Monday, August 6, 2012

Here's Hopin that Third Time's the Charm!

Hey-o all! We braved rough seas and looming storms to bring you.... still no spawn. Despite the lack of spawn, we saw a massive moray eel, several squid and the turtle and octopus from our first night made another appearance. I'm always pleasantly surprised and impressed by the younger explorers on these trips. The rough seas made a couple of people sea sick but they didn't complain and even got back in the water- #troopers. WIth the advantage of having a large charter boat and the storm hanging ominously in the distance  rather than right over head, we were able to "outlast" the other, smaller research vessels.
On the bright side we learned that the coral spawned Saturday night around 11pm in the CRF laboratory, later than expected. Mr. Stephens and myself both noticed the slightly puffy look last night we remember from years past when the corals prepare to set so there's great optimism that tonight will be the night. We're planning on changing it up by going into the water a bit later to sustain our air, so when the corals spawn tonight (and we really hope they do)- we have enough time to stay submerged for the duration of the spawning.

Andrea Lee Schmidt, incoming Freshman at FSU and diver extraordinaire

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