Jenna Fairchild (UR) - It Looks Like I'll be Diving This Semester!

The ivory bush coral, Oculina varicosa, is often found in interesting habitats. This coral has a high tolerance to high sedimentation, marginal temperatures, salinity, and turbidity. This characteristic allows Oculina to survive in coastal inlets and lagoons. Interestingly enough, though, this coral can only be found off the coast of East Central Florida. Ponce Inlet, Florida is just south of Daytona Beach, Florida and it is known to be a habitat for shallow water Oculina. I am researching this shallow water coral for a few reasons:

• Oculina is known to have high biodiversity, similar to that of tropical reefs
• Not much information is known about Oculina since it is only found in East Central Florida, and they can live up to depths of 1000 meters, which is deeper than the recreational diver's limit
• Oculina are extremely resistant to climate change because of their ability to survive without zooxanthellae and their high tolerance to sedimentation, turbidity, temperatures, and salinity

I will be researching the levels of tolerance of Oculina on inlets in order to understand how resilient this species is while living on coastal inlets. I hope that this research will add to the knowledge of this unique and highly resilient coral, and ultimately help us to conserve this stony coral while learning about it. 

I will use the SCUBA system to collect my data before bringing it in to the lab 

My scientific question is: How resilient are Oculina coral that live on coastal inlets in shallow water? (shallow water Oculina is considered 6-120ft).

The materials and methods that I will be using are as follows:

Water salinity: Refractometer

Sea Level: The Volusia County instrument that was placed offshore a couple years ago? One of a kind. Sea level influences sedimentation.

I will test TSS and turbidity with a HACH Turbidimeter 

Skeletal growth: Extension and lateral thickening with a ruler. 

PH: A pH range between 8.4 and 7.7 is experienced in thriving coral reefs, that range appears to be the best balance that supports photosynthesis and calcification. I will test pH with pH paper.

SCUBA: I will use the SCUBA system to collect my data.