Day 10: Five times and counting

 

Healthy Acropora palmata near Zapatillas

Our field course in tropical marine biology has cruised along here in Bocas del Toro; we now have only two working days left.  This is our 5^th time offering this study abroad course and it continues to be a rich and fun learning experience for all of us.  Students have worked hard on their field projects.  They have snorkeled enthusiastically on morning or afternoon boats trips to different sites with coral reefs, seagrass meadows and mangrove root communities.  Acroporid corals, brittle stars, fire coral, Halimeda, Porites, sponges and zoanthids are only a few of the many invertebrates we’ve viewed up close. Fish too draw our attention with outrageous colors, strange shapes, and territorial aggression.  

sand diver: before and after

 With 5 underwater cameras amongst us, I’ve lost count of the photos.  Students have shared their images so we will all have many hours ahead to enjoy and remember people, places, and organisms.

urchin, brittlestars and sponge

 

 

 

For me this has been a great cohort.  We’ve worked as a group since April 2022, when students began presenting weekly readings on topics tropical, Panamanian, and marine.  Over summer, five pairs of students planned their field-based research projects for our time in Bocas.  Student research projects explored fish assemblages by habitat, damsel behavior toward juvenile models, biology of marine debris, mangrove root communities and seagrass biology.    All students have embraced this experience in Panama, worked together well, and developed new friendships.

A very large moon jelly or little people?

The Smithsonian’s Bocas Research Station has been a great base from which to work and study.  All of the BRS staff have worked as hard as our students to make our visit productive, rich, and safe.  We thank the BRS staff for making things move along so well.    Lastly, we also thank the Tom and Carol Williams Fund at the U Oregon for supporting our course since 2013.  With this 5^th offering we have now exhausted these funds by supporting students with financial need and purchasing supplies for the course activities and student research projects.  After 5 offerings we have brought 43 students to Panama for a tropical marine experience!

Cleaner shrimp, Stenopus, at night

 

 

Richard Emlet - Co-Instructor of Tropical Marine Biology in Panama