Web Dive 1 Sand Key - Page 4

Adjacent to the sea fan we capture the image of a squirrel fish hovering over the coral. Behind the mouth of the squirrel fish there is a patch of well - groomed algae that a damsel fish (behind the squirrel fish's tail) has been manicuring. These small turf areas amongst the living coral are common where damsel fish are present. The clump of Dictyota algae across from the squirrel fish's dorsal fin, clinging to the coral, is a macroalgae. Often, where these macro algae take hold on the living coral, conditions set in for infection near the point of attachment. This algae will be monitored.

Sand Key Grand Canyon 06/18/01 image 10

The real curious thing about this image is the yellow spots on the coral to the right of the fish. This yellow spot phenomena has been observed on other reefs in the Caribbean. There is physical damage to the coral tissue at each yellow spot suggesting that fish have been nibbling at the coral in those areas.

As we leave the Grand Canyon we head north toward the shallows to photograph the new elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata) that is growing there. I can't help but ponder the age of the large coral formations that we have just monitored. If the coral is twenty feet high and grows only one quarter of one inch a year, that would mean it took over 960 years of growth for an area like the Grand Canyon to form.

Sand Key Grand Canyon, 06/18/01, image 03

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