Keys Marine Laboratory Blog

Celebrating 20 years at KML

2011-12-16T15:33:00.005-05:00

Hot off the printing presses! New KML 20th Anniversary t-shirts! Designed by KML alum, Peter Bouwma (Bouwma Communication Design), with the KML 20th Anniversary logo on the front pocket area and full-color artwork depicting marine creatures of the Keys, bayside and oceanside, on the back (can you find KML on the map?). These beautiful 100% heavy-weight (6.2 oz) cotton tees are available in sizes Small through XX-Large. Short-sleeved style available in white or ash for $15.00 (plus $1.13 tax). Long-sleeved tees available in ash only for $20.00 (plus $1.50 tax). Order yours online through the Wildlife Foundation of Florida http://www.wildlifefoundationofflorida.com/?q=catalog/1

If you are visiting KML, order your shirts through the Foundation, present your receipt, and pick up your shirt in the office. KML ball caps are also still available for $15.00, plus tax.

As always, your generous donations are used for upgrades and improvements around the Lab and are tremendously appreciated.

Welcome Trevor, new KML staff scientist

2011-12-09T12:36:00.004-05:00

Trevor Luna joined the KML team as a Biological Scientist for FWC/FWRI in December of 2011. He graduated with a Bachelors of Arts in Biology from Rollins College in Winter Park, FL before moving to Zambia, Africa to serve in the U.S. Peace Corps. There he worked with the Zambian Department of Livestock and Fisheries as an Aquaculture Extension Agent promoting rural Tilapia culture. Trevor is an avid boater, diver, fisherman and hunter. The KML team is very excited to have Trevor on board. Welcome Trevor!

Spiny lobster denning behavior

2011-10-19T09:28:00.009-04:00

What factors contribute to the denning behavior of Florida Bay's juvenile spiny lobster (Panularis argus) population? And how might shelter loss events, such as sponge die-offs, influence denning behavior and dispersal? What is the most effective way to conserve this important marine resource?
Katherine (Kat) Heldt, PhD candidate from Clemson University, has spent several months at KML, observing "social status" among lobsters and testing what mechanisms by which they choose shelters. Kat hopes to determine whether dominance status or familiarity can influence denning behavior and dispersal.

First, pairs of lobsters are housed in 15-gal replicate aquaria, plumbed to KML's seawater system. They are offered artificial shelter and observed at night for aggressive behavior under dim red lighting.

Next, the lobsters are transferred to KML's mesocosm ("The Shallows", KML's 122,000-gal flow-thru seawater pond) along with unfamiliar individuals (pairs housed in separate aquaria) equipped with artificial shelters. After several days of observing denning behavior and dispersal in the mesocosm, some of the shelter blocks are removed to mimic sudden habitat loss.

Finally, the tagged lobsters are released onto field sites (16 pre-selected 25m x 25m near-shore bay-side sites) for further observation.

Kat and her lab assistant, Frank, self-captain KML's 18' Parker, the R/V NariNari, to reach their sites.

FAU students take a fish-eye view of marine habitats

2011-10-01T16:01:00.008-04:00

No, this is not synchronized swim class. Dr. Stephen Kajiura, professor at Florida Atlantic University, brought 17 graduate students down to KML for their Sensory Biology and Behavior of Fish field trip in October. They spent 3 days exploring the various marine habitats, observing and discussing fish behavior.
Moving off the reef into deep water, students paired up to see how well they could navigate (ie swim a straight line) without visual references, such as being able to see the bottom. Students all agreed that they would make very poor fish. In another exercise, they were challenged to detect sounds of varying frequencies, while under water at varying depths and distances from the sound source.
Dr. Kajiura and his grad students are frequent visitors to KML, studying elasmobranch sensory abilities.

BURR Team on hand for Coral Spawning Event in the Keys

2011-09-15T10:49:00.002-04:00

Boulder Star Coral (Montastrea faveolata) setting gamete bundles prior to spawning (photo by P. Gillet)

Every August, several nights after the full moon, Boulder Corals along the Florida Keys reef tract synchronize their reproductive efforts in an amazing coral spawning event. Dr. Mary Alice Coffroth, professor at SUNY Buffalo, was on hand to capture the event for on-going projects exploring the many facets of coral-algal symbiosis.

An army of grad students, divers and snorkelers from Buffalo as well as volunteers from south Florida institutions, took to the water to arrange collection tents over promising colonies near Alligator Reef as dusk approached, then returned to the boat to wait. Teams of divers splashed again at 11:00pm to gather cupfuls of the coral spawn, handing them off to snorkelers who ferried them back to the boat. Weather was a bit rough but the team was fearless!

Returning to the dock at 2:00am, the army worked around the clock at KML's wet lab facility to carefully rear the developing coral larvae. Spawning was so successful at the Middle Keys site this year, that the BURR Team (Buffalo Undersea Reef Research) had plenty to share with fellow scientists in the Upper and Lower Keys.

The new coral recruits were allowed to settle on ceramic tiles in their special Kreisells at the wet lab and then placed back out on the reef to follow development. Dr. Coffroth's team will periodically return to KML to sample the new recruits on the tiles to asses the coral/algal symbiosis between near-shore and off-shore sites.

Check out the BURR blog for more on this project
: http://burrcoralspawn11.blogspot.com/

The world of the Upside-down Jellyfish

2011-07-01T15:04:00.005-04:00

Upside-down jellyfish, Cassiopea xamachana

Rachel Mellas, Masters candidate at SUNY Buffalo with Dr. Mary Alice Coffroth, spent 2 months at KML. She is studying the fitness effects and symbiont type in the upside-down jellyfish, Cassiopea xamachana.

Upside-down jellyfish right side-up!

In Cassiopea, establishment of the symbiosis occurs in the scyphistomae (polyp) stage of development where multiple strains of Symbiodinium can be acquired. Upon infection, the scyphistomae produce ephyra (young medusa) through a process termed strobilation. Once they reach the adult medusa form, they typically harbor one specific type of symbiont (Symbiodinium A1).

Cassiopea scyphistomae (polyp) stage

To understand the potential fitness advantages to the host of harboring different symbiont types, Rachel has set up laboratory experiments which look at the how different symbionts affect the growth rate, survivorship, and timing of strobilation of scyphistomae, and if strobilation occurs with only certain symbionts (A1). (photos by R Mellas)

Lionfish, Lionfish Everywhere!

2011-05-20T17:20:00.012-04:00

KML staff recently participated in the Middle Keys Lionfish Derby, which was the first derby of REEF's 2nd Annual Lionfish Derby Series. The City of Layton was one the derby's major sponsors which was held at Fiesta Key Resort on Long Key.

Though the team was unable to improve upon last year's 2nd place finish, they had a great time and were able to catch 66 lionfish, which was just a few fish behind the 3rd place team that had 69.

To see the complete derby results follow this link:
http://www.reef.org/lionfish/derbies/2011MiddleKeysResults

Then the week following the derby, researchers Carmen Schloeder and Andrew Sellers from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama visited KML and were also in search of the invasive lionfish.

They completed 9 dives in 3 days off of Long Key and were able to find lionfish on every dive except for 1. On the dives they were looking at density of the fish to compare to reefs in Panama and Belize. They also collected fish to look at gut content, size classes, distribution, and parasitology. In total they were able to catch 44 lionfish on their dives during the visit.

Visit to the Tennessee ROA

2011-04-13T14:24:00.005-04:00

KML science staff, diving under their Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary permit, checked on things in the Tennessee Research Only Area (ROA). Located 2 miles east of the Tennessee Reef Light, this small 0.2 acre Special Use Area was designated as one of the "no entry" zones by the Sanctuary, to be used as an undisturbed reference area.

The habitat within the ROA is characterized by low-relief contiguous reef, with areas of bare sand bottom, ranging from 12' to 35' depth. Divers floated past large barrel sponges and massive ancient coral heads

There were several long-spined urchins (Diadema antillarum) tucked away, with plenty of macro-algae to feed on. A big Goliath grouper (Epinephelus itajara) followed divers around the reef.

A brilliant green moray eel (Gymnothorax funebris) was sitting out in plain view (or trying to blend in with the algae!), watching the show.

And it seems that no dive would be complete these days without encountering at least 1 invasive exotic lionfish (Pterois volitans). KML and FWC staff are specially permitted by the Sanctuary to capture and remove lionfish within all Special Use Areas, including Special Preservation Areas, ROAs, and Ecological Reserves. Staff scientist Andrew Crowder used a pair of hand nets to capture this lionfish near a large coral head.

Staff scientist, Cindy Lewis displays the 4 lionfish captured during the day of diving in the Tennessee ROA. The lionfish will be used in a feeding trial at KML.

New Shade Stucture

2011-03-30T11:51:00.005-04:00

The cement pad in front of the classroom/dry lab once again has a shade structure! It will be a much-needed place to work on vessels and vehicles, out of the sun and also an area of shade for our visiting groups to utilize.

It all started with a pile of pipes and boxes of screws on the concrete pad.

One half done, tackling the second set of arches

Bill and Dave have worked pretty much non-stop since the delivery of the base plates. Several of the FWRI Marathon office crew came up to give us a hand for 2 days and that was a huge help - Thanks Bryan, Chris and Nick!

The Great Moon Snail Search

2011-03-26T15:30:00.007-04:00

University of South Florida's Dr. Gregory Herbert's Geology class visited KML to survey the diversity and ecology of local benthic marine invertebrates, with an emphasis on mollusks, specifically moon snails.

The elusive moon snails were nowhere to be found during their boat trip with stops at Old Dan Bank, White Marlin Beach, and Indian Key. However, the group did find evidence of their presence: tracks, eggs, and prey(Chione elevata).

Fortunately, the class was very pleased to find a few moon snails while snorkeling down near Bahia Honda State Park at the Missouri - Ohio Channel, and also enjoyed a rocky trip on FIO's R/V Bellows before heading back to St. Petersburg.

First visit for Randolph-Macon College

2011-03-25T16:22:00.005-04:00

First-time visitor to KML, Grace Lim-Fong, assistant professor of Biology at Randolph-Macon College (Ashland, VA), ventured to the Keys with 8 enthusiastic marine biology students.
They spent a rigorous week at the lab, learning about the various habitats, marine life, and designing experiments for class presentations.

Students collecting data at the Bamboo Key Living Lab site

One challenge in the marine environment is learning techniques for collecting data. The students participated in KML's Living Lab project, collecting data at 3 of our 5 permanent near-shore sites, using belt transects, line intercept, and quadrat sampling methods.

Upon their return to Randolph-Macon, Professor Lim-Fong and her students sent us a school pennant, signed by all the students, which is hanging in the Classroom in our "Who's Who at KML" display.

A long road to the Keys from Idaho

2011-03-18T11:52:00.003-04:00

Graduate and undergraduate geology students from the University of Idaho (Moscow, ID) came to the Keys in March to warm their bones while studying the Modern Carbonate Sediments of the Florida Keys. Led by their professor, Dr. Peter Isaacson, they explored some of the geological highlights of the Keys.

They had an opportunity sample the shoreline sediments and snorkel live coral reefs near KML. Then, in contrast, they visited Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park, where they saw 125,000 year old coral formations in the walls of the old quarry.

Once back in Idaho, the students signed their U. Idaho pennant, which now hangs in the Who's Who at KML display in our Classroom.

Duke Marine Geologists at KML

2011-03-10T12:14:00.006-05:00

Professor Gary Dwyer, Duke University (Durham, NC), explored the Marine Geology of South Florida with his undergraduate students for a week in March.

Core sampling at Old Dan Bank

Using KML as home base, they experienced a variety of marine habitats from the Everglades to Key West.

In search of Marine Gastrotrichs

2011-03-01T16:24:00.001-05:00

William D Hummon, Emeritus Professor of Biological Sciences (Ohio University Athens, OH) spent the month of February at KML in search of marine gastrotrichia. Gastrotichs are microscopic animals, covered with cilia and found "running around" between sand particles.
Dr. Hummon and his able assistants, wife Meg and daughters Jules and Cheryl, gathered samples from 2 dozen intertidal and subtidal sandy banks throughout the Keys, from Harry Harris State Park to the beaches of Key West.

His seach turned up 33 different species of gastrotrichs for this trip, 8 of which are probably new to the scientific community.

MURI team model and measure underwater spectral-polarized light field

2011-01-15T16:22:00.008-05:00

The MURI team of researchers joined forces at KML in January to study the dynamic spectral-polarized light field with hopes to identify mechanisms of adaptive camouflage in the near-shore littoral zone. Each team came with their own array of highly-specialized instruments, gathering data at several locations both on the ocean side and bay side of Long Key.

Dr. James Sullivan (U. Rhode Island) deploying their equipment overboard using their davit

KML Divers positioning equipment underwater in preparation for data readings

Dr. Alex Gillerson's team (City College of NY) positioning "the Octopus" at the surface for sunlight readings

Dr. Heidi Dierssen's (U. of Connecticut) and Dr. Molly Cummings dive team (U. Texas) worked underwater with instruments to quantify the spectral-polarized light field and the biological response to these dynamic optical environments. The team has plans to return to KML for summertime data collection.

Happy Holidays from KML

2010-12-14T10:42:00.005-05:00

Heddy & Lisa are keeping track of everyone's wish-list

Bill & Dave have Santa's sleigh in fine working order

Andrew & Cindy are keeping an eye on the weather forecast and sharp look-out for any stray reindeer

The staff at KML wish you all a Happy Holiday Season and look forward to seeing y'all in the New Year!

Students from University of Mainz, Germany

2010-12-13T11:11:00.002-05:00

Professors Bernhard Lieb, Frank Depoix, and Bettina Ebner, from the Department of Zoology at the University of Mainz, led a group of 20 students on an extended field trip to Keys Marine Lab. Using KML as their home base, they explored a variety of tropical habitats. The students enthusiastically snorkeled mangrove, reef, and near-shore hard-bottom habitats in spite of unseasonably cool temperatures.

Students embarked on the self-guided tour of the former settlement at Indian Key State Park

...and explored the rocky intertidal zone at Indian Key

They collected and identified various marine flora and fauna and tried their hand at several collection and sampling techniques. The group also took some time to venture up to the Everglades, and of course, to Key west. As they departed, they were already talking about bringing another group next year.

Lower Keys Lionfish Derby

2010-11-16T11:55:00.001-05:00

This past weekend KML staff participated in the 1st Annual Lower Keys Lionfish Derby sponsored by REEF, and placed 2nd out of 18 teams for most lionfish collected with 21!!

Follow the link below to see the complete results...

http://www.reef.org/lionfish/derbies/keysresults

The team hit the water bright and early in Long Key and had to be in Key West to have their lionfish counted and measured by sundown.

You can see that Andrew, Bill, and Cindy were glad to do their part to remove the invasive fish from the Florida Keys waters and also enjoyed eating their catch at the banquet.

Mooching Manatee

2010-11-12T09:50:00.002-05:00

We found this big ol' manatee slurping the trickle of fresh water as we flushed our engines today! He looked in great shape, with no visible prop scars but lots of barnacles on his back. We don't normally encourage them into such close association with boats by offering them fresh water from a dock hose.

2010 Long Key Sea Turtle Nesting Season

2010-11-10T12:30:00.000-05:00

With the end of another sea turtle nesting season the volunteers of Save-A-Turtle look back at the long and busy summer on Long Key beach.

The crack team was made up of Cindy Lewis (KML staff scientist on for her 1st official season), Nancy Godshall (Long Key Condo resident and self-proclaimed "Turtle Nazi"), and The Crowders (KML staff scientist Andrew, FWRI's biologist Whitney, and their son Finlee back for his 2nd season).

As you can see below Finlee is well on his way to following in his parents footsteps of tracking the "turtles", which was one of his first words!

The group walked the beach every morning again from mid-April to the end of October and marked a record high 49 crawls with 13 of those being nests. The first nest was laid May 11th and the last couple of nests weren't laid until July 19th and 29th, which is much later than any other previous few years. This was possibly due to the cold weather event the Keys experienced this winter and the sea water temperatures taking longer to warm up.

The nesting to false crawl ratio of 26.5% was the lowest percentage that had been seen in the last 3 years and far behind last year where the ratio was over 40% (11 nests and 16 false crawls).

Of the 1420 eggs that were surveyed by the team 860 loggerhead sea turtles hatched, which is over a 60% success rate. However that was down over 17% from the year before mostly due to 2 nests being over-washed by extremely high tides and one nest being destroyed by raccoons. Above you can see the nests that were affected by the high tides and were inundated with saltwater.

The group was encouraged by such a high number of crawls (only 25 and 27 the two previous years), and looks forward to next season where hopefully there will be even more nests!

FGCU students experience KML's Living Lab

2010-11-01T10:44:00.007-04:00

Marine Ecology students from Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Meyers, visited KML to get hands-on experience in a marine environment. Led by their professor, Dr. Micheal Parsons, they participated in KML's Living Laboratory Project (see KML website for more details). Students learned first-hand the challenges of laying out a site grid and doing belt transects and point counts while snorkeling, at 2 of the selected sites.

Actual data collected by the students will be added to the growing data base for the project and can be compared to previous assessments at each site.

Also down from FGCU was Dr. Robert Erdman's Invertebrates class. Students snorkeled various habitats, including seagrassbeds, mangroves, intertidal zones, and patch reefs, collecting and identifying animals for their studies. One of the days' highlights included the thrill of observing an 8' Hammerhead chasing fish near-by!

Science Meets Management in the Keys

2010-10-25T14:01:00.004-04:00

KML staff scientists were available to answer questions at the Keys Marine Lab display

Nearly 300 researchers and managers converged on Hawk's Cay Resort on Duck Key in October to attend a conference and workshops on the Marine Ecosystems of the Florida Keys, "Linking Science to Management". Celebrated researcher, Jeremy Jackson, was the keynote speaker for the event. Special focus of this first-time-ever conference was on resource issues important to the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and the Dry Tortugas National Park. Topics presented in nearly 50 talks included climate change science, reef restoration and ecology, fish and invertebrate ecology, food web structure, hardbottom and grassbed habitats and ecology, spatial management and marine zoning, oceanography and water quality, regional connectivity, and fisheries management. Two interactive poster sessions, featuring nearly 150 posters, followed the day's talks and provided a stimulating backdrop for scientific networking. The conference was a huge success, judging by the numerous requests for "a next time"!

Tortugas Take Two

2010-09-28T10:20:00.014-04:00

The FWRI's Finfish group just returned from another successful 10 day trip to the Dry Tortugas National Park aboard KML's R/V Diodon.

The group visited over 60 sites (which included 9 sites at Riley's Hump in the Tortugas South Ecological Reserve over 18 miles from Fort Jefferson) and conducted 65 research dives during the span of 8 days in the field with AVERAGED sustained wind speed just over 20 mph. As you can see below even the fish were impressed with just how very hard the team worked!

The goal of this trip was to again retrieve, download, and replace acoustic receivers (Vemco VR2) at various locations throughout the park that are tracking the movements of tagged fish, mainly snappers and groupers, but are also recording other researchers' animal movements such as sea turtles and sharks.

The early returns of the data have shown that mutton snappers that reside near Fort Jefferson in the newly formed Research Natural Area (RNA) are traveling back and forth between there and the group's sites at Riley's Hump that are known to have spawning aggregations in the summer months.

KML staff was again happy to be involved in this research and looks forward to possible trips with FWRI scientists in the future.

Hot Summer Nights on the Reef

2010-09-15T10:19:00.012-04:00

M. faveolata colonies tented in anticipation of the annual mass coral spawning event

Once again, Dr. Mary Alice Coffroth, from the State University of New York at Buffalo, staged her coral spawning research out of KML. Coordinating an army of 30 AAUS divers and snorkelers from multiple institutions, researchers assembled out at Looe Key Reef for the anticipated Acropora palmatta (elkhorn) spawning after the August full moon (Aug 25-28). But no luck this year!

Divers placing mesh nets over coral heads prior to spawning

Meanwhile, another team of divers traveled each evening to Cheeca Rocks on KML's R/V Diodon to capture the Montastrea faveolata (mountainous star coral) spawning event Aug 27- Sept 1. Success! The spawn was brought back to KML's Wet Lab and reared in special chambers of circulating filtered seawater, until ready to settle on ceramic tiles.

First coral rearing Kreisel is up and running!

Coral rearing activities in KML's Wet Lab

The new coral recruits will be used in various experiments to study algal symbiont uptake and selectivity both in the field and at the University of Miami coral nursery.

Divers setting out tiles with newly-settled coral recruits
and

Spectacular sunset from Cheeca Rocks

The Summer of Sharks

2010-07-16T11:21:00.020-04:00

This summer KML has been glad to again be a part of Dr. Neil Hammerschlag's shark research.

Dr. Hammerschlag is from the University of Miami's R.J. Dunlap Marine Conservation Program and his work focuses on examining shark biology, population dynamics, and habitat utilization which are all needed to ensure their conservation and improve their management.

The group has gone out 10 times with KML on the R/V Diodon to locations off the reef near Long Key, in Hawk Channel, bayside near Conch Key, and in the Everglades. All trips have been very successful and they have been able to collect data on over 60 sharks and even satellite tag 3 of them (2 Hammerheads and a Bull). Follow the link below to see where Chad, Rose, and Sandy are heading...

http://www.rjd.miami.edu/learning-tools/follow-sharks/

Last month a news crew from CNN accompanied Hammerschlag's group along with a troop of high school volunteers that are always eager to learn more about the ocean's top predators. CNN's story is about how the sharks are responding to the oil spill and the implications it may have. Follow the link below to see the story...

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/06/28/oil.spill.sharks/index.html?hpt=T2

The KML staff is looking forward to assisting the group with their upcoming research trips next month.

The evolution and development of polyclad flatworms

2010-07-12T13:48:00.008-04:00

The tiger flatworm, Maritigrella crozieri on the ascidian Ecteinascidia turbinata.

A team of researchers from University College London (Professor Max Telford, Dr Kate Rawlinson, Fraser Simpson), University of North Florida (Kevin Olsen) and Cambridge University (Dr Andrew Gillis) are staying at KML for a month. They are collecting embryos and hatchlings of the tiger flatworm Maritigrella crozieri. This beautiful worm is abundant in the Florida Keys, and is commonly found in association with its favorite food item – the mangrove ascidian Ecteinascidia turbinata.

Andrew examining Ecteinascidia turbinata on the mangrove roots.

Fieldwork involves the collection of sexually mature worms from clumps of Ecteinascidia by snorkeling and kayaking in mangrove creeks. These worms are then brought back to the lab, where their eggs and larval stages are preserved for future genetic analysis.

Kevin diligently cleaning an aquarium of Maritigrella crozieri in KML's Common Dry Lab.

This material will be used as part of a long-term study to better understand how different marine invertebrates develop from a single cell to an adult, often via a series of seemingly very different developmental stages.The team, pictured here enjoying cold drinks from the Midway Café after a hot morning in the mangroves of Tavernier Key. From left to right; Kevin Olsen, Fraser Simpson, Kate Rawlinson and Andrew Gillis.

Sea Star Larvae Research

2010-06-28T10:10:00.003-04:00

Earlier this month Professor Isidro Bosch from SUNY Geneseo in New York and KML staff took a trip out to the Gulf Stream between Alligator Reef and Tennessee Reef to collect and isolate sea star larvae using plankton trawls.

The trip was a great success and they were able to isolate over thirty larvae which will make for work that will last over the next month or two.

These larvae are very important to Bosch's research, and normally very difficult to collect. In the past they have been collected from the Sargasso Sea or from the Gulf Stream off Ft. Pierce, well north of the Florida Keys. This is the first time they've been collected this far south, so learning a bit more about their geographic distribution was an added bonus to the large number of specimens collected.

The larvae are of considerable scientific interest to the professor for two reasons...

First, they are able to clone themselves, which is a very unusual strategy among larvae of non-parasitic animals. The cloning process involves many interesting developmental changes in tissues and cell lines, including the action of a group of cells that are akin to stem cells found in many other animals.

Second, the larvae seem to benefit from what might be a mutualistic association with large numbers of bacteria that live under the larval cuticle.

Bosch's immediate goal is to identify the type of bacteria living with the larvae and characterize its physiology. Ultimately the goal is to better understand what if anything the larvae get from the association and whether the bacteria are needed in order for the larvae to clone themselves.

Since the trip Bosch has been able to establish bacterial cultures from the samples collected. The next steps are to extract, amplify, and eventually sequence DNA from the bacteria to help determine what group of microbes they belong to. He has also preserved larvae for genetic work and for studies of clonal development.

For any further details or questions contact Professor Bosch at (bosch@geneseo.edu).