Coral Spawning In The Bahamas
Every summer once the water temperature increases, several reef creatures know it is the time of the year to produce offspring by releasing their reproductive cells or gametes into the water column.
News
Education, Research and Innovation at The Island School
Read on for program highlights, research results, all-star alumni, sustainable living ideas, and more.
Dr Owen O’Shea visits the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
The ongoing collaboration between the Cape Eleuthera Institute and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWWCC) was recently further endorsed with a visit by Research Associate Dr Owen O’Shea…
Coral and Hurricane Matthew
As Hurricane Matthew made contact with the Bahamas in early October, it brought with it many threats of damage and devastation. The Cape Eleuthera Institute (CEI) was extremely fortunate in…
CEI shark team pulls in rare catch!
On Wednesday, August 31, 2016, the CEI Shark Research and Conservation Team caught and sampled a huge 258 cm male lemon shark (Negaprion brevirostris). This thrilling capture was made while…
CEI and SECORE document critically endangered coral spawning
SECORE (SExual COral REproduction) International arrived at the Cape Eleuthera Institute last month for a week of research focused on coral spawning. SECORE is a non-profit organization dedicated to the…
Coral reef survey techniques workshop help at CEI
On August 20th, Dr. Craig Dahlgren from The Perry Institute for Marine Science Laboratory arrived at CEI along with more than 20 scientists and conservationists from around the Bahamas and…
CEI team visits with Space 2 Create summer camp
Last week, four members of staff from Cape Eleuthera Institute (CEI) visited Harbour Island as part of an outreach event working with the summer camp Space 2 Create. Space 2…
Studying the knowledge and consumption of lionfish on Eleuthera
Red Lionfish (Pterois volitans) is a venomous species that has been invasive to The Bahamas for over a decade (since 2004). It was first observed around Eleuthera in 2005 and…
Operation Wallacea student investigates growth rates at the CEI coral nursery
Over the course of six weeks, Natasha Webbe of the University of Leeds, a student representing Operation Wallacea, has been working with the Cape Eleuthera Institute to study the success…
Operation Wallacea students participate in sea turtle research
Green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) are one of only seven remaining sea turtle species. These reptiles were classified as an endangered species on the IUCN Red list, following the abrupt…
Summer research focusing on critically endangered coral reef species
Elkhorn (Acropora palmata) and staghorn (Acropora cervicornis) corals are major reef-building corals found off the shores of Florida and throughout the Caribbean. In recent decades there has been a widespread…
Sea Turtle team supports the Bahamas National Trust summer camp
On Thursday, July 28th representatives from the sea turtle research team at CEI went to the Leon Levy Preserve in Governor’s Harbour to share their knowledge about sea turtles with…
CEI scientists present research at the 13th International Coral Reef Symposium
written by Dr. Jocelyn Curtis-QuickThe International Coral Reef Symposium (ICRS) is the olympics of marine biology and is only held every four years. It is the primary international meeting focused…
First Island School Student to Presents Research Poster at BNHC
CEI was well represented at the regional 2016 Bahamas Natural History Conference, with representatives giving talks on plastics, climate change, rare shrimp, turtles, conch, sharks and lionfish. More excitingly, the first…
Patch reef survey time!
Last week the Reef Ecology and Restoration team completed the March monitoring surveys of the 5 year reef study around the patches of Eleuthera. The March surveys usually call for thick…
Research to protect Eleuthera seahorses
Dr. Jocelyn Curtis-Quick and her team have been assisting Dr. Heather Masonjones with her ongoing seahorse research in Sweetings Pond. Sweetings Pond on the island of Eleuthera contains a diverse…
Professor Wicksten visits CEI
The Reef Ecology and Restoration team welcomed Prof. Mary Wicksten to CEI last week. Prof. Wicksten is a professor at Texas A&M University, College Station, where she works on the…
Queen conch “graveyard” study taking place at CEI
High on top of the Bahamian crest is a queen conch—an iconic representation of how truly integrated marine ecosystems are to Caribbean culture. Queen conch (Strombus gigas) is a large…
Local marina and tournament anglers contribute to research at CEI
This February, the Cape Eleuthera Institute partnered with Davis Harbor Marina and the Cotton Bay Club for the inaugural Davis Harbour Wahoo Rally. The two day fishing tournament allowed Davis…
HUMMINGBIRD CAY STINGRAY EXPEDITION
Four members of the Cape Eleuthera Institute (CEI) community, including members of the Shark Research and Conservation Program (SRCP) and the reef ecology team, ventured down to Hummingbird Cay in…
Another outreach event with the Stingray Team!
Members of the Stingray Research Group from the Cape Eleuthera Institute’s Shark Research and Conservation Program have recently completed two days of outreach on Great Exuma. Following on from the…
Global Finprint Project: Nassau Expedition
Last week, four members of the Shark Research and Conservation Program (SRCP) travelled to Nassau, New Providence to participate in a global effort to assess the abundance and diversity of…
Flats team takes Deep Creek Middle School students out for mangrove lessons
Last Friday, Deep Creek Middle School’s Grade 7 joined Georgie Burruss, CEI Research Assistant, for a snorkel through Page Creek as part of the School Without Walls program. The focus of…
New citizen scientist page set up by CEI plastics researcher
Have you ever come across an animal – whether fish, bird, mammal, or even coral – that was impacted by plastic? Share your observation and details with the “Plastic Pollution:…
Lionfish: Island School’s favorite dish!
The invasion of lionfish on reefs of the West Atlantic has become an issue of critical concern. With eradication not possible, the silver lining is that lionfish are delicious. The…
A busy week with The Island School Research Symposium and Parent’s Week
Last Thursday was The Island School Research Symposium! It is a highlight of Parent’s Week, and a time for parents to hear about the good work being done by their…
Lionfish, and conch, and sea turtles, and aquaponics, oh my!
Last weekend, programs from the Cape Eleuthera Institute, including the Reef Ecology and Restoration Team, Sustainable Fisheries Team, Sea Turtle Team, and Aquaponics Program travelled to Governor’s Harbour Homecoming to spread…
CEI Stingray Research Group takes Bahamian Staff out for a day of ‘Inreach’
Last week, the Stingray Research Group, headed by Dr. Owen O’Shea, took 15 of our Bahamian staff members out to The Schooner Cays– a location the majority of staff have never…
Halloween Spooktacular- Lionfish Treats
On the night of Halloween, the CEI team put on their lionfish costumes and travelled to the Spooktacular event at the Leon Levy Native Plant Reserve in Governor’s Harbour. The…
CEI Shark team working on Oceanic Whitetip Project
Please click HERE to learn more about the oceanic whitetip project that has been going on in The Bahamas in collaboration with the Save Our Seas Foundation and Stony Brook…
Last Coral Reef Earthwatch Expedition Complete!
At the end of August, the final “Investigating Reefs and Marine Wildlife in The Bahamas” Earthwatch team arrived at the Cape Eleuthera Institute to conduct fish surveys on the patch…
Lionfish outreach at Wemyss Bight Homecoming
On October 10, the CEI team headed to Wemyss Bight Homecoming to spread the word about the lionfish invasion. The team was armed with a large batch of lionfish fritters…
Oregon State University’s final field season at CEI
Dr. Mark Hixon’s PhD students from Oregon State University returned to CEI for a fourth summer of invasive lionfish research. As part of a long-term project, PhD student Alex…
Shark Research and Conservation Program Begins Novel Deep-Water Shark Telemetry Project
Deep-water sharks are slow growing, slow to mature, and have a relatively small number of young, and as a result are extremely vulnerable to human-based disturbances. This, coupled with the…
Students from Simon Fraser University continue their research on the invasive lionfish in Eleuthera
Three months ago, the Cape Eleuthera Institute (CEI) welcomed back Simon Fraser University (SFU), and their 2015 field team of seven researchers. Based in British Columbia on the west coast…
CEI Director Aaron Shultz successfully defends his doctoral dissertation
Congratulations to CEI Director Aaron Shultz! He successfully defended his doctoral dissertation on “Responses of Subtropical Nearshore Fishes to Climate Change” at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, with Dr. Cory…
Record sized lionfish captured in Eleuthera
The Slayer Campaign has been a huge success at the Cape Eleuthera Institute this year, and we’re well on our way to setting a new record for the total catch…
CEI visits Students of Spanish Wells to talk rays and sharks!
On Friday 18th September, Dr. Owen O’Shea of the Shark Research and Conservation Program along with Shark Program intern Amanda Billotti and Educational Program leaders, Anna Zuke and Lydia Geschiere…
Educational Programs Team hosts Akhepran International Academy
While all visiting groups are special to us here at CEI, certain ones touch our hearts in unique and unexpected ways. Akhepran International Academy, visiting us for the first time…
The new multinational Sea Turtle Team ready to go for the Fall!
The Sea Turtle Research and Conservation team here at CEI welcomes three new members to the team for the fall semester! They arrived last Saturday and, after a few days…
BREEF 2015 Summer Camp at CEI!
On Friday, August 21st, the Shark Research and Conservation Program at the Cape Eleuthera Institute was once again honored to host and be involved with 22 young Bahamian students from…
Summer interns witness the annual spawning event for the Brown Encrusting Octopus sponge!
On August 7th at three o’clock in the afternoon, while conducting benthic surveys on Ike’s reef, some of our summer interns came across the annual spawning event for the Brown…
Flyfishing, snorkeling and exploring South Eleuthera with Flats Week!
This past week, Flats Ecology and Conservation Program of the Cape Eleuthera Institute welcomed four students to our campus for Flats Week. Lead by Aaron Shultz, CEI director, and Georgie…
The South Eleuthera Children’s Camp celebrates its 20th year!
Friday, July 24th marked the culmination of the 20th summer of the South Eleuthera Children’s Camp at Cape Eleuthera. Fourteen children between the ages of 8 and 14 attended the…
Flats Ecology and Conservation team removes fishing line from black grouper at 90 feet!
Sometimes all it takes is a few minutes with a trusting grouper to realize our impact on the ocean and how we can make a difference. This week, the Flats…
CEI Research Assistant works with sea turtle hatchlings in Costa Rica
For two weeks in early July, Rachel Miller, Research Assistant for the Sea Turtle Research and Conservation Program, headed to Costa Rica to lead a marine biology summer camp. This…
Sea Turtle Earthwatch Team visits CEI
The Sea Turtle Research Team recently said goodbye to their first Earthwatch team of the summer, and we are sad to see them go. The group of 7 students and…
CEI Research Manager attends Coral Reef Strategic Planning Workshop
The Bahamas National Trust invited the Cape Eleuthera Institute to participate in a Strategic Planning Workshop intended to develop a national strategy for improving the health of coral reef ecosystems and…