Adios Panama - We will return

This will be the last blog post from OIMB Goes To Panama 2013.What a lot we have seen, done and learned in these past two weeks.  We have worked hard, snorkeled miles, taken thousands of photos, eaten well, stretched our minds, and had a wonderful experience. Our explorations of the Caribbean Sea’s reefs, mangroves and sea grass beds have provided us a window on a world that few get to experience in the way we have been so fortunate to do.  

As one of the assignments for this course students wrote a daily journal.  With their permission I have included some notable entries as a way to share some thoughts of our experiences.

“I had an amazing day, it honestly felt like a dream, snorkeling on a coral reef with colorful fish.  I spent time on a Caribbean island and saw a nurse shark in the wild.  It was a great combination of biology, fun and relaxation.  It was a bucket list day.”

“This trip has been a growing experience for me in so many ways.  I now consider myself a brave and experienced snorkeler and my ability to recognize reef creatures and components has advanced beyond measure.”

“I wish people could hear us when we snorkel at night.  We are always seeing cool things so we shriek at each other through our snorkels.”

“Day one breakfast was prepared by our native born Boca del Torrosian chef, Gustavo.  He is friendly and has a warm laugh.  It makes me feel more comfortable and happy being here.”

"It is one thing to read about tropical ecosystems, but now that I have seen them up close it really makes you appreciate them and understand the weight of environmental issues they face.”

“We had a very productive morning.  We set up three transect lines, but it is much more challenging to measure out 15m, and wrap tape around a mangrove branch while snorkeling, than you would think.”

“The Zapatillas were awesome, we saw all kinds of corals.  I really enjoyed everyone’s attitude, everyone was calm and relaxed while snorkeling.”

 There is a lot I have leaned in the past week and a half, but I have to say I have definitely learned more about myself than about the biology of the organisms.”

“Sometimes ignorance is bliss.  I will never look at a banana in the same way again.”

“This was my first time using a quadrat underwater while snorkeling and it was difficult to write on the slate but it was a great way for us to learn new species.  At the start of the snorkel I was unsure about if something was a coral, alga, or a sponge but by the end I was much more confident in my ability to identify what I was seeing.”

“While I learned an incredible amount of information about tropical marine biology and environmental issues I feel the real life learning comes from being in a new place and pushing your comfort zone.  I may not be a fully fledged citizen of the world yet, but Panama has definitely helped me level up.”

We have many people to thank for this remarkable two weeks. Our gratitude goes to the Smithsonian Institution and the staff at the Bocas lab for hosting us so graciously in their fabulous facility.  The UO’s Williams Council was instrumental in providing the seed money that allowed us to set up this program. The UO Global Studies staff did all of the behind the scenes work to get the program up and running. A final thanks goes to our students; they bravely decided it was worth a gamble to sign up for a newly designed program, in a place they had never been.  It proved to be a good choice and it has given Richard and me the opportunity to get to know nine fine young men and women.  We have enjoyed almost every minute of living and working with them and we look forward to seeing them go out into the world and do well.

Jan Hodder

Primera vez pero espero que no la última

The forest        and          the trees

This is my first time teaching a
field course away from the UO.

This is my first involvement with a study abroad program - taking students to a foreign country to learn about a new place, to work in an environment very different from the Pacific Northwest, and to see and study exotic organisms.

Stoplight Parrotfish, terminal phase male                                           Sponge, Cliona delitrix

Dr Jan Hodder

 This is my first time working closely with my colleague of 20 years, Jan Hodder, to organize and teach this new opportunity for OIMB/UO students to study tropical marine biology.  

All has gone extremely well! 

The place, the marine organisms and the people – the environment, sensu lato, has provided a wonderful opportunity for all involved in this course.  ALL of the student blogs have clearly expressed the novelty, exhilaration, and openness to this experience.  Now its my turn.

Scarus speeds students to snorkle site

As a teacher this has been a treat!  The facility, boats, staff, and food here at the Smithsonian’s Bocas Research Station (BRS) have all been seamless in their support of this course.  When one goes to the tropics, one can expect some quirkiness in operation; it seems to go with the heat and humidity.  Strangely but happily, this tropical quirkiness has been almost non-existent at BRS.  Thank-you Christian, Gustavo, Plinio, Gabriel, Arcadio, and the MANY other staff here who have made our life easy!

Breakfast this morning          and                  a cucumber snack before our snorkle yesterday

Jan, you’ve been a great co-instructor for this expansion of OIMB’s impact on students!  I wonder why it has taken me so long to co-teach with you. (The reason is that we both have been so busy with our own teaching efforts and professional activities in Oregon.)  Jan, thank-you for suggesting several years back that we do this field course.

Caribbean reef squid (how many can you find?)                        and                  mangrove root flora and fauna

 But most importantly, STUDENTS, I thank you for this absolutely first rate, most excellent, very rewarding chance to return to Panama and to learn with you!!!!  All of you have worked impressively hard.  You have been at 6:30am breakfast; you have gone flat-out all day. Most, if not all, of you have been still working hard when I retreat and collapse around 10pm.  You have truly and literally immersed yourselves in your planned research projects.   You have embraced tropical organisms, our lectures, and our field trips!  You have been extremely well behaved and model students for representing OIMB, UO, and the USA in a foreign country!  I am lucky to have you as students in this course; you have made me proud to be your instructor.  I will remember this experience fondly for a long time. 

Team MJS and the Damsels all hard at work

Tropical plankton and seagrass data collection

Finally I’d like to warmly acknowledge and thank Tom and Carol Williams and the Williams Council at the UO for supporting the development and launching of this field course.  Financial support from their Instructional Programs Fund helped me visit Panama last year (Sept. 2012) to scout out this place, purchase course supplies and aided several students with demonstrated financial need attend this first time field course. 

Primera vez pero espero que no la última! (The first time but I hope not the last!)

Sincerely,  Richard

a jawfish (and some think I talk too much....:)

One Last Adventure at Sea

Sunrise this morning!

Waking up  this morning I could feel the end of our journey was coming soon, with only two days left on this beautiful island it’s a bittersweet feeling knowing soon I’ll have to say goodbye. We’ve been on the island for 10 days and I think its safe to say it has been an amazing 10 days.  Before going over the daily events I wanted to give everyone some background information about our home (STRI) in Bocas del Toro.

We are staying at STRI, or Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, it is a marine laboratory just outside the town of Bocas del Toro on Isla Colon. It is one of two marine labs that are run by STRI, this lab is on the Caribbean coast of Panama and is a place for students and scientists to come and conduct research. Although I use the term STRI to describe where we are staying this location it is also apart of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute which is a bureau of the Smithsonian Institute based in Washington D.C. STRI is based in Panama and is involved in research projects throughout the tropics.  They have 12 research stations throughout the tropics including Barro Colorado Island, Gamboa and Naos Island.

Dock leading to the Caribbean

Main building at STRI

When I first arrived at STRI one of the first things that stood out to me was that the dock that leads to the crystal blue waters of the Caribbean is visible almost immediately after crossing through the entrance gates. The dock is home to 8 boats which are used to help carry out research in the surrounding waters. During our time in Bocas we’ve been going out on the boat Scarus with Cristiano as our captain. After taking in just how close the dock and Caribbean are the first noticeable large building is the main laboratory building. Within this building room 111 has been our home during our visit, it’s where we have lecture, do lab work and just escape from the daily heat.  In front of the main building is a small lake that surrounds it on one side, it is home to turtles, caimans, and several species of birds and fish. During the day bird watching is the way to go, the reptiles are hidden within the murky waters, but at night it’s worth a visit because the caiman comes out of the water for a rest! The best way to see these guys is to wear a headlamp and scan the edge of the lake to look for two reflecting lights (the caiman's eyes).  So far on this trip I’ve seen two caimans out of the water at once! Behind the lagoon and lab building is a path that will take you to two dormitories and two houses that are used to house students and researchers. We are staying in the older dormitory with the kitchen attached to it. There are 4 rooms in this dorm, each room has 3 sets of bunk beds and a bathroom. Living at the station is like being incorporated into the forest with the amount of trees and wildlife that can be seen just walking to and from the docks every day. At night the sounds of geckos and cicada sing us to sleep and we are woken up by the calls of parrots, wood rails and roadside hawks having their morning conversations.  

Now on to the day’s events! Today started out with an early breakfast of pancakes and pineapple, then it was off to work on projects until 11:00 am.  Two groups, Ninjas and Damsels, went into the field to collect data, and two groups, firemen and team buff,  remained in the lab to assess the data they’d collected the previous days (see Theresa’s blog for more details!).  At eleven there was an invigorating lecture by Richard on the mating habits of corals. Then after a break for lunch we headed out on the Scarus with Cristiano on our last snorkel adventure of the trip! As we left the dock everyone was gunning to get in the water as the heat of the afternoon began to take its toll.

Spotted Drum Fish

Queen Angelfish

Our first stop, Punta Caracol, was a new dive spot for everyone so it was sure to be an exciting stop. After snorkeling with our buddies for sometime Richard pointed out a new fish we’ve never seen before and most of the group took turns diving down to try and get a glimpse of this beautiful fish.  We later
discovered it was a spotted drum fish! They are a very unique looking fish with an unusually long dorsal fin, stripes on their bodies and spots on their fins.  After about half an hour of exploring the reefs  mangal and sea

Corals at Punta Caracol

grass it started to rain and I took a few minutes to listen to the thunder and watch a storm move in over us. However my brief break was interrupted when Willie called me over to see something.  As I swam over I noticed a large cloud of sand stirred up below him, he pointed in the distance and I spotted a roughtail stingray (Dasyatis centroura) swimming away.  Soon Jan and Christy had joined us and we followed the ray (at a safe distance) for about ten minutes watching it  feeding on invertebrates in the sandy bottom.

Roughtail Stingray feeding

Warty Jellyfish

                     

Spotted Eagle Ray

Zoanthids, coral, sponge, brittle stars and sea aneome of the reef

Orange Filefish

Our last snorkel stop for the trip was off the coast of Isla Cristobal. Immediately upon jumping in Willie and Jaron shouted about a spotted eagle ray (Aetobatus narinari) and as I raced over  the eagle ray actually swam right by me!  I almost missed it but luckily my snorkel buddy Robbie pointed it out just in time for me to snap a quick picture! I was really excited to get a picture of this graceful animal. The colors at this location really stood out, the blues of the zoanthids mixed with the yellow and oranges of the corals, the purples and reds of the sponges and the many colors of the brittle stars, sea urchins and fish made for a beautiful site. The reef was teeming with life with damsel’s defending their territory, parrotfish munching on coral, jellyfish slowly swimming above it all. After a little under an hour exploring this colorful reef it was time for us to get out and head back to STRI.  After a delicious dinner of spaghetti with meat sauce and chocolate cake and ice cream for dessert, Mandi and Christy headed out for a night snorkel while others worked in the lab on their projects and daily journals. 

Adios! 

 -Kristi Ellison

Projects, Projects, Projects/Get to know the groups

As beautifully illustrated by Jaron Bowton in the Saturday, September 7th blog post, our group projects are officially underway and today marks our halfway point!  (although some have been working extra hard to get further along in their projects). Today was devoted to working on projects and our time between breakfast and 11:00am was spent working independently on the STRI campus. At 11:00am Jan gave a wonderful lecture on the resistance, resilience, and recovery of coral reefs, along with the effects of divers on coral reefs. Following a delicious lunch including mackerel, we continued our work, splitting up into two groups one going to Mangrove Point and the other staying closer to STRI.

Jaron and Will waving goodbye to the other group, while on their way to do their project at STRI Point

Today, I am focusing on project updates and on how things have been going now that multiple days have been available to collect data, but first I'd like to give our blog readers a little insight into the groups. Each group has earned a name describing them and the dynamics between each person in the group. Enjoy!

Get to know the groups

Team Buff- Susanna, Kristi, and Robbie

Team Buff

Although this group can regularly be seen with their impressive muscles barely contained by their t-shirts, it is not their physical ability, but rather their similarity in clothing they chose to bring to Bocas del Toro that has coined them their name. As a group that was obviously meant to be together and without any previous discussion, these three are the only ones who brought buffs to wear while in Panama and can be seen sporting them while out on our snorkeling trips and while working on their project.

The Firemen- Will & Jaron

Will (left) & Jaron (right) during lecture

Whether it is working with the infamous and dangerous fire coral, putting hot sauce on everything at every meal, or just looking good on a regular basis, this team is definitely on fire and their friendship has flames that cannot be put out.

Jaron (left) & Will (right) heading out to STRI Point to work on their project

The Cubazoan Ninjas-Mandi & Christy (aka shark)

Mandi (left) & Christy (right) ready to fight any jelly fish that come their way

This group has exhibited their lack of fear, not just by being the only group that has a project that requires them to do night snorkeling, but they also stare fear right in the eye every time they go out by swiftly and gracefully dodging stinging box jellies in their mangrove sites during each night's trip.

The Damsels in Distress- Kassie and me (Theresa)

Apart from studying and working closely with the three-spotted damselfish, Kassie and I are always hopelessly trying to take every opportunity to get a little sun and work on our tans, but are constantly being “rescued” (reminded) by our knights in shining armor, Jan and Ricardo, to cover up and wear plenty of sunscreen to ensure our delicate damsel skin stays beautiful for the future.

Me (Theresa) (left) & Kassie (right)

 Projects, Projects, Projects

At the beginning of each description there is a reminder of what each group is doing, for those who have forgotten or might not have read Jaron’s beautifully written blog entry (which can be found at http://oimbpanama.blogspot.com/2013/09/research-time.html):

Depiction of Team Buff in the field. Kristi (left) & Robbie (right) Picture by Susanna

Team Buff-Susanna, Kristi, and Robbie are focusing on the gradients of seagrass epibiont (animals and plants that live on the blades) grazing and herbivory with distance from the mangroves as well as exploring differences in sea grass shoot density and height.

Samples of epibionts ready for drying

Measuring of the surface area of the sea grass blades

UPDATE: Since Saturday, Team Buff has added two more sites, but everything is going a lot quicker now that they have a routine down. They are done collecting all of their turtle grass samples. Next they have planned a swim-over survey to assess what herbivores they see that might attribute to the bite marks they have observed on the turtle grass. In the lab they have been looking at epibionts by scrapping them all off of the second oldest blade (to maintain consistency) and burning the samples to get the dry weight. They are taking pictures of the blades to determine the surface area, for an epibiont to surface area ratio. In the field today they looked at the bite marks on blades of turtle grass in a 20x20cm quadrant and, like all good scientists, persisted through the entire sampling process despite tons of stinging hydroids on the sea grasses.

Kristi (left) & Susanna (right) working on scraping off epibionts

Robbie in the field working hard

The Firemen- Will & Jaron are trying to correlate both micro- and macro-morphology with the flow rate of the water. 

Clod cards being used out in the field

UPDATE: Two sites have been set up, one at STRI Point and one at Reef Point. Both sites have been sampled a total of 3 times and so far they have found that at Reef Point, there are both extremes (high and low) flow rates and at STRI Point there is a mixture of medium flow rates. To determine flow rates they have been using two methods; Clod cards, which are used to measure long term water flux, and fluorescine tests, to measure short term flow rates. Overall they say that things are going well, despite the fact that “there have been a couple breaks in the  process along with a couple burns along the way”.

Fluorescine test out in the field

The Cubazoan Ninjas-Mandi & Christy hypothesize that because mangrove prop roots are a day time refuge for juvenile fish to avoid predation from visual predators, there will be a greater abundance of fish during the day than at night.

Mandi (left) & Christy (right) on doing night observations

UPDATE: As of tonight, they have visited a total of 3 sites; 2 times during the night and 1 time during the day, meaning they are half way through with their data collection! So far, they have  identified 17 different types of fish including both adults and juveniles. Everything has gone relatively smoothly, and the data is supporting their hypothesis. The only problems they have encountered are low visibility due to increased sedimentation in the water that has been stirred up by the recent rains... and the jellies. During the night swims they have encountered box jellies, which are abundant in the mangroves. "Fish rock, jelly fish do not" -Mandi and Christy

Example of one of the many fish Mandi & Christy observe while out in the field

Mangrove roots, where Mandi & Christy conduct their observations

The Damsels in Distress- Kassie and I (Theresa) are looking at the differences in aggression between individuals that maintain territory on continuous reefs and isolated patch reefs.

Me (Theresa) measuring out in the field

Kassie taking observations

UPDATE:  So far we have collected two sets of data and taken  measurements to  map the distances of the territories from each other and from the mangroves. Things have been going really well, except for the schools of small fish swimming over the territory during observations, the change in light when the sun comes out from behind the clouds, and an increase in sediment from recent rains, which all have made it hard to see the focal animal. 

Three Spotted damselfish territory marked off

Other Exciting Things Happening at STRI

Today was an eventful day at STRI. Apparently, the Dallas World Aquarium had permission from the Panamanian government to export 8 Pygmy three-toed sloths. Pygmy three-toed sloths are endemic to an island near Bocas called Isla Escudo de Veraguas, where there is thought to only be about 79 individuals. When they went to the Bocas del Toro airport, they were greeted by a group of locals protesting the export of these animals. In the end, the Dallas World Aquarium decided to return the animals to the wild and so they were brought to STRI where they were then transported by boat back to their home to be released.We did not see the animals as they were each in a box, but we watched them being loaded into the boat for their return to their island.

-Theresa Berkovich