Expedition Log: BIOT – Day 12 The distances in Chagos are vast, but we know we are nearing a new island when we begin to see more seabirds – a technique sailors have used for centuries. Today, like most days,
Expedition Log: BIOT – Day 11 It wasn’t long after we started our surveys of the Chagos Archipelago that we noticed that the Day Octopus (Octopus cyanea) was quite common here. Usually an intelligent creature like an octopus is enough
Expedition Log: BIOT – Day 10 The first thing you notice when stepping onto the islands of the Chagos Archipelago are the many crabs. From the rock crabs at the water’s edge to the plodding hermit crabs and scurrying ghost
Expedition Log: BIOT – Day 9 Blacksaddled Groupers (Plectropomus laevis) are aggregating in Chagos. Groupers are usually solitary fish, except when it comes to spawning, when small groups or larger aggregations form to release large quantities of eggs and sperm
Expedition Log: BIOT – Day 8 Within the first few days of surveying in Chagos, our fish and benthic surveyors have had multiple encounters with large and often pregnant tawny nurse sharks (Nebrius ferrugineus). Tawny nurse shark swims over the
Expedition Log: BIOT – Day 7 Before starting our research in Chagos, I read several reports stating how many fish we could expect to see during the mission. Chagos is supposed to have more fish than anywhere else in the
Expedition Log: BIOT – Day 6 A species is said to be endemic if it is confined to a defined region like an island, country or geographical zone. As we move our research from the West Pacific to the Indian
Expedition Log: BIOT – Day 5 Today we hear from Konrad Hughen, Senior Scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, about the process of coral coring and how it is being used to measure changes in climate in this remote
Expedition Log: BIOT – Day 4 While you may never see pigs fly, it is possible to see fishes fly—well, glide for very long distances anyway. As we travel to and from the survey sites in our dive boat, it
Expedition Log: BIOT – Day 3 School is definitely in session here in Chagos! The fish team has had our hands full trying to identify, count, and size all the fish we’ve been seeing in our surveys. The reefs here
