Another long, three-dive day in the Calcutta, with more lionfish spearing and a sea turtle sighting. While almost everyone else was underwater, Steve Schill and his group—Sean Green, Junior Squire, and Azra Blythe-Mallet—were staying dry, although they were looking at
On each of today’s three dives, like all the others, the first thing Alexandra Dempsey does when she reaches the bottom is to pull out a plastic container about the size of a Nalgene water bottle, scoop it full of
Today was a busy day: three dives and – finally – calm enough seas to launch the Twin V with Steve Schill’s sidescan sonar. The original plan was to do one dive, then stop by Middle Cay and ask the local
The swells had the final word today: we made only one dive, in the morning, off a rollicking Calcutta. The boat spent a few hours after lunch looking for a site that was protected from the swells and also had
Whitecaps are never good news when you’re diving. Sure enough, the swell and breeze both grew overnight, though luckily not too big to take the Calcutta out. After a late start for some repairs, the dive boat brought the group
After a night boarding at Errol Flynn Marina at Port Antonio, Jamaica and a rolling crossing that left more than a few green faces and empty chairs at dinner, the Golden Shadow motored overnight to Pedro Bank, about 100 miles
Conducting a research expedition in the Bahamas during hurricane season (June 1 – November 30) can be a risky venture. One never knows where or when a tropical storm (which is a low pressure system) will develop. Depending on the
Due to repetition, most of the time each of our reef fish surveys is similar to the previous survey. This is not unusual. One of the purposes of doing such studies is to find the “typical” species composition, sizes, and
Rest assured life as a coral reef ecology researcher is not always glamorous. Sometimes it’s not easy to be a marine scientist. Sometimes a plan does not always come together. For example, the Chief Scientist, Dr. Andrew Bruckner, has two
The third and final leg of the Bahamas’ expedition left the dock at Nassau around 8 pm last night. The research team was all assembled on the Golden Shadow by 5:30 pm and had a safety muster on the aft
