Exposure!

On Monday, May 23rd I swam out into Waikiki and stuffed several gallon sized baggies full of an invasive alga, Gorilla Ogo. The saddle wrasse (Thalassoma duperrey) followed me around for snacks. I must have looked to them like a gangly uncoordinated shell-less turtle, tossing about in the surf trying to yank thick mats of algae off of the reef in the largest chucks I could manage. 

 

The saddle wrasse - my constant companion on collecting missions. (photo credit: Keoki Stender)

Once back to the lab I dumped it all in a cooler full of seawater and used tweezers to remove all epiphytic plants and animals, before using fishing line to strap it onto lighting eggcrate. 

 

Meet Gorilla Ogo (Gracillaria salicornia). It's a hard alga to contort and secure into relatively rectangular shapes.

One week later, on June 2nd, the exposure began. The coral nubbins that had been so happily growing over their plugs for the past two months were given new homes next to unruly neighbors that had no concept of personal space. 

 

Lobe coral (Porites lobata) in their experimental positions. No personal space here.

 

It's a strange experience, putting your healthy, happy coral nubbins in experimental treatments and then standing back and hoping that they slowly move closer to death over a very specific timeline, but don't actually die. Good luck, nubbins. Live long and suffer.

 

There are 288 coral nubbins in there!