Student Experiments
Welcome Page About Us Photo/Video Gallery Daily Log Student Experiments Materials and Resources Credits Current Study		During the time the group spent on St. John they were to conduct a scientific experiment. Working in pairs, the students explored a topic of interest and presented their findings on the final night of the trip. Bleow are abstracts of the student experiments. Videos of the presentations are not available online. Click here to view experiments from the 2000 Study. Fire Coral Substrate Survey Suzanne Wardle and Kate Fischer Fire Coral (Milepora alcicornis) were studied to determine the substrates on which it thrives and the type of form it takes depending on the bays of St. John, USVI. M. alciornis was observed in Leinster, Big Maho, and Brown Bays on April 13,15, and 16, 2001 (respectively) through the use of dive slates and photographs, when ever possible. Results supported the hypothesis that fire coral grew on various dead materials, such as other dead coral, sponge, or plants, however the forms of the coral did not depend on the material it grew on, but rather on the conditions of the water surrounding each cluster of fire coral. In Leinster Bay branch like fire coral that resembled staghorn coral (a central trunk with many prongs emerging from it) was most common, but in Big Maho a lumpy, 'cottage cheese' shape developed. Brown Bay had vast flat sheets that covered the dead coral. In all cases the fire coral had the same basic characteristics of a mustard color with either white tips (staghorn type) or white speckles (flat sheets and lumpy types). Without future research about the waters in each bay a conclusion is unclear to why certain types of fire coral formations thrive in each bay. Numerous factors provide variables to determine the reason why each type is formed in a bay, such as the pH of the water, the water temperature, the salt content, or the wind or current speed. The physical factors, above, added to the biological variables such as surrounding marine life as well as the amount of human contact which that area encounters. Click here for a the presentation.