Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Sometimes Science isn't easy.....



Its been a few weeks since the last post on BURR's 2012 Coral Spawning blog....and I'm very sorry to say, that after having a good run of luck with the spawning event (perfect weather conditions, many colonies spawned and high fertilization rate), we have been extremely unlucky with survivorship. We had three independent kreisels set up, and apart from a few tiles with polyps on them, all coral larvae have all died. 

Once-happy and living coral polyps......


Dead coral larvae
So sad to see the dead polyps!





















We are still unsure at this point as to why that might have happened....

Even with all the hard work, sometimes Mother Nature has other plans!







Currently down at KML (The Keys Marine Lab on Long Key, FL) all kreisel set-ups have been taken down, and most all of team BURR and volunteers have left, except for Anke and Shelby.





Anke will be there until the end of September, bleaching the coral to generate symbiont-free coral tissue for the genome project and Shelby leaves on October 2 with high hopes to catch the spawning in Curacao! She will be at the Carmabi Lab (http://www.researchstationcarmabi.org/_). (Thanks to Mark Vermeij and crew for their willingness to accommodate her!)  We are all hoping for the best for her down there, and will keep you posted on her travels.

Before we all get too busy with the start of semester, respective jobs, and the fun of Autumn festivities (especially here in Western New York!),  BURR lab would like to thank ALL our volunteers, the KML staff and those at MOTE who helped make coral spawning this year possible. Despite the larvae not surviving as we all hoped and worked so hard for, we are still so grateful for all the help from the following coral enthusiasts: 



THANK YOU:
Natasha Mendez-Ferrer  
Tanya Brown
Xaymara Serrano
Phillip Gillette
Lystina Kabay
Peter Grasso
Christopher Grace
Jenna Soulliere
Amanda Montgomery
Ian Rodericks
Charlotte A Berry
Tiffany Babcock
Sascha Cushner
Nick Corby
Kate Correia
Bryan Danson
Bishoy Hanna
Jessica Hornbeck
Pam Marcum
Kim Ritchie
Chris Page 
Erich Bartels 
Cindy Lewis
Bill Ferrell
Trevor Luna
Bill Dent
Lisa Tipsword
Heddy MacBain
Dave Norman
Ben Binder



THANK YOU for all your help, hard work, and positive attitudes.....keep next year in mind! 

BURR LAB:
Mary-Alice Coffroth (Mac)
Anke Kleuter
Shelby McIlroy
Rachel Mellas
D.J. Valint

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