Hi, everyone!

Amanda here, joining the Grouper Moon Team in Little Cayman. I’m a grade two teacher at Cayman International School. My students do a project based learning unit on the ocean exploring the question, “How are we connected to the sea?” Engaging students in the Grouper Moon Project each year is one of the many ways that I develop my students’ conceptual understandings about how we affect and are affected by our ocean.

Today was our first official day of diving and collecting research from the Spawning Aggregation (SPAG) Site in Little Cayman, it also marks the full moon! The full moon is what marks the beginning of the Nassau grouper migration from their homes on the coral reefs around Little Cayman to the SPAG for the spawning. Starting from today we will begin to see more and more Nassau grouper aggregate at the site. The incredible thing about this aggregation is that the Nassau grouper are usually a solitary fish. You don’t typically see them together…until the Grouper Moon!

Today the team did three dives – a morning, an afternoon, and an evening dive. What was most surprising about today’s dives was the increase in the number of Nassau grouper at the SPAG over the course of the day!

Here is a video from this morning’s dive. How many fish do you think there are? You can post your estimates in the comments. I’ll share the team’s estimates on the blog tomorrow!

This is a video from our evening dive! I was amazed to see how many more fish came to the SPAG over the course of the day! How many fish do you think were there by the end of the day?

Another exciting moment for our team was the we had our first shark sightings! On the boat ride out to the site this evening we saw three shark fins. We’re not sure of the species since we didn’t get a close enough look. Later, when we jumped in for our last dive of the day, we were greeted by a Caribbean reef shark! The shark cruised around us for the beginning of the dive. Seeing sharks on the dives is a sign of a healthy fish population and a healthy ocean, and always a special moment for our team of researchers!

Don’t forget to join our team for the Livestream from Little Cayman tomorrow morning at 10:30 am. You can join the Livestream from the REEF YouTube Channel. See you tomorrow! Special shout out to my Grade 2 students at Cayman International School, can’t wait to have you ‘join’ our team in Little Cayman!

Most of the Grouper Moon team arrived in Little Cayman this afternoon. The driftwood terminal sign in Little Cayman is always a welcome reminder of this tiny island’s many charms.

The afternoon and evening were spent preparing for tomorrow’s first day of diving and the beginning of this year’s research. Collectively there were well over 20 luggage containers with gear and equipment that needed to be organized and prepared for the first day of diving tomorrow! Everything from GoPros to charge and set up, video equipment, sampling tools, dive gear, and the grouper tags (pictured above).

The grouper tags will be used to gain a population estimate of the size of the Nassau grouper aggregation at the spawning site. The 150 green tags will be used on Little Cayman and the pink tags will be used on Cayman Brac.

Tomorrow morning at 8 am is the ‘shake down’ dive. Our first priority- find the Nassau grouper! Once we have found where they are aggregating, the research team will dive in and begin collecting two primary types of footage – ‘Fish Faces’ and ‘Stereo Video.’

‘Fish Faces’ is used to obtain an estimate of the population size. The researchers obtain images of individual grouper ‘faces’ or the sides of the grouper. Each grouper has a pattern that is unique to only him or her, sort of like our fingerprints! Using a GoPro on a long selfie stick, we will take videos of as many fish as we can so that the researchers can use AI software to identify each fish.

The second method is called ‘Stereo Video.’ The Stereo Video is a specially designed device to take length measurements of the grouper. It is essentially a long stick with a GoPro on each end. This device is used to measure the length of different Nassau grouper at the spawning aggregation site. Length data is important because the larger the fish are, the more eggs the fish will have. Also, the fish get bigger as they get older, so this is one way to determine how the population of fish is growing.

We are all very excited for the first day of diving! Make sure to check back to find out how our first dive goes!

 

 

Hello Grouper Moon Students & Educators!

The Grouper Moon is nearly here and we are so excited to see you all on next week’s livestreams.

The following is a link that will take you to an awesome book all about the Nassau Grouper.  Created by BREEF, this is an excellent resource to learn more about the iconic fish.  Check it out! Breef-NGrouperGuideforSchools.pdf

Take are everyone, and we will see you all soon!

Todd

“The Grouper Teacher”

Hello Educators!

The Grouper Moon is nearly here and I wanted to share a few things with you.

Here is a link to access ALL the lesson plans:

Lesson Plans & Classroom Resources

Additionally, here is a link to the Educator Workshop we had a couple weeks ago:

Grouper Moon Educator Workshop 2021

The Grouper Moon livestream dates are as follows:

• Tuesday, January 18th
• Wednesday, January 19th
• Thursday, January 20th
• Friday, January 21st (back-up day)

Email me if you have any questions: todd@reef.org

We understand in concrete ways that the ocean is the lifeblood of Earth – and life itself. In Cayman, the threats to our oceans are compounded.  We see the real impact of these threats, but also the potential impacts we can make, ourselves, via the choices we make every day. We understand the need to educate ourselves and others about the potential of these impacts.

I’m a grade two teacher at Cayman International School. My students do a project based learning unit on the ocean exploring the question, “How are we connected to the sea?” Engaging students in the Grouper Moon Project each year is one of the many ways that I develop my students’ conceptual understandings about how we affect and are affected by our ocean. 

Joining the Grouper Moon Project as a team member this year was an absolute dream come true! It not only allowed me to experience the project by literally diving in with the thousands of Nassau grouper, but I was also able to engage my students and their families with the project. While I was on my expedition to Little Cayman with the Grouper Moon Project team, my students engaged in REEF’s Grouper Education Program. They learned about the food web and engaged in a game of food web jenga, viewed the PBS Changing Seas Grouper Moon documentary, went on a virtual ‘dive’ and completed their own diver interviews, made estimations of the Nassau grouper population and graphed their estimates on a class bar graph, discussed ocean issues such as overfishing and plastic pollution and played the board game ‘Grouper Race for Survival’, and also played an exciting game of ‘Tag the Grouper.’ You can find links to all of these resources below. Additionally, students were able to send questions that they had to me, and I was able to send videos to them with the answers to their questions. 

The Grouper Moon Project is a Cayman success in every way. Because the island was quick to realize the impacts of overfishing and protected both Nassau grouper and their spawning aggregation site, the Nassau grouper are recovering from the impacts of decades of overfishing. This is a direct result of people coming together, educating others, and making a difference. 

Throughout students’ engagement with the ocean project based learning unit, students complete individual research projects and work in teams to combine information, connect understandings and grow ideas. Students then use what they learn about ocean issues to advocate for them, inspire others, and make change.

Students’ curiosity always brings me joy, and to see them curious about the world around them and what is happening here in Cayman makes teaching and learning more engaging for the students and me!

Grouper Moon The Next Phase: A Guy Harvey Expedition

PBS Changing Seas Grouper Moon 

Grouper Race Gameboard Grouper Race For Survival Game

Grouper Race Gameboard

Nassau-Grouper-Poster

Diver Interviews

Tag the Grouper

 

 

 

 

Our Grouper Moon Project 2021 Team!

Nassau groupers are typically seen in what is considered their ‘barred’ color phase. This phase is their non-spawning phase and consists of brown and white bands with blotches along the sides of the grouper. Each Nassau grouper has a pattern that is unique to only him or her, sort of like our fingerprints. This unique pattern is being used by researchers to photo identify the fish using AI software.

The day of spawning, the team noticed several things on the morning dive that were clues that  the spawning might start later that evening. They noticed that the female groupers bellies were swollen with eggs, and many more of the fish were in the bi-color or dark phase. There were very few fish in the normal or barred color phase.

An important part of the dives and research is estimating the population of Nassau grouper at the spawning aggregation site. Both fish faces and video pan research methods are used for this, in addition to each team member’s estimates of the number of fish after each dive. After each dive, each diver completes a diver interview. The questions consist of where the fish were, what percent of each of the color phases the fish were in, what task the diver was assigned to, where the fish were located, what color phase the fish were in, what other species were noted, in addition to anything else the diver wishes to share about their dive. These interviews help the researchers to categorize footage, estimate the fish population, and record important anecdotal data about the dive. Attached is my video after Sunday evening’s exciting and very EPIC dive since it was the first night of the Nassau grouper spawning! 

If you’re a teacher reading, you can have your students watch a video of the spawning aggregation site on a ‘virtual dive’ and they can work in pairs to do their own ‘diver interviews’ to practice their speaking and listening skills.

Example diver interview for students.

In the Cayman Islands, long term surveying of shark populations to monitor Caribbean reef sharks is underway. Education about the critical role that sharks play in maintaining a healthy marine environment and the need for a healthy respect for sharks is key in changing public perception to a positive attitude. 

With the help of acoustic tags, baited remote underwater video (BRUV) surveys, diving surveys and satellite tags, the Department of Environment together with Marine Conservation International, supported by the Cayman Islands Brewery’s White Tip Shark Conservation Fund, have been studying, monitoring and working to protect local shark populations in the Cayman Islands since 2009. 

All sharks are protected species in the Cayman Islands. Their population is fragile and small, making their protection and research key elements for conservation. 

On the evenings of the Nassau grouper spawning, the Grouper Moon team was treated to several Caribbean reef shark sightings when they swam through the Nassau grouper aggregation spawning site, which was an exciting way to watch the food web in action with the incredible apex predators amongst the groupers.

The Cayman Islands is home to the last known intact spawning aggregations of Nassau grouper in the world. The reason why is a conservation success story! 

Historically, thousands of Nassau grouper gathered in aggregations around the Caribbean to spawn during the January and February full moons. According to REEF, nearly 50 of these aggregation sites have been documented around the region, but due to overfishing, the majority of them are no longer viable. The last remaining site is on the west end of Little Cayman. So far, results have shown that banning fishing at these sites has a direct and positive effect on the Nassau grouper population. That’s why many scientists advise its continued protection. 

Because of the Cayman Islands’ conservation management, this particular spawning aggregation has been protected since 2003. Additionally since 2003, Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) has partnered with the Cayman Islands Department of Environment to better understand and protect the spawning aggregation of Nassau grouper through the Grouper Moon Project. Through studying the Nassau grouper population size, fish lengths, juvenile habitats, genetics, and ocean currents, researchers continue to learn more about the Nassau grouper.

Protecting the Nassau grouper by imposing a fishing ban on the spawning aggregation ensures a healthy fish stock to keep fishermen in business for years to come, and supports a healthy ecosystem on the reef.

For more information on the project, visit https://www.reef.org/programs/grouper-moon-project