Tropical Marine Ecology 2008

January 18

Photo Caption: Ashley, Elyssa, and Marcy (from left to right) enjoy an evening out for dinner at The Ultimate Jerk, a local restaurant.

Our last full day in Jamaica!

It was disappointing to wake up to rain at seven this morning, but by the time we all headed to breakfast at eight it had cleared up and was another beautiful morning. For breakfast we had a choice of scrambled eggs, bacon, toast and an assortment of fresh fruit. As soon as we were done eating, I headed to the room with Ashley and Rachel to finish up our presentation on coral disease. The weather was perfect. It sucked being cooped up inside on our laptops working on our projects. I guess that’s what we get for waiting until the last minute. After countless hours in the water, 400 coral specimens, over 3500 square meters of water and a lot of frustration we had results. We concluded that about 37% of the coral in Discovery Bay is diseased. Not as high as I thought, but it’s still a depressing number.

We took a break for lunch, which like everything else here was delicious. I’m not exactly sure what it was. I think it was jerk chicken wrapped in kind of a pie crust. Whatever it was it was awesome. Rachel was happy to see her favorite item on the menu. I took an extended lunch and laid out by the dock with my book, "A Salty Piece of Land" by Jimmy Buffett, to catch the last bit of sun.

We started presentations at 4pm. I would be lying if I said it wasn’t long, but it was still fun to see everyone’s results that they have been working so hard for. We took longer than expected so we had to stop for dinner. Our last dinner here was excellent; BBQ chicken and ribs, rice, and the potato salad that every one of us loves. I’m definitely going to miss the food here. After dinner we voted on ideas for a class tee shirt. We decided on a black shirt with the outline of Jamaica filled in with the colors of the dive flag on the back, and everyone's food name + first name below the image.

As soon as we were agreed, which did not come easily, we picked up again on presentations and finished the last few.

It feels great to be done! We celebrated afterwards by having one last bonfire on the jetty. We stayed out there for hours, despite the patchy rain and fire ants, and even had a guest appearance by Professor Warren. The clouds looked awesome and the moon was almost full. It was a great way to spend the last night!

It’s sad to be going home tomorrow. I’m sure we all miss our family and friends and real showers, but Jamaica is definitely a place you can get used to. I’ve had a wonderful experience. I’ve seen things I never thought I’d see (a seahorse!), and done things I never would have done anywhere else, like climbing up waterfalls and swinging from vines into the water. I’m really going to miss the amazing people I’ve met here, especially the girls of apartment 6, the beautiful, clear waters of Discovery Bay, and two of the most amazing professors I’ve had in my time at Stony Brook. It was an incredible learning and life experience.

Well I’m off to pack. See you all in New York!

~Elyssa

Photo Caption: Ashley, Elyssa, and Marcy (from left to right) enjoy an evening out for dinner at The Ultimate Jerk, a local restaurant.

January 16

Photo caption: Just like in Long Island waters, flounder can be hard to spot. Luckily, the water here has been 81F degrees the entire time we've been here, except when you swim through a groundwater plume, then it's a downright chilly 75 or so.

This morning I woke up around 7:30 just in time to have some breakfast before running some trials for Helen’s and my project. I stepped outside to a gray-tinted, overcast sky as a few welcoming droplets of rain landed on my head. By the time I reached the cafeteria the drops stopped and I walked in to see lil miss red stripe and the hard working Adam.

Rachel (red stripe) put it the best when she stated, "I usually prefer to sleep a little later then this, but having this delicious food to wake up to every morning is just so good." Everyone agreed and we continued to drink our coffee and fill up on warm French toast drizzled in maple syrup, the best bacon I’ve ever had, all accompanied with fresh pieces of pineapple and watermelon. Helen stopped in shortly after we began to eat to join us, and the rest began to shuffle in as the morning progressed.

Helen and I went to work on our fish and sound project in the wet lab and midway through our project SCUBA Steve came in to let us know about the group dive was going on at 10 am. When Helen and I finished the trial, I debated going out due to the choppy look across the blue ocean that seemed a shade darker then the previous days while covered in white caps that I haven’t seen since the first few miserable weather days we encountered upon our arrival. It cleared up since breakfast quite a bit and the sun was beginning to shine brightly so I gathered my snorkel gear and decided to take it easy and just snorkel along with other Ashley, Andrea, and Rachel. A large portion of us piled into the two boats and headed out to the site, Pear Tree, that was just east of dairy bull, I was really looking forward to seeing some of the large sponges that were sited in an earlier dive by Steve and Chris.

Out on the water the waves were still pretty high and we all held on tight while going over against the waves that were nearly breaking on our bow. I don’t know about everyone else, but I sure was looking forward to jumping in those waves. It’s not everyday that you get to play around in waves that size around here where there is no beach. However our dive master, Anthony, turned us around and took us back because the conditions were not adequate for activities such as SCUBA. I do think though that I speak for most by saying the boat ride alone was pretty fun.

Helen and I went to work once again on our project doing a trial right before lunch. Once we finished our experimental trials, we washed off and headed back to the cafeteria for some good eatin’. The ladies made us baked potatoes with cheese that when accented with some hot sauce were super delicious!! Of course there was also some salad and fruit for the side. Helen and I went back to work on our projects as did most everyone else, some of us catching some rays of afternoon sun in the process. That’s the great thing about taking class in Jamaica; you can sit outside in JANUARY doing your work!!

Later a few of us decided to break away from working and take a stroll along the shoreline to a sandy beach we came across a few days prior. There is nothing like finally finding a place that you really feel secluded, a place you can crunch your toes around in the sand while pondering thoughts of the day.

When we all returned it was just about time for dinner, but most of us squeezed in some last efforts with our projects before heading in. Dinner was by far the best meal of the day. We had a scrumptious hot and sour with pineapples, smoked chicken that we could smell a mile away, baked fish with peppers and onions, fried rice, a broccoli casserole with mushrooms, and some tomatoes and cucumbers. As if that wasn’t enough the ladies even made us this incredible cheese cake topped with strawberries. After dinner we all scattered to do some last minute fixes on our power point updates for our projects that were due at 8. By the time we were finished with all the presentations we were all pretty much shot, except from what I remember scuba Steve and Rachel who were going to make herself a fire on the jetty.

Andrea, Marcy, Sara, and I decided it was movie night and we started to watch Hot Fuzz for I’d say around twenty minutes. We all dozed in and out of sleep before just shutting it off and calling it a night. The days here seem so long and it’s as though you have nothing but time all the time. It’s a feeling that I find it almost impossible to describe in anyway other then sublime.

-Ashley A.

January 15

Photo Caption: A hummingbird flaps faster than even a digital camera wielded by Steve can capture.

BLOGTASTIC! So this morning arose like any other; waking up to (other) Stephen’s alarm a good 3 times before springing to life and staggering 20 feet to the cafeteria, maybe kicking a cinderblock on my way, maybe not. The food these ladies cook is delectably amazing, and even though breakfast is the worst meal they serve, some fresh pineapple in the morning never fails to satisfy. After fueling up, I suited up to check my problematic research project which, I will spare you the not so excruitiating details of. After this small bit of work it’s all smooth sailing. Relaxing in the sun, joking around, some jumps into the saltiness they call ocean are all part of the experience.

It has been days since my feet have felt the hug of socks; my shirts decide they rather be carried and not worn. A nice warm breeze never only complements the feelings of comfort felt.

So today’s adventure led us to the beautiful botanic gardens of Cranbrooke. You almost forget how gorgeous Jamaica is when you don’t leave the complex in a few days.

So we arrived at this place with peacocks and hens running wild, one albino, and we had a local guide walk us down this trail. This clear cut path wound along a babbling brook of sorts, with splendid horticulture all around us. From clusters of giant bamboo plants, to banana trees, to coconut trees, and even bird of paradise we saw it all. Not to mention hundreds of exotic plants I couldn’t begin to name, let alone recognize. Before long the trail ended, at a spring-like pool that fed into the brook. The walls extended high from the water with vines dangling freely where we could swing, jump in off high rocks, or just swim around. How strange it felt to swim in fresh water, without flippers. That was amazing, and on the wayback we stopped to play Frisbee in a field and we were even privileged to see the national bird, a hummingbird.

That was pretty much it, when we returned we had some deliciousness (food) and ended the night out on the jetty with some French reggae music and a friendly fire. Orion above us, the half full moon to the west, water all around, and a light warm breeze we were engulfed by Jamaica’s beauty. So yeah, that was pretty much my day.

--Stephen Parrish--

PS. My ankles itch badly.

January 14

Jackie is either enjoying some free time by snorkeling around the bay exploring what's out there or is working on her research project by collecting animals. Given how much time each student spends in the water, it's tough to know whether they are working or relaxing.

My day began at 6:00AM this morning with an open water dive with my diving instructor. I am in the process of completing my Open Water Dive Certification, and after this morning’s dive I will only need one more dive to complete my certification! After breakfast a group of students, along with our professors, took a boat trip to Rio Bueno to dive and snorkel. I really wanted to go, but I decided to stay and rest before resuming my research project. Our class began our individual research projects a few days ago. Many of the projects are very interesting, ranging from observing stress effects, food and salinity changes in sea urchins, to herbivory of turtle grass, to identifying the types and abundance of coral reef diseases in a particular area. (Just to name a few!)

My partner and I are studying the effects of captivity of Diodon holancanthus (Balloon fish); particularly studying whether captivity affects the Balloon fish’s ability to respond to a stressor. Our project consists of inducing a stressor (catching the Balloon fish in a net) and observing whether the fish respond by inflating and noting the duration of the inflation. We have been performing these tests every four hours since last Thursday. Thus far we have not seen any correlations or patterns of response of the Balloon fish to stress, but we hope to have more results as we continue our testing until this Thursday. (Hopefully my partner and I will survive until then on 4-hour intervals of sleep!) Unfortunately one of our fish died today (R.I.P. Fish H).

After the boat trip to Rio Bueno this morning, there was lunch at 1:00PM. (The food is amazing-breakfast, lunch, and dinner!) After lunch everyone continued to work on their research projects. My partner and I ran stressor tests on our fish at 4:00PM, followed by an evening test at 8:00PM after dinner. Our next scheduled test will be at 12:00AM.

I cannot sum up the experience that I have had thus far simply within this blog, but I will write this: The study abroad in Jamaica MAR 388- Tropical Marine Ecology course has changed my perspective of the world. Not only is this the first time I have ever gone on an airplane and traveled outside of the country, but this course has introduced me to a new world…the Marine world. I have learned how to snorkel, learned about, as well as seen, many organisms and fish in the marine ecosystem that I would not have been exposed to had I not ventured to take this course. I even climbed all the way up a waterfall at Dunn River Falls! Now I am getting my Open Water Dive Certification so I can enjoy even more trips in the water and appreciate what I have learned through lecture! I am also anticipating the final results of our research project.

Tomorrow afternoon, after morning research and lunch our class will be going to a botanical garden, and I can’t wait! All in all, I am enjoying the course and I am enjoying Jamaica.

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Jackie