For the next few days of the mission, we turned our attention to SSE’s
education and outreach programs. That doesn’t mean we shortchanged science
and exploration, though! The pilots working with us on this portion of the
project, including Laura Francis, Laddie Akins, and Francesca Cava, continued
exploring and documenting sites never before seen. Their primary task was to
carefully observe and document the fish species living in the waters near the
Dry Tortugas, in conjunction with a program of marine conservation outreach
and science education.
Laddie Akins, Director of the Reef Environmental Education Foundation, was
one of the innovators responsible for creating REEF’s primary project, the
Great American Fish Count. The project is aimed at involving all divers in
gathering accurate data about the fish populations seen in the areas they dive.
Instead of hunting fish with spear guns, recreational divers can become like
underwater bird watchers, seeking to add to their “life list” of fish observed,
while contributing to REEF’s impressive online database of the fish
populations in many areas. The information is vitally important to successfully
monitoring the health of marine ecosystems, and the fish that play a vital role
in the functioning of those systems.
Laddie, along with SSE’s Education Program Directors Laura Francis and
Francesca Cava, and sanctuary Education Director Mary Tagliareni, are here to
conduct fish population surveys employing the Great American Fish Count
protocols. The data they gather will be added to the REEF fish population
database. Their work is especially important as we are diving in areas that are
difficult or impossible for recreational divers to access. The fish populations
surrounding these remote islands, in both shallow and deeper waters, are
pressured by fishing activities, and only by obtaining baseline data on their
current status can we determine whether their numbers are declining or growing
over time.
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Coral
Photograph by Erich Mueller
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On September 9, Francesca and Laddie completed two dives to conduct fish
counts, and also to explore the northwest boundaries of the “Sherwood Forest”
coral reef near Loggerhead Key. Last year’s SSE mission included some dives
within the Sherwood Forest area, so named because of the unique
mushroom-shaped coral formations that carpet the sea floor at 65 feet [20 meters]. Using
the ship’s depth sounding equipment we had a good sense of where the depth
began to increase at the edge of the area. It remained to be seen, however,
whether it was a steep or gentle slope, how deep the corals continued to thrive,
and what other critters called the forest’s edge home.
Francesca’s dive, to a maximum depth of 115 feet [35 meters], initially landed her on sandy
bottom interspersed with cobble and occasional rocky patches. Eventually, she
was able to make her way into shallower waters, finally encountering dense
hard corals at 95 feet [29 meters]. Despite the frustration of very poor visibility, she was
able to successfully complete fish population surveys, and had the privilege of
an encounter with a large sea turtle. Her fish observations included blue and
french angelfish, sunshinefish, bicolor damsels, spotted goatfish, hogfish, bar
jacks, yellow jacks, blue parrotfish, tobaccofish, yellowtail snapper, and
bluehead wrasse.
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Wrasse Bass
Photograph by Gale Mead
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Laddie followed up in the afternoon with a dive on another portion of the reef’s
boundary. Touching down in sandy bottom at 130 feet [40 meters], he initially moved
north into deeper waters, but finding nothing but more sand, marked by the
occasional goby sighting, he turned southward and eventually came upon the
sought after rocky ledge. As we’ve seen elsewhere, the presence of hard
substrate and good hiding places makes for greater abundance and diversity of
life. His enthusiasm was infectious as he reported sightings of fish he’s only
rarely seen before, such as orangeback bass and wrasse bass, and close
encounters with a 500-pound [227-kilogram] Jewfish, and a black tip shark.
The next day, Mary Tagliareni completed our work in the Sherwood Forest area
for this mission, with a dive to 135 feet [41 meters] along the western ridge adjacent to
Sherwood Forest. Despite poor visibility, she was able to make good
observations of the soft corals, fish, and a southern stingray, and completed
fish counts according to REEF’s protocols.
We then moved back to Miller’s Mountain, where Laura, Francesca, and Laddie
each got an opportunity to dive to depths ranging from 250 to 350 feet [72 to 107 meters].
Starting out on sandy bottom north of ridge top, Laura quickly found the ridge,
encountering another discarded fish trap and a lobster trap along the way.
Working along the eastern edge of the proposed marine reserve, she soon came
across some high relief rock formations that were home to numerous grouper
and other fish.
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Grouper
Numerous grouper at Miller’s Mountain inspire hope for the future of
these threatened animals.
(Requires RealMedia player.)
Video by Laura Francis
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She employed one of Sylvia’s favorite approaches. By simply choosing a good
spot from which to observe the fish, and sitting still long enough for the fish to
get used to her presence, Laura was able to capture some of the best video
footage of grouper we’ve obtained so far. From her perspective, though, she
stayed put largely because it was simply too hard to tear herself away from the
wondrous sight of all these fish circling the sub, ducking into caves, and back
out and around again. She completed several fish population surveys for
REEF, and returned to enthuse breathlessly about the beauty, density, and
diversity of fish seen at this location.
Indeed, Laura did such a thorough job of extolling the site’s virtues that
Francesca decided to return to the same spot the next day for her dive, rather
than exploring a new section of Miller’s Mountain. Although visibility was not
as good as it had been the previous day, she was able to complete several
additional fish surveys during her three hour dive.
