In order to demonstrate their newly discovered knowledge of marine species (the good, the bad, and the attractive…) Marine Ecology students have been creating original “Match.com” profiles for local marine life.  Check out these hot new profiles and ask yourself: who would you rather spend an evening with? The generous and independent Encrusting Fan Leaf Algea, the fancy dancing Pederson Cleaner Shrimp, or the overbearing Lionfish?

Encrusting Fan Leaf Algae Profile by Hope Logan:

Don’t be deceived by my phylum, a very attractive algae. I have large, round leaves a little  smaller than your hand. My pad is awesome, I live on coral reefs so there’s a ton of sunlight because I need it to live. But thats just about the only thing I need, I’m not a needy organism at all. In fact, I’m very self sufficient. So I don’t need to rely on anyone to bring home the bacon, I got it. Just gimme some some sunlight to photosynthesize with and I’m good, because I’m an autotroph. I provide well for myself, but, I’m a sensitive guy and I also like to give back to the whole community around me.  By fixing carbon into oxygen, I produce not only enough food for me, but also oxygen and nutrients for all the organisms on the reef around me. Because of this, they call me a Primary Producer, you see, I’m an important guy on the reef. I feed a lot of juveniles, beautiful fish, and everyone else who needs to be fed. I’m so generous I even feed those ugly Fuzzy Chitons. I make the reef a better place, and without me, the reef would not have the biodiversity that it has. I know my place and have found my niche. I fulfill my role on the reef and am confident in it. Continue reading →

Hello friends, family, alumni, scientists and everyone else who has been clicking, reading, commenting and following on this blog. This is our 1,000th blog post! Without you all out there, we’d never have made it this far! THANKS & KEEP ON READING!

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In a recent Marine Ecology class, students were asked to stay still, underwater, on SCUBA, for half an hour, focusing their observations on one specific area of reef. They then wrote underwater essays on their dive slates, addressing the prompt: Why (or why not) is there so much life on this area of reef. Enjoy these examples: deeply thoughtful analyses written deep under water…

by Chapin Atwood:

I arrived at my patch of coral reef and sank to my knees as I began to watch all the components of this ecosystem react. Watching the fish, busily flipping their tales around pieces of coral reef and sponges, I was amazed at the beauty of this small piece of reef. This reef looked very healthy with life bursting out of it.

After a few moments of enjoying its beauty, I began to study the components of the coral reef in depth. I began by looking at the biotic factors of the reef, such as the different types of sponges and algae and fish species. I noticed large patches of Encrusting sponges as well as the Rope sponges and Tube sponges. All of these species of sponges have a similar niche in the ecosystem, to filter the water and take out nutrients and oxygen from the water. They get their food by filtering the water, which means that they are heterotrophs because they amass organic matter from other sources. I noticed the small holes on each of these sponges, placed in different places for the different species. These holes were the oscula, in which the filtered water came out of. When looking closely at some of the Encrusting sponges, I noticed this layer of green algae that covered the sponge. I wondered what its name was? I also wondered if it has a severe effect on the health of the coral reef? Continue reading →