simonk999
Contributor
Hello all,
I am on the 2nd day of an Earthwatch project (hello DivingGal!) that is investigating coral recruitment on the north shore of Jamaica, in Discovery Bay.
We have learned a bit about the difficulties coral reefs are in these days, and Jamaica's reefs suffer from a number of problems, such as sedimentation, over-fishing, storm damage, and others. Our task is to measure so-called "massive" corals to determine when they started to grow. The researcher, Dr. James Crabbe, from Reading University in the UK, has developed a polynomial equation that models growth, and they want to use that to get data on historical recruitment rates.
The diving is in 82F water, with moderate to good visibility (there was a storm the previous week), to various sites around Discovery Bay. We have been to two sites so far, outside the barrier reef, which have had a reasonable selection of hard coral, but hardly any branching corals, and hardly any fish. It being the north coast, there is a good swell, especially after the wind kicks in around 9-10am. The first day, we got out late, and the swell was 4-5 ft. A few of us, myself included, declined to make a 2nd dive due to queasiness. A small boat in those seas isn't that comfortable. The dive today was made earlier in the morning and was in 1-2ft seas, which was quite manageable.
Later in the week, we are going to dive with the American ambassador to Jamaica since she's interested in what the Discovery Bay Marine Lab is doing. It's part of a general Open House that they're putting on in the hopes that the local populace will learn about the impact of humans on the environment.
Well, perhaps more later.
-Simon
I am on the 2nd day of an Earthwatch project (hello DivingGal!) that is investigating coral recruitment on the north shore of Jamaica, in Discovery Bay.
We have learned a bit about the difficulties coral reefs are in these days, and Jamaica's reefs suffer from a number of problems, such as sedimentation, over-fishing, storm damage, and others. Our task is to measure so-called "massive" corals to determine when they started to grow. The researcher, Dr. James Crabbe, from Reading University in the UK, has developed a polynomial equation that models growth, and they want to use that to get data on historical recruitment rates.
The diving is in 82F water, with moderate to good visibility (there was a storm the previous week), to various sites around Discovery Bay. We have been to two sites so far, outside the barrier reef, which have had a reasonable selection of hard coral, but hardly any branching corals, and hardly any fish. It being the north coast, there is a good swell, especially after the wind kicks in around 9-10am. The first day, we got out late, and the swell was 4-5 ft. A few of us, myself included, declined to make a 2nd dive due to queasiness. A small boat in those seas isn't that comfortable. The dive today was made earlier in the morning and was in 1-2ft seas, which was quite manageable.
Later in the week, we are going to dive with the American ambassador to Jamaica since she's interested in what the Discovery Bay Marine Lab is doing. It's part of a general Open House that they're putting on in the hopes that the local populace will learn about the impact of humans on the environment.
Well, perhaps more later.
-Simon