In a previous post we discussed evidence of human influence on the terrestrial side of Orona: ancient Polynesian villages, a more recent (2001) settlement project that was rather short-lived. But there is underwater evidence as well. For example, abandoned anchors off of old ships lying undisturbed amidst the corals.

Anchor left on the reef

But there are also lingering global influences that are evidenced by what is NOT present on the reef. For example, lack of live coral. These mostly dead and overgrown coral skeletons are remnants from previous bleaching events, the most severe of which occurred in 2002-2003.

A lone shark swims over a reef of encrusted coral skeletons

All is not lost, however. As was found on the 2009 expedition, the reef was seen to be rapidly recovering from bleaching, thanks in part to reef herbivores that were keeping the dead substrate clean and ready for coral recolonization. Thanks to these coral reef "lawnmowers", the reef is mostly free from the weedy macroalgal species that are competitively dominant. Instead, the reef harbors mostly Halimeda (a green calcareous algae) and CCA (crustose coralline algae, in pink), which do not impede the resettlement of corals.

Reef herbivores (Acanthurids) graze turf and macroalgae off the reef

And the fish just keep on coming.... even in the depths

...And in the shallows

The presence of such high abundance and diversity of fishes is likely a key part of reef recovery. Part of the beauty of PIPA is that all of the island-surrounding reefs are part of the no-take portion of the MPA, which means no fishing. No fishing AT ALL. Hopefully, such conservation measures will enable these reefs to recover from the global impacts of climate change, and we will continue to document and observe the changes in these reef communities over time. 

Photographer Keith Ellenbogen, a regular Aquarium blog contributor, is on the expedition. Here are some of his images from Nikumaroro Island.

A deserted island beach may look idyllic, but imagine being stranded here... quite a different perspective! TIGHAR thinks Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan may have have been stranded on this island... they are soon headed to PIPA, and perhaps we'll find out.

One of the popular "Amelia" theories is that her plane landed on the reef flats during low tide (the TIGHAR hypothesis). You can see here how the reef flats may have been suitable for an emergency runway!

This crab has a story to tell, and the punchline: "Stay away from my territory!"

Birds landing on the Nai'a have a good view of the exposed  SS Norwich City shipwreck, to the left.

Stormy sunsets are one of the amazing views in PIPA

But nothing beats a full rainbow. :-)

Photographer Keith Ellenbogen, a regular Aquarium blog contributor, is on the expedition capturing stunning underwater photos. These images are from dives near Nikumaroro Island.


Now that you've seen Nikumaroro from the air, it's time to dive down and see the reefs below.

Colorful green Halimeda algae and pink crustose coralline algae covering a mound of dead coral substrate (Photo: K. Ellenbogen)

Atop the large plates of mounding Porites corals is the perfect place for an underwater cleaning station. This grouper is actually being cleaned by a tiny wrasse (see the blue and black striped fish to the right?). (Photo: K. Ellenbogen)

The silvery surface waters of Nikumaroro are home are far from empty...Scomberoides lysan(queenfish) and Elagatis bipinnulata(rainbow runner) abound! (Fish ID by Dr. Les Kaufman) (Photo: K. Ellenbogen)

A school of herbivorous convict tangs feeding on turf algae (Photo: K. Ellenbogen)

A scrubby coral forest regrows in the shallows (Photo: K. Ellenbogen)

Herbivory in action! (Photo: K. Ellenbogen)

Photographer Keith Ellenbogen, a regular Aquarium blog contributor, is on the expedition capturing stunning underwater photos of marine life as well as these aerial images of Nikumaroro Island that were made using a kite.


Flight and Nikumaroro are no strangers to each other. Indeed, Nikumaroro is perhaps most famous as a potential landing site for Amelia Earhart, the famous female aviator. The Amelia Earhart recovery is being attempted by TIGHAR, The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, who made the movie below (posted for convenience, and also shows a helicopter flyover of the island):



But when our team is on Nikumaroro, they are busy gathering biological information about the corals, fishes, and seawater chemistry (similar to their work on the other islands, detailed in previous posts). Amidst all the hard work, a bit of fun is definitely welcome! One of the goals was to collect water samples from the Niku lagoon - these kite photos helped to verify the shallow nature of the lagoon, and provided a fun way to contextualize the site of sampling. In this case, Keith and Jay mounted a GoPro camera to a kite in order to get a birds-eye view of the island, without taking on Amelia-style risk. :-) We are happy to report that there are no missing aviators as a result of this activity. Instead, just some great photos! Not bad for a team that primarily works underwater. Enjoy!

Expedition members Keith and Jo test the aerodynamics of the kite and camera. (Photo: S. Mangubhai)

Expedition Leader Sangeeta launches the kite, which is being controlled by Keith. (Photo: K. Ellenbogen)

Aerial photograph of Nikumaroro Lagoon from the kite (Photo: K. Ellenbogen)

Aerial photograph of Nikumaroro Lagoon from the kite (Photo: K. Ellenbogen)

This post is by Expedition Team Member Jennifer Boulay.

The idea for this blog hit me during one of our dives and I wrote this down on my slate. So here it is literally from the reefs of Phoenix Island to you. I am a PhD student at Penn State studying coral genetics and my work here is like being on a television crime drama.

Okay not exactly.

In reality, my work is much cooler. Instead of a dirty crime scene, I get to be here on the beautiful reefs of the Phoenix Islands and instead of taking samples from a dead body, I take small samples of coral tissue under the water.

Jennifer Boulay collecting sample of porites (Photo: K. Ellenbogen)

But back in the lab, I do get to use information in DNA to solve a mystery: How far do PIPA corals move within and among PIPA islands and the other Pacific archipelagos?

I know it can be difficult to think of a coral as a motile animal because they look like rocks or plants but like some plants they do have a motile life phase. In order for you to understand the ecology behind coral genetics, I think need to explain about reproduction in corals (Don’t worry I promise I will keep it PG). Coral colonies reproduce in two ways:

1) A coral colony can release sperm, eggs, or sometimes both into the water and mate with other colonies of the same species. This is how corals sexually reproduce. The resulting larvae can travel in the water on currents to other reefs or stay locally and settle back on the same reef. For these sexually produced colonies, their genetic signatures allow us to model patterns of connection among reefs. This will tell us if the colonies were locally produced or if coral larvae from one island make it to other islands within PIPA or even the other islands of the Pacific. My lab has been working on reef connectivity across the entire Pacific in one species of coral. In fact, the first samples I ever analyzed during my PhD were sent to my lab by Randi Rotjan from Enderbury on the PIPA expedition in 2009. So the Phoenix Islands are especially close to my heart and I am so excited to be here and experience them with my own eyes. But this year, I am collecting samples from all the islands and will be able to look at connectivity within PIPA in addition to the connections among the PIPA islands and other Pacific Islands.

2) Another way a new coral can establish on the reef is from an existing colony. A piece or branch of a coral colony can break off and become a new colony. This is known as asexual reproduction by fragmentation. Think of your garden at home. Even though corals are animals they reproduce somewhat like plants. You can take a cutting of a tree, plant it in the ground, and it will grow into a new tree. But this new tree is a genetic clone of the original plant from which you took a cutting. These two plants will share the exact same DNA. In my lab at Penn State I will use 11 sites in the DNA to give each coral a unique identifier, its genotype. If two samples have the same genotype those colonies are clones of each other. For branching colonies it is easier to understand how a branch can break off in a storm for example and become a new colony but many of the corals on the reef just look like rocks or even grow encrusting on the surface. For these colonies it is possible that fish bite the coral, not to eat it but to get at other things living inside the corals like mussels or worms. The coral pieces that are broken off might establish their own colonies nearby. The 2012 PIPA expedition is the optimal way to study this unique method of asexual propagation because we have scientists collecting data on fish assemblage and corals at the same time.

A tissue sample of Porites for genetic analysis. (Photo: K. Ellenbogen)

 
Unlike in TV, my results are not completed in one, neat, 30-minute episode, so STAY TUNED.

-Jennifer