Sunscreen Causes Coral Bleaching

The Cape Eleuthera Institute intern book club is where the interns, fellow CEI researchers and IS community come together every Thursday evening to review scientific literature. Past topics include bonefish mortality rates in catch and release fishing and food security in the tropics, this week’s paper discussion investigated the effects of sunscreen on coral reefs and their symbiotic algae, zooxanthelle. A majority of the book club was aware that of the potential negative impact sunscreens could have on coral reefs, but were not sure to what extent.

The study subjected hard coral species, Acropora, to several different concentrations of sunscreen ingredients, including ultra violet filters and preservatives, where they were evaluated for their coral bleaching potential. The results clearly show sunscreen ingredients caused coral mucus to be released leading to loss of membrane integrity and photosynthetic pigments in zooxanthelle. It was determined, even at very low doses, sunscreens cause rapid and complete bleaching of hard coral within 96 hours. Continue reading →

Last fall, Alexandra Cousteau visited The Island School to film this segment for Revo sunglasses.  You’ll recognize a lot of the scenes in the clip!  It was great having Alexandra on campus – we hope she’ll come back and visit us again soon.

The aquaculture team has been hard at work this past week collecting sharknose gobies.  The fish are placed in pairing tanks and observed for pairing behavior.  In about 3 weeks we should have a few more pairs to add to our already very prolific broodstock.  Here is a video of our first pair laying their 5th(!) clutch in a little more than a month.

The male is visible first, guarding the nest while the females deposits sticky eggs on the roof of their PVC home. Then they switch places so the male can fertilize the eggs. The large bellied female, on the left, will then deposit more eggs with her jerky movements across top of their “cave”. The male will follow again to fertilize. They take a quick rest before another round of laying. The male is suddenly offended by the camera and comes to stand guard. He will provide most of the parental care during incubation, guarding the nest from intruders, cleaning algal and fungal growth, and fanning the eggs with his tail to keep them well oxygenated.

Early in the morning on Monday February 22^nd the shark team in collaboration with the flats program packed up a van full of gear for a days worth of research and traveled North to Savannah Sound. Program managers and interns set creek modified survey lines in the sound, for the first time as a part of an ongoing lemon shark study conducted by the Shark Research and Conservation Program at the Cape Eleuthera Institute. This study has been underway for just over a year and focuses primarily on the abundance and distribution of juvenile lemon sharks in tidal creeks around South Eleuthera. In effort to expand the scope of the study, the team is venturing to new areas, like Savannah Sound. Continue reading →

On Sunday, we had the opportunity to train new REEF.org surveyors! REEF (Reef Environmental Education Foundation) is a marine conservation organization which motivates SCUBA divers and snorkelers to record the marine life they see while in the water. That’s just what we did! After a fish ID review on land, we visited patch reef sites and practiced our identification skills in the field. After we were sure we surveyed the entire site, we came back to Island School and entered our data  on REEF’s website. The information we submit goes into a public database for anyone to view; from scientists and law makers to SCUBA divers and beachcombers, our observations impact their decisions about the marine environment!

REEF surveys can be conducted anywhere, and with a little training, by anyone. If you are interested in joining the volunteer survey program, or learning about REEF log onto www.reef.org .

Our first ever Lionfish Reef Cleanup was quite a success resulting in over 40 lionfish captured. Prizes went out to the team with the most caught, the largest caught, and the smallest caught. Team “Harlequin Leather” won the most caught award with a total of 20 lionfish. The largest caught award went to both Matthew Koehorst and Avery Goelz with a team effort that resulted in a 40 cm lionfish. Finally, the smallest caught award went to sharp shooter Sam Kenworthy who brought up a 12 cm lionfish.

We recently received a suggestion from a parent of an alum to create a way for alumni parents and parents of current and prospective students to be able to share information and advice.  What a great idea!

So we’ve created The Island School Parents Network page on Facebook.  If you are a parent of an Island School alum or a current student, use this page to collaborate and share advice.  Go ahead and log on to Facebook and like this page…and while you’re on there; you should friend Cacique Maxey too!

With the 15 pounds of fillets that were a result of the first ever Lionfish Reef Cleanup, the Lionfish Team hosted a Lionfish Cook-off at the DCMS 10 Year Anniversary Celebration. With three different dishes cooked up by local chefs we exposed many new people to the deliciously sweet meat of lionfish. Continue reading →

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S3ctiSwSqs