Cultivating Coral

This morning and yesterday afternoon I went with the SFS interns to transplant coral onto the reef balls we had submerged a little while back (see Reef Balls). About a week ago they attempted to do so using the method I mentioned before: gluing them on with a special marine cement. As it turned out, that wasn't the way to go. The cement crumbled in the water and wasn't strong enough to hold the corals in place. Based on his previous experience transplanting corals, Will suggested a new method: zip-tying them in place using plastic cable ties.

Newly transplanted corals.

It's not the most aesthetically pleasing method, but so far it appears to be working really well. This morning we checked closely on the ones we attached yesterday, and the coral polyps were extended and feeding - a very good sign. And, I was told, the corals will eventually grow over the plastic, concealing it within the stony structure.

Healthy looking polyps on my piece of Pillar Coral.

Finding enough coral fragments to transplant is pretty easy. It's part of the coral lifecycle to break apart and grow new colonies. It's only a problem when there's a catastrophic event (like Hurricane Ike last year) or a dramatic change in the ecosystem (like those often caused by pollution, silting, and climate change) that kills off the entire colony. We simply snorkeled on the surface until we spotted a detached piece, then dove down and collected it. They're much less fragile than I expected too. When the polyps are retracted they are protected by the hard structure they've built around themselves (at least, this is the case for hard corals).

Fastening Zip-Ties

In the previous post about reef balls I said that I expected fish to colonize them on their own and almost immediately. I was wrong. Apparently fish are not attracted to plain concrete objects. I was really impressed, however, when I attached a piece of Dendrogyra cylindrus (Pillar Coral) and three fish swam right in and started nipping algae off the dead portions! I pulled the zip-ties tight, backed up, and literally within 10 seconds the fish were there. They recognized the balls as a nice place to live once there was some coral there.

Now we wait and watch. At regular intervals, Will will be taking photographs (with a ruler in the frame) to track their rate of growth.

Reef Balls

In Jessee's post Goodbye Summer 2009, she mentioned one of the service projects that SFS is involved in: Reef Ball building. For some time, SFS has been making concrete structures to create an artificial reef. Today, we deployed the first batch.


We picked a nice sandy patch down the way from Shark Alley and heaved them overboard. That wasn't until after all of the heavy lifting was finished though. We had to carry them about 100 yards from where we built them, down two sets of stairs, over the dock, and onto the boat. And they must weigh in the range of 300 pounds! The heaviest one took 5 people to move. The stairs were probably the trickiest part. At one point I actually got knocked off the dock into the water. As we were straining to get the ball down the first flight of steps the group wanted to rest, so they started to set it down. But, unfortunately, they didn't give me much warning and one of the boards we were using to carry it was being placed onto my foot. I pulled back to get it out before it was crushed, and when it came free I was knocked off balance. It was very slow coming, but I couldn't keep from going over the edge. It was all pretty funny and I think I started laughing before I even hit the water.




Once the balls were in the water we went down on SCUBA and used "lift bags" to move them into the correct place. A lift bag is a specially designed bag that you anchor to a heavy object underwater and then fill with air from your tank. The air provides bouyancy and lifts the object upwards. We only had two bags for a total of 150 lbs of lift, but it was enough to lighten the load so we could easily push them into place (the water displaced by the ball itself made them considerably lighter to begin with).




The next step will be to transplant corals to get the colonization process started. Fish and crustaceans will quickly move in on thier own (in fact some have probably already found them), but corals take much more time, so we will help them along. We'll go looking for small fragments of coral (or collect some if need be) and then attachment to the ball using a special marine cement. With just a few pieces, they should take hold and grow all over the ball.

Goodbye Summer 2'09

The second SFS summer session ended today and I just got back from escorting all of the students to the airport in Provo where they'll pick up their international flights back to the US. What a mess! (mislabeled luggage tags, confusing airport policies, lost bags, missed flights...) It was hard to end the session on such a chaotic note, but at least the students will be together on just 2 different flights so they'll get to reminisce and say their goodbyes to one another on the plane.


Last night we watched a slideshow of photos from the past month, and recognized a few of the students for various achievements (most of which were quirky or mildly embarrassing rather than serious). It was really fun to think back on the range of activities and projects that we carried out together, and in such a short period of time. Below are a few photos that reflect some of my fondest memories from the past month.

Playing ultimate frisbee on the "field" just a few blocks from the center... (that's me in the yellow)


Creating reef balls that will placed on the ocean floor in an effort to simulate natural reef ecosystems and provide habitat for the coral, fish, and other species that depend on them...

The final product! (above)

Brett and me on one of our exploratory walks around town, which we like to take whenever we have a little free time...


Teaching swimming lessons during our final Saturday afternoon Community Outreach session for the summer...


Unfortunately, our "Ladies Only Swim Lessons" was not nearly as well attended as our Saturday lessons tend to be. Only 2 girls showed up. I think the obstacles we'll have to overcome to encourage women (especially those who have lived here for decades without ever having venured into the ocean) are greater than we initially anticipated. We aren't giving up on the idea, but the students from this most recent SFS session are passing the torch onto the next group, and I'll work with them to brainstorm some new approaches and tactics.

I like to take pictures during Community Outreach, because it's a great way to depict our students in action rather than posing for the camera. It's also a great way to sneak in candid shots of folks from the local community. I have to be careful though, because if the local kids notice me taking pictures of them, they'll forget about whatever it was they were doing and come running for my camera! Diana (below) got a hold of it for a few minutes last week and took this shot: