Teens4oceans
Goliath Grouper Research Project

Overview: The Goliath Grouper Research Project was a Kent Denver initiative to study an important marine organism, the Goliath Grouper (Epinephelus itajara) and provide students with a valuable and relevant science experience. Trevor Mendelow, along with a group of motivated scientists, provide the infrastructure and support to allow students to study the ecosystem remotely, using state of the art video and auditory sensing equipment that they designed and deployed. Currently, two camera systems have been deployed, and are available via web streaming for the general public and school children. The Goliath Groupers have been targeted both commercially and recreationally since (at least) the late 1800’s. These fish were primarily hunted during their spawning season when they would congregate in large numbers on near shore reefs. They suffered their biggest population decrease in the 1970’s and through the 1980’s. Thanks to the incredible work of one man, fisherman Don DeMaria, the species was listed as a candidate for the Species of Concern List under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, and since rebounded to historic numbers. The Goliath Grouper is vital component of the marine ecosystem in which it lives, and must be rigorously studied to ensure that viable populations can be maintained. This emblematic fish now exists in a healthier and better functioning ecosystem than twenty years ago, and serves as a model for how stewardship and conservation can bring hope to our crumbling and degrading nearshore marine habitats.

Proposed Study: The primary objective of the camera system was to perform research studies of the Goliath Grouper, Epinephelus itajara. This particular species has been identified as a crucial component in several Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs) of the tropics in which it lives and reproduces (Kinsley 2004). The Goliath Grouper is found primarily in shallow tropical waters among coral and artificial reefs at depths of up to 165 feet (50 m). As young individuals they inhabit estuaries, mangrove swamps, shallow bays, and canals (Bullock 1992). The

Hypotheses to be Tested: Student Studies. While it is known that juvenile Goliath Groupers are confined to shallow coastal waters their local distribution is patchy and poorly understood. What is it in their biology that makes some locales more attractive than others? The student’s initial hypothesis was that Pier 65 on the Bahia Honda Bridge, in the Florida Keys, is an important site for this species due to local physical and temporal circumstances. Correlates have been discovered between numbers of fish present at the research station and other variables, for example the specific time of year, tidal cycle, water temperature, and presence of other species, all of which have been monitored by the students. The students would like to continue their studies at other locations, such as the dock at Fort Jefferson. The second question Kent Denver students have begun investigating is whether individual groupers can be identified by markings. Scientists at NOAA have performed studies that are inconclusive (ref), and we hope to complement this work with live video and tagged individuals to assess the possibility of using markings for future studies. Don Demaria has necessary permitting to deploy small, banded ribbon tags, and this work will begin at the Bahia Honda experimental location. Major impetus to install a second camera at Fort Jefferson are for two reasons: 1) groupers are known to congregate at the dock, where shade offers refuge for a number of resident fish, 2) The clear water will afford the opportunity for students to perform studies, at specific times in their school day. This has been a major limiting factor for the use our other camera system, especially for teachers who want to have live video during class times. A large database of images has begun, and once enough data has been collected, we will publish our work on the teens4oceans website. If you can identify individuals, you could do a mark-resight estimate of abundance (identifying using marking patterns). These data will allow estimates of how many Goliath Groupers there were within that bridge area and also estimate immigration and emigration rates from the study site.

 

Click here to view a photo gallery of the Bahia Honda initial installation process
Click here to view a photo gallery of the Re-install of Bahia Honda
Click here to view a photo gallery of the new installation of the camera at the Dry Tortugas!

Click here to view a high resolution mp4 movie of the installation process at Bahia Honda in December 2008.

You may need to download flip4mac (on a mac) or Windows Media Player for viewing: click here. Hit Refresh/Reload in your browser to ensure you see our latest additions to the site!!

Our Bahia Honda Camera System is COMPLETELY powered by wind and solar. We have a little enclosure camera allows us to monitor solar, wind and battery operations. Lights are now on all the time, thanks to the wonderful Florida sun. Our batteries are doing great!

DO YOU WANT TO KNOW HOW OUR POWERING SYSTEM WORKS? It is very cool!

Solar Panels provided by:

 

The Goliath Grouper Project was teens4oceans first "Whale Project", a venture chartered by Kent Denver School in Denver, Colorado. Headed up by science teacher Trevor Mendelow and a group of ninth grade students, the project aimed to install live video cameras in the Florida Keys with underwater listening devices and lights. Schools will have the opportunity to view the two cameras live on the web, and can join the Kent Denver community and assocatied scientific advisors in their research efforts in the coming years. Schools that join the project can be given control of the cameras, on a limited basis, and can access archive high resolution footage for study purposes. More information about the Goliath Grouper will be posted in the "current projects" section of the site in upcoming months. Click on the links on the adjacent window of this page to see LIVE video of our study site!

Thank you to our friends at www.floridakeys.com who have generously hosted our video so the public can view the underwater life.

CLICK HERE FOR OUR BLOG!

If you would like to participate in the research students are doing, or donate to this project or other webcam endeavours, please contact us: (teens4oceans@kentdenver.org).

Exciting archived video clips (you may need to download a quicktime player):

Click here!

“We confront an ethical, environmental, and economic challenge that urgently requires our nation to realign its posture toward the sea. Changing our course requires understanding the problems, setting the objectives, applying the focused energy required to overcome inertia, and taking appropriate action in time to stem the impending disaster. Only a well-coordinated and innovative public effort will accomplish the work of educating people about the need to redress the imbalance in our oceans.”

Pew Oceans Commission