The past day or so, I can feel myself slowly devolving back into a fish. (There is a non-zero chance that by the end of this trip I’ll crawl back into the primordial soup as a single-celled organism.) Last night me, Lillian, Emma, Dante, and Lauren did our almost-nightly beachcomb, where we found some really interesting animals, like gobies, crabs, brittle stars, and my personal favorite, a pistol shrimp.

Rock pistol shrimp (Alpheus angulosus)

The larger claw on a pistol shrimp is used to stun prey. It uses the claw to blow a bubble, then pops it with so much pressure that it can kill or even stun a fish [Ed note: it doesn’t blow a bubble, the claw moves with such speed that it creates a vaccuum so a cavitation bubble forms and then collapses.  The energy from this can stun prey and is one of the major sources of noise in coral reef soundscapes…  Neil should sign up for Prof. Warren’s bioacoustics course next fall semester….]. When the bubble pops, it emits a brief blast of light energy [Ed note: called sonoluminescence, it’s super-interesting], which is so powerful that if it were thermal energy it would be only slightly cooler than the surface of the sun. Needless to say we gave it a wide berth.

Today (January 7th) I spent a total of 5 hours in the water. This morning, I went out with Dante, Lillian, and Emma, where we were able to find the spotted eagle ray that Tegan located with her drone. (More on that in Lillian’s blog post!) A few minutes later, we were taking a boat to a site with tons of soft coral, where I finally got an okay photo of a butter hamlet.

Butter hamlet and stegastes.jpg caption: Yellowtail damsel (Microspathodon chrysurus, above) and butter hamlet (Hypoplectrus unicolor, below)

Now let me complain about the butter hamlet for a second. I swear this fish is cursed. I have seen at least 6 or so since we got here and every single time I’ve tried to take a picture of one it’s been either blurry or the hamlet just simply doesn’t show up in the photo. I could, of course, blame my subpar underwater photography skills, but instead I’d like to lay all the blame on this poor fish which doesn’t even know what a camera is.

After we got back and had lunch, I went out again to the reef with Crystal, Liana, and Hannah, where we saw a ton of different wrasses and damselfish. At this point in the day my time in the water was solidly at 4 hours, and I thought I’d maybe spend the rest of the day relaxing, but Dr. Peterson announced that we were going to do some night snorkeling, which I obviously said yes to. I paired up with Dante and we hit the reef, where we saw a stingray that was at least 7 feet from head to tail, an octopus, a beautiful spotted moray eel, and this very chill sharptail snake eel, which politely posed for a picture (butter hamlet, take notes!!!!!!!!!).

An exceptionally chill sharptail snake eel (Myrichthys breviceps)

I think after tonight snorkeling for eels, rays, and octopuses is going to become a nightly occurrence for me, and I can’t wait!

Till next time,

“Nutter Butter” Neil

As our trip in Jamaica progresses, we’ve gotten to see an absolutely incredible variety of tropical marine organisms. From giant spotted porcupine fish (Diodon hystrix) to sleek great barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda), adorable spotted sea hares (Aplysia dactylomela) and menacing spotted scorpionfish (Scorpaena plumieri), the diversity of life here is truly incredible to witness. One of the largest driving forces that led me to the field of marine biology was sharks, and the class Chondrichthyes overall (Which contains sharks, rays, skates, sawfish, and chimaeras). It is a sad truth however that shark populations in Jamaica have declined dramatically in recent years. Here at the Discovery Bay Marine Lab, we learned that primarily due to overfishing and loss of habitat, it was unlikely that we’d encounter a shark while out in the water this winter. This news was very sad to many of us, and highlights the negative effects anthropogenic threats have on reef ecosystems. The dire position of sharks in Jamaica shines a spotlight on the action we need to take as a global community, to combat our destructive practices and protect one of our most important and beautiful natural resources; the oceans.

All was not lost however! While snorkeling with my group, Dante joined and informed us that a rare endangered spotted eagle ray (Aetobatus narinari) was seen on the other side of the seagrass beds. We rushed over as fast as we could, and managed to encounter the ray just as we were about to give up the search! The ray was absolutely gorgeous, and moved through the water as if it were flying through the sky! I’m very happy to have gotten to encounter a large Chondrichthyes on this trip, and hope that my luck allows for more encounters before we leave!

A beautiful spotted eagle ray (Aelobatus narinari) gliding through the seagrass beds

-Lillian

9:30 AM we were RTG (ready to go) at the dock to embark on our very first snorkel + dive boat ride of our trip. We were passengers on two boats, The Seahorse which I and most of the other snorkelers were on, and the other one whose name I forgot [Ed note: Panulirus is the other boat]. Our captain was Jack Sparrow (yes for real), while the other boat was driven by Captain Snow. Our captain was so kind to allow me to sit on basically the only seat on the boat and turn on the tropical AC however I felt it was just a little too strong. We ventured to “Dairy Bowl” [Ed note: it’s actually Dairy Bull]. Imagine my surprise when we got there, and it was just more water, not a single bowl of milk in sight (jk jk). Since I was struggling to get used to the boat, I used the door to get into the water while everyone else jumped over the side like madmen and women. It was so beautiful; the divers were further away while we were closer to the island. There were many things that we wouldn’t see at the bay. For instance, soft corals like the Gorgonia ventalina AKA the common sea fan, some of them have an amazing purple color. We also saw Bothus lunatus AKA the peacock flounder. I used this as an opportunity to study by pointing things out and doing my best to name their scientific and common names plus their phylum, class, and other facts if I knew them. Our professional mermaid Tomato T. was diving down to get so many amazing photos. It was an enjoyable time for me at least until we had to get back on the boat. Since I knew what to expect I wasn’t too panicked, but I was still traumatized. 😊

This is me trying and failing to keep my composure on the balance boat named the Seahorse. All while KitKat K. and Lime L. are in the back enjoying my misery. Picture taken by Tomato T.

Can you spot the sharptail eel AKA Myrichthyes breviceps? Bet a penny that you can’t. Picture taken by Tomato T.

A big ole sea star (Phylum Echinodermata Class Astroides) that was chilling on the ocean floor. Picture taken by Tomato T.

Kiwi Kiyanni <3

It is so crazy that we have already reached the end of day 5 here in Jamaica! We have been super busy, and the days are just flying by. Day 5 was jam-packed with snorkeling, a scavenger hunt, learning about our new transect project and studying for the ID exam on Wednesday. In the morning, ¾ of my roomies (Jello Jordyn, Hamburger Hannah, and Kiwi Kiyanni) and I went out snorkeling with the goal to interact with the environment more! We touched a donkey dung sea cucumber (Holothuria mexicana), a beaded sea cucumber (Evapta lappa), a west Indian sea egg urchin (Tripneustes ventricosus) and some giant anemones (Condylactis gigantea). It was so cool to feel some of the features these organisms have evolved to have, like the tube feet of the sea urchin.

A picture of me holding a west Indian sea egg urchin! So cool.

After snorkeling freely, we met the class at the dock and were told all the types of organisms we needed to find for our scavenger hunt, including echinoderms, cnidaria (coral and noncoral), algae, sea grass and mollusks as a bonus! My ID group (Kiwi Kiyanni, Avocado Ariana, Guava Gabriela) and I took around an hour but found pretty much everything, including a mollusk, the king helmet snail (Cassis tuberosa). The scavenger hunt was such a great way to practice our IDing skills, as well as remembering the organisms belonging to each phylum. This was much needed since our exams are coming up, so wish us luck!

We are all beyond excited for what’s left to come on this trip, so make sure to keep following along on the blog 

• Lime Liana

After an amazing breakfast, we DITs (Divers in Training) went for our first offshore dive! We were very excited to know that we could go diving today to complete 2/4 of our Open Water Dives we need to be certified. There was not a lot of hope yesterday with the conditions being so terrible (visibility and current), but it really cleared up for us today.

We saw some awesome barrel sponges and got attacked by some damselfish!

We also practiced some skills with Prof. Brad to continue our training!! Almost right after we got off the boat, we went on a snorkeling scavenger hunt and tried to get as many pictures and samples as we could before we headed off for some lunch (we ended up being a little late). I got some crazy sunburns on my hands, but nothing compared to the sunburn on Brad’s head that he is calling a “base”. We are excited to continue our dives tomorrow and study hard for our lab practical exams!

-Kit-Kat Kylie

The weather has since cleared up since yesterday, the wind and rain no longer stirring up the sand and obscuring the underwater visibility. Today’s highlight was the scavenger hunt where we tried to find different species of algaes, fish, and corals, applying what we learned during our week here to identify them. Tomato Teagan found a pretty queen conch (Strombus gigas) during this time. I also lost an earring that I probably shouldn’t have been wearing while snorkeling.

A mollusk (Queen Conch) that Tegan found

At 6 pm tonight, the day took an unexpected turn when the date of the exam was announced. We all went to dinner feeling super stressed but the mashed potatoes were really good. Some of us scrambled to revise the list of the species names we have built up on the whiteboard. As always, the cats, specifically Ginger, joined us for our meals, bringing an end to our time together today before we split up for extra studying. Wish us luck on the exam!

Ginger, looking to get some food last night

Coca Cola Crystal

Our fifth day in Jamaica, was the first day we really got a taste of the Caribbean sun. Before lunch, we all met at the dock for a fun reef creature scavenger hunt. We broke up into our Photo I.D. project groups and took to the bay with hopes of completing Dr. Warren’s daunting list in just under an hour. My group scoured the bay looking for many different types of algae, fish, and invertebrates. By the end of our snorkel, we had gathered enough pictures and specimens to almost complete the hunt, only missing one or two algae.

After lunch, my roommate Sammi and I returned to enjoy the gorgeous weather. Within the first few minutes of snorkeling, I saw a small barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda) and an even smaller baby barracuda. We then swam to the other side of the jetty to look at all of the fish in the shallow rocks. While passing over a sand patch I spotted a small southern stingray (Hypanus americanus). It was amazing and one of my most anticipated sightings. Of course, it started cruising away the second I alerted Sammi, so we chased it hoping to get a good video. We underestimated how fast it could swim and it eventually outran us, but we still got some cool shots. I can’t wait to see what future dives and snorkels have in store for me.

Barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda) swimming near the rocks

Amazing southern stingray (Hypanus americanus) sitting on the sand in Discovery Bay

-Caitlin

We woke up to a windy day with low visibility in the water, but that didn’t stop our group from finding some great snorkeling treasures. On days like this, patience really is key. Having done most of my diving off Long Island, I’m no stranger to murky waters, so I was grateful to appreciate the little things I could spot. After about an hour of snorkeling in the shallows, admiring the algae, urchins, and tiny fish, I was blessed with a bigger find. This unforgettable creature is a BARRACUDA! Less commonly known as Sphyraena.

Photogenic barracuda serving face in its natural habitat.

Known for their sleek silver bodies, sharp teeth, and quick bites, barracudas are as intimidating as they are fascinating. Their piercing gaze and streamlined shape make them the ultimate ocean predator. Luckily, this one decided to spare me from a bite. It cruised by my camera, almost as if it knew it was stealing the spotlight. Honestly, with how it perfectly posed for my photo, it might have a modeling career in its future! Who knew a barracuda could serve both looks and danger?

– Strawberry Sammi <3

The wind was blowing intensely last night into today, so unfortunately, that led to the bay being kicked up with sediment, making the visibility and hopes for diving not look great. However, after our lecture and lunch, myself (tomato), Hamburger, Kiwi, Jello, and Daikon decided not to let the wind and pour visibility stop us from getting in the water!

But, with no surprise, after fighting the wind, waves, and current, we could not see very much.

Accurate representation of water visibility we were pretty much seeing.

However, it was great to get in the water and use our free time, and through the fog of sediment, we could see a few cool things and, most importantly, have fun with lots of laughs filled with salt water.

Eye Spy

~Tegan

Jamaica is incredible, teeming with a vast diversity of wildlife. The location of the Marine Center is one in which you have 24 hour access to a coral reef in your backyard. We are able to head down to the docks to enter the water to snorkel. The minute you enter the water, fish begin to surround you. As I entered the water I managed to take a picture of a damselfish sizing me up considering whether or not to attack by camera.

Getting sized up by a Threespot Damselfish (Stegastes planifrons).

They are truly the chihuahuas of the fish world. Small and tiny but ready to attack anything no matter how big. They are extremely territorial and help with maintaining turf algae. In the back you can see an orange fish known as a Squirrel fish (Holocentrus rufus) and zooming past in the back with black stripes and a yellow top are two Sergeant Majors (Abudefduf saxatilis), my personal favorite due to their adorable derpy faces. Then as I continued to swim and explore I spot a gorgeous black sea rod coral flowing in the waves.

A gorgeous Black Sea Rod (Plexaura homomalia) flowing to the waves with Kit-Kat in the background taking a picture.

Continuing on we swam over a ton of coral reef patches each teeming with life! The different species of fish, algae and coral coming to life in front of me making all of the information we are getting from the lectures finally beginning to click. With lunch time nearing it is time to head back and as I do I spot an alien like creature in the water and decide to take a closer look.

A donkey dung sea cucumber (Holothuria mexicana) in distress.

Soon I realized it was a Holothuria mexicana more commonly known as donkey dung sea cucumber in distress as it had undergone egestation due to some kind of an attack. When this occurs the sea cucumber ejects its respiratory tree, digestive tract and gonads. This poor sea cucumber will hopefully be able to recover as they are able to regenerate the organs they lost in this insane last resort form of defense. All in all another incredible and event filled day in Jamaica.

* Guava Gaby