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Graduate
Student News
JELLYFISH
RESEARCHERS UNITE!
Kelly Rakow, M.S. Student
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A glimpse
into the wonderful world of jellies at the New England
Aquarium’s exhibit, a display aided by the Sea Lab team
of jelly researchers. |
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On April 17,
2004, the New England Aquarium in Boston opened a $1.9 million
jellies exhibit funded by the National Science
Foundation. The exhibit elucidates how overharvesting of fish,
nutrient enrichment and climate change may be leading to
increased numbers of jellyfish worldwide. Recent evidence of
range expansions, numerical increases and human introductions of
gelatinous animals underscores the key role of these predators
in a wide range of ecosystems.
How does
this pertain to DISL? In the New England Aquarium exhibit, the
Gulf of Mexico serves as a case study to illustrate the negative
influence that jellies can have when they are introduced or when
an ecosystem is imbalanced. Many of you who live along the
Gulf Coast might remember the population explosion of the
non-indigenous Australian Spotted Jellyfish (Phyllorhiza
punctata) in the summer of 2000 that cost the fishing
industry millions of dollars. Hoping to feature this invasive
species in their upcoming exhibit, husbandry staff from the New
England Aquarium (Steve Spina and Brian Kilpatrik) journeyed to
the DISL in the Summer of 2003. Although there was not a
substantial population of Spotted Jellyfish in 2003, the New
England team collected sea nettles (Chrysaora quinquecirrha),
a native species that has also experienced population increases
in recent years and is featured in the exhibit.
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Master’s
student Kelly Rakow stands next to a jellyfish tank,
known as a kreisel. |
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The
New England Aquarium team was hosted by Dr. Monty Graham’s lab
group at the Sea Lab and both institutions have benefited from
an ongoing collaboration. Over the past year the institutions
have exchanged specimens, information and facilities. In the
Fall of 2003, masters student Kelly Rakow collected behavioral
observations of jellies swimming in a large tank at the New
England Aquarium. Partnerships like this one facilitate
research and public education for both institutions.
2.
Mapping the Reefs of Bermuda
Thad Murdoch, Ph.D. Student
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Thad Murdoch, Ph.D.
student, demonstrates his coral videography technique. |
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I am about
to start a full time position leading a massive GIS-based Marine
Habitats Mapping Initiative in Bermuda. We’ve already mapped
over 32,000 patch reefs and over 300 sq. km of fore-reef into
the GIS from an aerial photo-mosaic of the entire Bermuda
Platform. This summer, we are going to ground-truth the GIS as
well as survey and assess the ecological health of 100 sites in
sediment basins and on seagrass and coral reef sites
encompassing the entire 750-sq. km platform. Our long-term
plans are to use the database as a template to guide
multidisciplinary research of the entire ecosystem, from the
open ocean into enclosed bays and marshes. We will invite the
participation of researchers from around the world, incuding
DISL.
For a simple
description see:
http://www.bamz.org/conservation&research/habitatmapping.htm
The project
is part of the Bermuda Biodiversity Project, jointly run by the
Bermuda Zoological Society (an NGO) and the Dept. of
Conservation Services, which is under the Ministry of the
Environment (Bermuda Government).
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