1. Coral Stress and Bleaching
Vivian Yao
Geosciences ‘17
October 2, 2015

2. Bermuda Institute of Oceanic Sciences (BIOS)
Proximity to deep ocean and coral reef environments
Low human impacted waters
Temperature rise, pH fall
R/V Atlantic Explorer
Mesocosm aquatic facilities
Unique environments such as collection of waters in the bays—mixture.

3. Zooxanthellae-Coral Relationship
Mutualistic
Coral stress leads to coral bleaching.
Fix nitrogen  ammonia (NH3)
Coral samples post coring and drying
Coral “nubbins” recovering post cleaning

4. Experimental and Lab Setup
Right: Nubbin cups arranged under UV lights, spectrometric pH instrument setup
Below: Underwater Fluorometer, Probe on coral tissue

5. Coral Bleaching July 20, 2015 July 30, 2015 August 10, 2015
Annual Records of Tropical Systems, 1996.

6. Hurdles Along the Way…
Right: Individual coral cups aligned under UV light
Below: Coral nubbins in mesocosm tank

7. What I Gained: Experience, Knowledge, Motivation
…wet lab, dry lab, field lab, boat lab
Above: Measuring temperature and salinity
Right: Water sampling at Tyne’s Bay
Above: R/V Atlantic Explorer

8. Continuing at Princeton
Coral samples in red dye
Separating coral tissue from epoxy

9. Thank you!
Princeton Environmental Institute Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences Sigman Lab (Princeton) Cohen Lab (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) Link Foundation Hanny Rivera Victoria Luu
Sea star found attached to coral nubbin upon ocean retrieval