Ask an Aquanaut: Danger and Discovery?
Alyssa asks: I would like to know what the variety of discoveries that you’ve found so far in your trip, and if there is any possibility of danger to yourselves or the aqua life while you are observing.
Hello Alyssa,
We have been lucky to be able to work here at Aquarius where there are so many of the fish we are studying, and we are able to watch them for up to 7 hours each day. We have discovered the ecological preferences of these fish. For instance, the Black Grouper is an ambush predator and seeks hiding spots among the reef to wait for unsuspecting prey. The hogfish spends most of its time willowing in the sand, taking large mouthfuls of sand and filtering it through its gills. The Blue Parrotfish travel actively over the reef and sand scraping the coral and helping to turn it into sand.
The last few day the visibility has bee poor. Normally we can see several hundred feet but recently the currents have stirred up a lot of debris in the water column reducing the distance we can see to only 50 to 60 feet. One of the biggest dangers to us as saturation divers is losing our way and not being able to find our way back to the habitat for air. To protect ourselves against this we us reels, like fishing reels, which we use to mark the direction we have come, that way when we need to turn around we can just follow the line back home. When the visibility is bad we have to stay extra close to our buddy and seeing the line disappear into the distance makes me appreciate all the training we received prior to becoming aquanauts.
Sometimes we will wrap our lines around the reef to keep from dragging and harming corals. When doing this Matt and I have discovered fire coral. This special coral has developed a unique defence. To protect itself from other creatures, including scientists, the coral has stinging cells that cause your skin to feel like it is burning. This sensation only lasts a little while but you are sure to recognize and avoid this coral next time.
While diving and collecting data we are very careful not to harm the reef. This is a special place and very beautiful, in order to keep it that way we only observe, or watch the fish and other creatures. This ensures that Conch Reef will remain healthy and unspoiled. It is these characteristics which brough here to conduct research in the first place.
Thanks for your question
Jeremiah Brantner
Aquarius Aquanaut
Cal State University Monterey Bay
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