KML- Site 2, Monday June 1

On Monday, June 1, 2015 Natalie and I chose to scribe for the second dive site of the day, Koch Key.  This dive was done at 1130 and was the second dive of the day. 

Seagrass beds around the mangrove island. 

The site was a mangrove island with mainly red but some black mangroves, which was encircled by a mote.  As we hit the water we were immediately in Thalassia and Halodule seagrasses.  The sea grass was a source of protection and housed many different types of organisms.  It held Spaghetti worms, conch, welks, hydroids, and many upside down jelly fish.  There were also many prop scars from boats along the bottom.   As we approached the island the mote around the island became more apparent.  We circled the island in a clock wise direction and began looking up into the mangroves for the different organisms. On the mangroves we noticed tunicates, brown anemones, beaded anemones and also stalked anemones.  There were also sponges on the mangroves and on the sea bottom, such as red and fire sponges.  The sea bottom around the island was high in organic material such as detritus, cyanobacteria and feces from the different organisms.  Looking in the mangroves we were able to see multiple species of fish.  Some of these fish were traveling in large schools such as the snappers ( mangrove, mutton and school master).  Some of the major fish that we noticed were barracuda, sheepshead, sergeant major, pork fish, French angel, multiple species of parrot fish and jaw fish. When observing the mangroves more closely we noticed lots of spiny lobster and multiple crab species ( arrow, blue and hermit).

A juvenile gray angel fish with a sheepshead in the back. 

Spiny Lobster hiding in the mangrove roots. 

Upside down jelly fish laying on the bottom. 

Comparing this site to the first site we dove at we noticed multiple differences.   This site had a lot more coverage and places for organisms to hide in for protection.  The island itself provided a place for birds to live in, which in turn added to the high amount of nutrients in the water.  This site is more wind driven compared to the tidally driven first site.  This in turn caused this site to have less flow.   When looking at the fish from the two sites Koch Key had much larger fish.

Overall Natalie and I really enjoyed diving this site and looking at the different types of organisms that inhabited this environment.