Day Schedule:
7:30 breakfast
8:30 – 9:30 lecture: corals and coral reef ecology
10:00 – 11:15 boat snorkel
11:30 – 12:30 lecture: coral reef fishes
13:00 lunch
14:00 – 17:00 reef walk
17:00 individual debriefing
18:00 dinner
19:00 lecture and debriefing: coral reef invertebrates
Weather:Sunny, air: 26°C, water: 21°C, wind: 0-5 knots SE
Tides: High – 8:46, Low – 14:50
Details: After breakfast we had a lecture by Dr. Loh on corals and their ecology where we learned all about their morphology, feeding, reproduction, dispersal and habitats.
At 9:45 we met at the lighthouse for the boat snorkel trip on the windward reef side. On our way we saw lots of big Manta Rays (Manta birostris). While snorkeling we used fish cards to identify the families of fishes present at this site. The reef on the windward side of the island differs to the other side where we were snorkeling the day before. There was a spur and groove system with reef debris in between. The corals were more massive and incrusting. We found only a few table corals and less fish. We saw: Yellow-margined Snapper (Lutjanus fulvus), Butterflyfishes (Chaetodon sp.), Goldtail Demoiselle (Chrysiptera parasema), Springer’s Demoiselle (Chrisiptera springeri), Cleaner Wrasse (Labroides dimidatus), Palette surgeonfish (Paracanthurus hepatus), Clown Triggerfish (Balistoides conspicillium), Titan Triggerfish (B. vividescens), Wrasse (Thalassoma sp., Halichoeres sp.), Dottyback (Pseudochromis sp.)
On the way back there were lots of dolphins and a Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae).
Then we had a lecture by Dr. Loh on coral reef fishes and got an idea about what the different families look like and what they feed on.
After lunch we went out for a reef walk on the windward side in the lagoon. Right after the beach on the reef flat the first living corals were identified: Montipora digitata, Goniopora sp., Porites sp. (forms microatolls), Pavona sp., Fungia sp., Platygyra sp., Goniastrea sp., and Tubipora musica (Octocoralia). There were also echinoderms like sea cucumbers (Holothuria leucospilota, H. edulis, Bohadschia argus and Stichopus chloronotus) and a sea urchin (Tripneustes gratilla). Molluscs found all over the walk were Conus sp., Tridacna squamosa, Tridacna maxima and Cypraea tigris. Also the green alga Halimeda sp..
On the second half of the lagoon, there was a huge number of Acropora sp. and the different coral families and species mentioned before, except Montipora digitata. We saw echinoderms like sea stars (Linckia laeviata), sea urchins (Echinothrix diadema and Diadema sp.) and sea cucumbers (the ones mentioned before, and Actinopyga mauritiana, Holothuria atra, Bohadschia marmorata, Bohadschia paradoxa, Stichopus variegatus and Pearsonothuria graeffei). There were two Green Turtles (Chelonia mydas) stuck in small pools, cought be the receeding tide.
In the reef debris we found many sea urchins (Echinometra mathaei), sea stars (Nardea novacaledoniae, Fromia sp.), a brittle star (Ophiomastix sp.). When turning around blocks of debris we saw lots of ascidians, flatworms, polychaetes (Eurythae complanata), sponges (for example Clathrina sp.), sea hares (Aplysia dactylomela), abalones (Haliotis asinina), polyplacophorans (Acanthopleura spinosa), a red-eyed crab (Eriphia sebana), and small crabs. The most spectacular was an Epaulette shark (Hemiscyllium ocellatum).
At the high energy zone at the end of the reef flat there were only sea urchins and cone shells, few sea cucumbers and the ground was covered with coralline red algae.
In the evening we had a lecture by Prof. Wörheide and Dr. Reich about nearly all groups of invertebrates and debriefed the animals we found from each group during the day.
On the way back there were lots of dolphins and a Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae).
Then we had a lecture by Dr. Loh on coral reef fishes and got an idea about what the different families look like and what they feed on.
After lunch we went out for a reef walk on the windward side in the lagoon. Right after the beach on the reef flat the first living corals were identified: Montipora digitata, Goniopora sp., Porites sp. (forms microatolls), Pavona sp., Fungia sp., Platygyra sp., Goniastrea sp., and Tubipora musica (Octocoralia). There were also echinoderms like sea cucumbers (Holothuria leucospilota, H. edulis, Bohadschia argus and Stichopus chloronotus) and a sea urchin (Tripneustes gratilla). Molluscs found all over the walk were Conus sp., Tridacna squamosa, Tridacna maxima and Cypraea tigris. Also the green alga Halimeda sp..
On the second half of the lagoon, there was a huge number of Acropora sp. and the different coral families and species mentioned before, except Montipora digitata. We saw echinoderms like sea stars (Linckia laeviata), sea urchins (Echinothrix diadema and Diadema sp.) and sea cucumbers (the ones mentioned before, and Actinopyga mauritiana, Holothuria atra, Bohadschia marmorata, Bohadschia paradoxa, Stichopus variegatus and Pearsonothuria graeffei). There were two Green Turtles (Chelonia mydas) stuck in small pools, cought be the receeding tide.
In the reef debris we found many sea urchins (Echinometra mathaei), sea stars (Nardea novacaledoniae, Fromia sp.), a brittle star (Ophiomastix sp.). When turning around blocks of debris we saw lots of ascidians, flatworms, polychaetes (Eurythae complanata), sponges (for example Clathrina sp.), sea hares (Aplysia dactylomela), abalones (Haliotis asinina), polyplacophorans (Acanthopleura spinosa), a red-eyed crab (Eriphia sebana), and small crabs. The most spectacular was an Epaulette shark (Hemiscyllium ocellatum).
At the high energy zone at the end of the reef flat there were only sea urchins and cone shells, few sea cucumbers and the ground was covered with coralline red algae.
In the evening we had a lecture by Prof. Wörheide and Dr. Reich about nearly all groups of invertebrates and debriefed the animals we found from each group during the day.
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