Daily Journal Entries      

            Saturday, May 4, 2002

    Due to habitat destruction, scientists at Mote have created ways to restore and create new living spaces for fish and other sea life.  They have constructed concrete domes with holes in them, that allow for algae and plant growth once they are placed in the ocean.

    These artificial reefs have helped restore lost habitats that house over 4,000 aquatic species.  Two of these species, seen below, are the moray eel and the neon goby.  These two sea creatures have an interesting relationship and dependence upon one another.  The moray eel (seen in the far right corner), will not eat the small blue fish called the neon goby.  He will however, open his mouth wide when a goby is in the area.  The small fish swims inside of the eel's mouth and finds his dinner by removing food from between the eel's teeth.  The neon goby also feeds upon the algae growing on the moray's back.  While it may seem that this small fish is treating the eel like a buffet table, the goby is sometimes referred to as the "cleaning lady" and "dental hygienist" for the moray eel.  This reminds me of two aquatic creatures that Abby and Jillian discussed in their Power Point.  Can you ladies remind everyone about that relationship, and help them to compare it to this one?

    This is a loggerhead turtle named Shelley.  She was raised from a hatchling in captivity.  Shelley has helped scientists at Mote study growth and behavior of sea turtles.  Shelley is the type of sea turtle that nests along the shore here in Sarasota.  

    This is an example of what a nest would look like when the hatchlings are ready to come out.  About 45 days after the mother has nested, the babies hatch out of their shells.  The wire cover you see over the nest is placed there by local scientists to prevent birds or land animals from digging up and eating the turtle eggs.  Once the babies hatch, they crawl out of the hole and make their way towards the ocean to begin their lives as an aquatic animal.  Many times birds will come down and try to disable as many of these babies as possible so they can return and have dinner.  For that reason, volunteers from Mote also walk the beach and look for injured sea turtles.  There is a special lab set up to take in injured hatchlings and rehabilitate them in hopes of releasing them back into the wild someday.

    The marking stick on the left is placed by the nest so that people can estimate the time that the hatchlings will emerge from the sand.  If this nest holds eggs that were laid on July 18th, about when would you expect them to hatch?  

    On the right you can see that sea turtle nest tampering is not tolerated in the Sarasota area.  Violators can either be fined or put in prison under both Florida State law and the federal law under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

     This loggerhead sea turtle named Edgar has an interesting story behind her.  Yes, Edgar is a female.  She was brought in at about 2 years of age, and turtles don't reach sexual maturity until 20 years of age.  The staff apparently guessed wrong when she was first brought in.  

     Edgar can never be released back into the wild, because for some reason, her limbs and head never darkened up as she grew older.  Baby sea turtles have white appendages that darken within the first year.  Unlike land turtles, loggerheads cannot pull their legs and head into their shell when a predator is approaching.  They depend upon camouflage as a defense mechanism.  The scientist at Edgar's tank informed me that even small fish would prey upon her head and legs if she was released into the wild, since they would be so visible and would be an easy target for a meal.  

    I bet you can guess which exhibit was my favorite today!  I was extremely anxious to see Hugh and Buffett and they did not disappoint me.  The viewing windows at the Jane and David Allen exhibit allowed me to see what I have been missing over the past week - what the manatees are doing BELOW the water.  We were fortunate to arrive around feeding time, and we were also able to talk to a scientist about some interesting updates in the lives of our favorite manatees.

    Here you can see Buffett in the foreground and possibly make out Hugh in the background.  We arrived at the exhibit around lunch time, and you can see  the amazing amount of romaine lettuce that they are munching on from the water's surface.  It was interesting to find out that they did an experiment with Hugh and Buffett recently, to see if they would eat sea grass that is found in the grass beds here in Sarasota.  For three days they provided only sea grass in Hugh and Buffett's tank.  The two manatees initially tried the sea grass, and chose to fast and not eat for the three days rather than eat any of it.  Based upon this information, what can you conclude about releasing manatees into the wild who have been in captivity for long periods of time or their entire lives?

    Another interesting story that I heard about Hugh and Buffett involves the sea turtle that you can see swimming in their tank.  When this sea turtle was first introduced into the manatee tank, Hugh and Buffett did not know what to make of it.  They had never seen a sea turtle before.  As a matter of fact, Hugh was so upset that he lost about 200 lbs. during the first month that the turtle was around.  Since then, however, they have become acclimated to one another and Hugh and Buffett have actually gained too much weight.  Scientists currently have them on a diet to get them back to a more healthy level.

     I did take the opportunity to see how I measure up to a manatee, as well as to donate some money towards Hugh and Buffett's lunch!

     Now that I have seen these two at the aquarium, I look forward to working with them even more on Wednesday!