In addition to the frequent Q+A opportunities that the expedition team has had with readers, students, and the traditional press, there has also been interest from ocean bloggers. Yesterday, Rick Macpherson, the Director of Conservation Programs at the Coral Reef Alliance, posted an interview conducted over email with Randi Rotjan on his longrunning ocean conservation blog Malaria, Bedbugs, Sea Lice and Sunsets. Here's brief excerpt from his introduction and one of the interview questions, follow the link for the whole thing:

"I've been handing out quite a few YAOSGBIR (Yet Another Ocean Scientist Getting Broader Impact Right) recognitions recently. SEAPLEX, Finding Coral, NE Pacific Expedition, the Beagle Project-Tocorime Pilot Project, to name a few. And joining the list was the recent New England Aquarium-Woods Hole-Conservation International 3-week research expedition to the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA). This expedition, made up of an international team of scientists, divers, and photographers, surveyed what may be the most pristine, intact coral reef ecosystems on Earth.

"You may have been following the Aquarium's expedition blog that's kept an almost daily play-by-play of the mission ....



"MBSL&S: I'm fascinated by your interests and exploration of what you call "ecosystem engineers," or species that can significantly alter or manipulate their environments. What ecosystem engineer species are you hoping to study on this expedition? Can you describe some of the experiments (or observations) you plan to conduct?

"Dr Randi Rotjan: Ecosystem engineers abound on coral reefs, and include the corals themselves! Coral animals build the structure of reefs with their calcium carbonate deposition. In many ways, they are analogous to trees in a forest--both trees and corals create the physical structure on which so many other organisms depend, and thus dramatically alter the landscape with their presence. In temperate forests, beavers are often cited as ecosystem engineers because they cut down trees – thereby again altering the landscape by creating dams, which not only changes the distribution of trees, but also diverts waterways. Similarly, corallivores (organisms that eat live coral) are also ecosystem engineers because, like beavers, they can change the shape of the habitat."


Coral near Nikumaroro Island (Photo: Randi Rotjan)

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Labels: coral reef health, Phoenix Islands, Q+A, Randi Rotjan

Note: Students from Souhegan High School in Amherst, New Hampshire posted questions for Aquarium researcher Dr. Randi Rotjan in the comments section of this post. Here is the question with Randi's answer in light blue:

What an amazing adventure you have been having--we feel so fortunate to join you virtually! Your posts have been excellent--yesterday we started class with a discussion regarding your "Points and Lines" entry. They had lots of questions about whether your "lines" actually existed in a quantitative form. I think they are having trouble conceptualizing what the data that you are collecting actually looks like. Maybe some examples of the types of things you record along your transect lines might be helpful for them.
-Souhegan Marine Lab, Souhegan High School

Hi Julianne and students -
Sorry for the delayed response--I did not get your message until now (we're working on multiple computers, and it gets confusing, even on a relatively small boat!). So, let's talk about points and lines.

By "lines," what I mean is a trend line through data points. On our transects, we are measuring lots of things. I'm an ecologist, which means that measuring the diversity (who) and abundance (how many) of organisms in an ecosystem is my bread and butter. It's the logical starting place to quantifying any ecosystem or habitat.


Dr. David Obura working on a transect (Photo: Randi Rotjan)

When we lay out a transect here in the Phoenix Islands, we lay out a 25 meter line, and count every coral colony within 1 meter of that line. So, we count diversity (what coral species or genera we see), and abundance (how many of each coral species we see), in a known area (25 x 1 meter belt). This allows us to determine how one site differs from another (spatial comparisons), and when we measure the same place year after year, this also allows us to determine how things change over time (temporal comparisons).


A coral recruit visible beside a transect line (Photo: Randi Rotjan)

There are other expedition members collecting other types of data (fish diversity, abundance, and biomass, for example). We put all of these data together to try to as sign a trajectory to the Phoenix Islands Reefs. Are they degrading? Recovering? Sick? Healthy? There are lots of other ways to collect data, of course, but I hope this gives some insight into how we measure the state of the reef, and how scientists turn numbers (points) into a story (lines) that helps us to understand where things are, and where they are going.

Thanks, as always, for the questions!
Best fishes,
Randi

This is the second time these students and Randi have been able to communicate during the expedition. Here's their first exchange.


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Labels: coral reef health, Q+A, Randi Rotjan, transects

Reader Shari posted a question for Brian Skerry in the comments section of this recent post. Here is that question and his response (in blue).

Hi Brian,
I'm glad to see the coral is coming back but surprised that there would be so much bleaching in such a remote and mostly pristine archipelago.

The Phoenix Islands, I have learned, are located right in the middle of the place where El Nino events begin; the genesis of hot water spreading out into the Pacific Ocean. The scientists on this expedition state that the hot water event that occurred in 2002/2003 was the most severe and intense thermal event and longest lasting that has ever been recorded on Earth. So the reefs here were substantially stressed in a way that no other reefs have ever been. And still, they are showing signs of recovery becuase they were healthy prior to the event.


Dr. David Obura measures a new table coral growing amidst fields of dead coral at Kanton Island in the Phoenix Islands (Photo: Brian Skerry).

Do you think the effects of long lining are from before the Islands were protected, or could there still be poaching going on?

There clearly has been a lot of shark fishing here too. Long liners have hit several of these islands hard in recent years, prior to the creation of the Marine Protected Area. So the combination of these things has obviously had a devastating impact. But this place has the resiliency to bounce back and is already doing so. I think this is the important story here. Protecting intact ecosystems is the best way to insure their survival from events that we have little control over.


Gray Reef shark cruises in to check out photographer Brian Skerry during as sunset dive on Nikumaroro Island in the Phoenix Islands. (Photo: Brian Skerry)

And finally where is my good friend the Bohar snapper? They are conspicuously absent from all the photos, an anomaly for the Line Islands! I'm enjoying diving vicariously through the blogs!

Best, Shari S.O.H.

As for your friends, the Bohars ... they are here for sure! I must say that they were far and few between on a few of the islands, but plentiful on others. I sent them your regards!
Best,
Brian

If you have questions for expedition members, leave them in the comments section of a post and the team will do their best, depending on remote satellite connections, to reply.

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Labels: bohar snapper, Brian Skerry, coral bleaching, Q+A, sharks

Reader Evelyn Cook posted a question for Brian Skerry in the comments section of his most recent post. Here is that question and his response (in blue), written during the journey to Kanton Island.

Brian,
This shark looks like it is "positioning" in an attack mode? Did you stick around very long?
- Evelyn Cook


(Photo: Brian Skerry)

I'm not sure this shark was preparing to attack, though I must say that all the gray reef sharks in this part of the world seem to be always very hungry and are extremely aggressive and competitive. This animal came in for a few close passes, then moved further away. I stayed alone in the water in this location for maybe 30 - 40 additional minutes and experienced no other aggressive behaviors. But I am sure that if I stayed until it was even darker (after sunset), this shark (and others) would have come in again!

Best,
Brian

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Labels: Brian Skerry, Q+A, shark

Note: Students from Souhegan High School in Amherst, New Hampshire posted some questions for Aquarium researcher Dr. Randi Rotjan in the comments section of this post. Due to Randi's busy dive schedule during the expedition and spotty satellite communications it took a couple days, but she has managed to respond here.

Here are the questions with Randi's answers in light blue:

Hi Randi-
My students have been checking the blog everyday--and they are really enjoying following your expedition! They had a couple of questions for you.

Labels: Q+A, Randi Rotjan