NO bleaching

I forgot to mention in my recent post that I observed little to no bleaching. There are some anecdotal reports of Agaricids starting to pale and/or bleach in deep water, but we were unable to observe this. Nevertheless, this sounds similar to the deep paling and partial bleaching of the plating Agaricids I saw in St. Croix two weeks ago. In short, nothing to write home about on the bleaching front.

FYI..in my previous post I mention the acronym YBD without defining it. YBD = Yellow Band Disease.

Cheerio,
Derek

Biological monitoring

Video transect surveys and urchin counts were performed today by Hugh Small, Camilo Trench, and myself. Fifteen video transects were run (16 m length transect line). All urchins within 0.5 m on either side of the transect line were identified and counted. A total of 20 urchin count transects were run (16 square meters per transect). Diadema antillarum is locally abundant near the ICON site and was the most abundant urchin surveyed. This is very encouraging as algal biomass is significantly reduced around the grazing area of individuals and where D. antillarum is absent, algal biomass is incredible (thats a scientific term).

I noted several large Acropora palmata pieces (up to 1 m in max. diameter) that had been broken and transported behind the reef crest during Hurricane Dean. Other than this, there were no indications of any negative hurricane impacts.

Nineteen colonies of Montastraea faveolata were tagged and photographed. Photos should be re-taken in 3 months to assess mortality and recovery. YBD appears to only be affecting a small proportion of M. faveolata colonies, but diseased colonies appear to have a clumped distribution. Colonies were tagged because YBD seems to be occurring throughout the Caribbean at the present time. I have received confirmed reports of YBD in the Dominican Republic and U.S. Virgin Islands to date. YBD appears to have been more abundant at the St. Croix site.

I would like to extend my utmost gratitude for the field support provided by Hugh and Camilo and to our captain Anthony.

Best regards,
Derek Manzello

Station Cleaning

Full station cleaning carried out on 30th Aug.

Calibration unit secured to mast at depth of shallow CTD between 1100 – 1700 hrs local time.

Cleaning took place between 1315 – 1440 hrs local time.

Screens on CTD units changed

Algal growth not heavy

Post-hurricane Inspection

Post hurricane inspection of station carried out 23 Aug 07. All intact except for outer North & North-Eastern stanchions. Cement holding pin for north-eastern stanchion badly cracked and stanchion moveable (shaken side to side) by hand but still holding and working to stabilise unit.
Cement holding pin for northern stanchion cracked but pin still secure and not moveable by hand
Good work by Jules et al

Post-Hurricane Dean Entry

The station withstood Hurricane Dean during the night and early morning of August 19th/20th. The maximum averaged hourly gusts measured at the station were 67.7 knots (77.9 mph), while maximum averaged hourly sustained winds were 48.5 knots (55.8 mph). The lowest barometer reading (hourly average) was about 997 millibars. Individual readings throughout each hour were no doubt higher and lower than these hourly averages. The station with calibrated instruments was just installed in June, so the data should be pretty accurate. (Click on graph above for enlarged view; times are in UTC.)

So far as I am aware, these meteorological and oceanographic data are the most comprehensive (i.e., to include sea temperature, salinity, light, pCO2, winds, etc.) for a coral reef area before, during and after a hurricane. A biological survey will be conducted soon.

We hope for the best for all of Jamaica's citizens and their country. We have not heard from Peter Gayle of Discovery Bay Marine Laboratory yet.

Jim

Maintenance Updates

There have been two cleanings since the first one, but Peter Gayle has not been able to enter complete records yet. They are preparing for Hurricane Dean.

Basic Station Cleaning

Basic station cleaning carried out on 16 Aug 07.