Successful testing of equipment...and then a rainstorm!

Our team consisting of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution scientists Colleen Hansel, Amy Apprill, post-doc Tong Zhang and graduate student Laura Weber arrived in Oahu, Hawaii.  We are staying at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB), part of the University of Hawaii, located on Coconut Island.  Today we were warmly welcomed by the scientists, and learned of the enormous amount of research and effort by HIMB and other local scientists on the bleaching event.  

 

The first superoxide measurements on
corals (and actually ever for marine waters!)

Today we needed to test out our equipment and approach before we packed up everything and took it out on the boat.  We found some corals residing off the Point Lab at HIMB that were shallow enough for us to measure. Fortunately, we were able to get measurements on a few corals before the rain hit.  We didn’t have time to move the gear before a rainstorm approached, so we held trash bags over it while we weathered the storm and dreamed of developing a waterproof instrument.

Amy Apprill