now for some SCIENCE

hey kids,

So I figured this time around I would write more about what I am doing here, what I have learned, etc. So for all of you that laugh at me when I bio-geek out, brace yourselves!

About Mo'orea:

Mo'orea is a small island close to Tahiti Nui and is a part of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. There are 6 collections of islands, but the society islands are the most populated and also the largest tourist destination. Mo'orea has some hotels and activities for tourists, but far less than Tahiti and Bora Bora (also in the society islands).

The islands are a chain of islands and one of Darwin's many discoveries (fyi Darwin never called himself a biologist/naturalist, but mostly geologist). They were formed by the pacific plate moving over a soft spot in the earths crust. All of the islands were volcanic at one time but now are mostly cauldaras, ie blown out volcanoes. There is a new island forming near Tahiti.

Mo'orea is surrounded by a barrier reef with the two bays, Cook's/Paopao and Oponohu, having fringing reefs. There are 5 motus around the island. Mo'orea means yellow lizard in Tahitian.

The languages spoken here are french, Tahitian, and English. I am currently trying to learn Tahitian and french, both are very difficult since I tend to speak with a Spanish accent.

The Richard B Gump station:

here is the link if you're curious where I am living: http://moorea.berkeley.edu/

The station is owned by UC Berkeley and houses researchers from many institution. Currently he largest source of funding is a program called Biocode. Biocode sets to sequence and identify every nonmicrobial species on Mo'orea into a database. Most are sequencing one gene locus but some sects are doing three or more as the COI gene in the mitochondria tends to be conservative in plants. Many organizations are affiliated with this project including the Smithsonian, Florida U, and many more.

We stay in large dorms and there are also bungalows. It's amazing and beautiful. I am incredibly lucky.

Biology:

The island has a wide range of biodiversity. There have been many plants that have been introduced but the majority of species are still native. There is a flower which men and women alike wear behind the ear, or for women in their hair. It is Tiare, the Tahitian Gardenia. It smells absolutely amazing and is incredibly beautiful. There are no snakes on the islands only skinks and geckos. There are tons of birds, most of which are from adaptive radiation, think Darwin's finches, and also spiders, which tend to be large colonizers.

The beautiful Tiare.

A skink...I do not know the scientific name.

As for the aquatic life, which I know a lot more about, the coral reefs here are not doing so well. There is a lot of bleaching going on and also a corallavoire starfish named the crown of thorns. The last outbreak of this echinoderm was in the early 80's but it is back in full force now. We have plenty of Sea cucumbers, sea slugs, and sea hares. The cucs will slime you!! It is the stickiest and most difficult slime to get off of you, trust it has happened to me! There is a multitude of fish and and many eels here. Also other echinoderms (means spiny skin) are wide ranging, with many star fish, brittle stars, and urchins, Diadema and Echinometra. Diadema is the most dangerous urchin as they have huge serrated spines that are about a foot long on adults. They are creepy. We of course have crustaceans too!!! Lots of crabs but we found a slipper lobster! Also there are HUGE puffer fish here, they are awesome. We also have some very cool octopi/cephalopods (for pics look at the octopus post).

Sea Cucumber sliming yet another unsuspecting victim

Crown of Thorns Starfish, Acanthaster planci



Slipper lobster, Pariibacus japonicus

Now onto to the more charismatic marine vertebrates. If you have read my blog, you know we have sea turtles. We also have many sharks and rays. We have black tip reef sharks, grey tip reef sharks, Nurse sharks, Lemon sharks, and Tiger sharks. For rays there are eagle rays, manta rays and then my species, the pink whiptail ray. There are also mammals, humpback whales and spinner dolphins are two we have seen while here. On another note, I get to give a presentation on marine mammals for a school here. I am really excited!

And for a fun little anecdote...I took most of the pictures but all were taken by people in the class! Of the two below I can only take credit for one, the black tips, but I was there for the Nurse shark! The black tips I see all the time and am quite close to constantly because they are associated with the rays due to tourism. The nurse sharks though, such a treat!!! There are two British researchers here, Alice and Jenny, and they came back all excited, I threw my suit on in a matter of seconds and was out on the boat in a flash. We cross the bay and started free diving and then I saw what the excitement was about. A cave with not one, not two, but THREE sleeping nurse sharks. one sticking out of his cave. We were max a foot away when we got to the bottom and held onto some coral to keep us down (I did not have time to grab fins, which make free diving so much easier!). Took a lot of amazing shots, sorry I am only showing you guys one!!! Then this one with its head poking out jutted out and Alica got this shot. Seriously this place is surreal. I cannot believe I am seeing and experiencing all of these amazing things. Just wow, there really are no words some days!

Nurse Shark, Ginglymostoma cirratum

Black Tip Reef Sharks, Carcharhinus melanopterus

My project:

Now down to the nitty gritty...my research project. I will be studying the pink whiptail stingray, Himantura fai. This species of stingray has not been studied before. Unfortunately I do not have the time or the resources to do a complete natural history study; however this may be a foot in the door if I want to study rays here later, or in general. So the the gist is that I will compare frequencies between numbers and types of injuries/scars on rays in two ecotourism impacted populations. One has deeper water, the other more shallow. I expect the deep water rays to have more boat injuries etc. Next I will compile that data into spread sheets and run statistical tests, most likely simple regressions to compare various factors. Furthermore, I will idenitfy individuals based on distinctive scars and tail breaks and use that information to look at site fidelity as well as get a population estimate by doing a modified mark and recapture study.

This is seriously the best experience and one of the greatest opportunities I will ever have. I have said many times before, but I am lucky and so incredibly thankful to everyone who helped me get here.

Himantura fai with what I think are scars from anchor chains.

love you all,

bri.