Week one down! This first half of our time in Puerto Rico has been some of the most memorable and exciting experiences I've ever had. Every day has been packed with fun and interesting stuff to do from early morning to late night! We had some incredible days, from meeting researchers to conducting so many surveys, to experiencing the culture first hand and how incredible it is here.
We learned about coral restoration techniques, specifically involving gamete collection and fragmentation, as well as how to grow juvenile coral polyps on restoration pucks to help rebuild dying reefs.
We also learned about Diadema sea urchins and their importance in restoring reefs, as natural grazers they eat away the bad algae like cattle, allowing for juvenile corals to settle on clean surfaces, so we also got to learn how the researchers raise them and bring them out to the reef when they are of age. We were able to travel to Rincón, where we snorkeled around the sites where hundreds of the coral pucks had been placed, and saw so many sea urchins as well. This has all been super fun to learn about, and I'm so glad we've been able to see the actual results of their restoration in the field!
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