because they are a species of vultures, they are scavengers. They are also known as “johncrows” in Jamaica.

Dante

Saturday morning started out with a yummy breakfast of bacon and pancakes before the divers headed out to do our outer reef transects. My dive buddy (Strawberry Sammi) and I backward rolled off the boat, beginning our dive with a splash. We then descended to 20 feet and looked for a good spot to do our first transect. After finding a suitable spot we got to work laying out the 15-meter tape, then taking turns swimming along it to do our fish and urchin counts. Finally, we began the tedious process of marking down the bottom substrate every 10 centimeters with Sammi starting at one end and me at the other, meeting in the middle. We had enough air in our tanks to do another one, so we found another spot for our tape and repeated the steps.

A picture of a small part of our transect. Photo creds to Sammi

We were back at it again after lunch, this time inside the reef crest. However, we hit a snag when we swam out and realized we had forgotten our transect tape at the dock. After retrieving the tape we found an area of patch reef to do our next two transects. We completed them much quicker than this morning as we had our procedure down and the site was much shallower at around 8 feet. This site also had many more parrotfish to see and count. We ended the night with a lively game of volleyball after dinner and looking off the dock to see any nocturnal critters. All in all, it was a very productive day.

A picture of me looking annoyed while beginning one of our transects inside the reef crest. Photo creds to Sammi

Our dive slate showing our fish and urchin counts and part of our bottom identification. Photo creds to Sammi.

See ya later,

CandyHearts Caitlin

I sat on our balcony for hours reading “A Study in Drowning”  [Ed note: this is not a class assignment…] after returning from an exhausting day out in town. The bay slightly peeked through from behind the trees and you could see when the color faded from the sky as the sun finally set. I haven’t really picked up that book since I was in the airport and it was nice to finally find time to read again. We spent the first day we’ve been out of the lab since we arrived hiking Dunn River Falls then walking around Ocho Rios. Our three hours in town slipped by quickly as we ate lunch overlooking the ocean, went to the supermarket to buy some local snacks, and spent our last 15 minutes before we had to head back to the bus in the straw market with people calling you into their shops to sell stuff like beaded bracelets, paintings, and conch shells.

After going to the starting point we climbed in the water on the rocks of Dunn River Falls

After dinner, some of us went out night snorkeling to end the day. Nutter Butter and Egg Bagel headed in early but I followed Avocado, Guava, and Daikon out further into the water where we saw a baby octopus and a berried anemone. My favorite part of going out at night is when you take off your slightly fogged goggles and see nothing but the clearness of the moonlit bay against the horizon. And you turn the other way and you’re in the middle of the ocean looking back at a lit up coastline with faded music blasting in the distance. It was a really nice break we got before going back to doing transects and other assignments.

Discovery Bay at Night

Crystal

The whole gang had our breakfast and hopped on a van to Dunn’s River Falls to hike the waterfall. The waterfall was INSANE, but also insanely fun because of how hard the climb was and how hard the water was flowing. We all made it to the top with a lot more bruises than we came in with, but we felt very accomplished as individuals and as a team! We headed to Ochos Rios- a town very close by to the falls, for some much needed lunch. We got a table for nine at Margaritaville and got enough nachos to last us weeks and burgers that we could barely finish. We left there to barter with some of the vendors at the straw market and we all got some nice souvenirs to take home to our friends and families!

Overall, it was a very good day and it was worth all the bruises and scrapes!

Photo Taken by Hamburger Hannah. Pictured is Lime Liana, Tomato Tegan, Coca-Cola Crystal, Strawberry Sam, Candy Hearts Caitlyn, Kit-Kat Kylie, Kiwi Kiyani, and Jello Jordyn.

-Kit-Kat Kylie