GRACE Project & Fin

Background: An otolith is each of three small oval calcareous bodies in the inner ear of vertebrates, involved in sensing gravity and movement.

My project is finally moving! After profiling Ponce Inlet Beach last Friday, Michelle and I went to Discovery Dive (a dive shop in Port Orange) and spoke to Ryan, one of the employees. Ryan told me he would hunt some lionfish for my project and bring them back so I could perform the otolith dissection. My reasoning for analyzing the otoliths is to gain experience in dissection, fish research, and discover my scientific question through field work.

While in Ponce Inlet, Michelle and I also found a caudal fin as we were walking. Since I thought that day was seining until the minute I arrived, I still held the excitement of identifying the characteristics of fish, so I excitedly told Michelle it was a lunate caudal fin.

This weekend I will be figuring out how to properly remove otoliths from fish heads before I put my hands in a real fish head. Wish me luck as I hope to figure out what I will be doing with these otoliths.

Also, instead of going on the dive with a group from Discovery Dive to West Palm Beach I will be using the trip's money to get SCUBA certified.