STEVENS AND THREE NOAA LMRCSC STUDENTS CONDUCT PRELIMINARY RESEARCH ASSESSMENT IN PUERTO RICO

Story by Patrick Makary

This January, NOAA LMRCSC Distinguished Research Scientist Bradley Stevens, Ph.D., and three LMRCSC graduate students Wilmelie Cruz, Stephanie Martinez-Rivera and Laura Almodovar-Acevedo spent a week conducting preliminary research in Puerto Rico. Stevens and Cruz recently received the NOAA Saltonstall-Kennedy Grant to study the queen conch population on the island using video technology. The purpose of the visit was to evaluate the sampling sites for the project.

They met Rich Appledoorn, Ph.D., an expert on the biology and fishery of the queen conch and of coral reef fishes at University of Puerto Rico (UPR) and they discussed the project’s experimental design, beginning dates and survey sites. This visit marked the beginning of the collaboration between University of Maryland Eastern Shore and UPR.

Cruz, Martinez-Rivera and Almodovar-Acevedo investigated the research vessel that will be used for the project, the “La Sultana,” to see how it will work with the camera sled. Dr. Stevens and the students also completed a check-out dive with the UPR Dive Safety Officer which is required to dive with UPR scuba equipment, and to maintain their American Academy of Underwater Sciences diving certification.

“We dove at two different sites about 40 feet depth, in flat sandy bottom and seagrass beds near reefs,” Cruz said. “We observed about a half-dozen queen conchs and other species of mollusks and fish.”

The students also learned how to identify the species and its preferred habitat. To conclude their trip, Stevens and his students toured the island to experience Puerto Rican traditions, foods and culture.