Key Icons
SEAGRASSES
Click on this icon to explore seagrass-related videos. You will see this icon both on the main Home Screen” featuring Erin Johnson, as well as at the end of each seagrass video, which will route you back to the main page displaying all seagrass videos.
Why would scientists want to study the abundance of seagrass? Hear the answer as you watch Dr. Stoner and Erin Johnson studying different seagrass species in this video, and look for some hidden animals living within—and on—the seagrasses!
Join us as we learn about the structure of seagrasses, specifically their roots and rhizomes, as we travel with a Bahamian cushion star through a seagrass meadow. Along the way, you will discover some of the ecosystem services provided by seagrasses.
Seagrasses are threatened by multiple stressors, including excess nutrients. Explore some of the repercussions of nutrient-driven algal blooms in seagrass beds, and witness a bloom of Sargassum, a macroalgae which can be an important habitat to organisms, but whose recent blooms may have adverse effects on the health of seagrasses and the animals that live within them.
Seagrasses are home to many animals, including two that you see in this video: queen conch and the predatory horse conch! Learn about the interaction between these two animals and witness a unique behavior exhibited by the Queen Conch.
Get up close and personal with green sea turtles in this experience while learning about their diet of seagrass and their movement across habitats—and what habitat complexity is-- in their quest for delicious seagrass.
What does conch salad have to do with climate change? Watch a Queen Conch be prepared for food while learning about climate injustice, and hear from a Bahamian fisherperson how catching conch has been an integral part of their life.
MANGROVES
Did you ever wonder what a mangrove is? Why are they so important, anyway? Learn more about these special plants—and the valuable services their leaves and roots provide-- as you float with the current down a mangrove-lined creek with Dr. Stoner and Erin Johnson.
Prop roots on red mangroves help provide many ecosystem services, including habitat provisioning to many commercially valuable fisheries! Check out all of the different fish species hiding in the prop roots in this video, including a cameo by a barracuda, and learn about why prop roots play such an important role in coastal and estuarine ecosystems.
Can you spot all of the crabs hiding in the mangroves? These animals may look like spiders—but instead of catching prey in webs, they eat mangrove leaves and then transfer that energy to the ocean as they become prey themselves! Learn more about these fascinating animals and the role they play in mangrove forests
Mangrove forests are critically important in providing ecosystem services, yet they are in decline worldwide. Join Dr. Whitman and Erin Johnson as they work toward understanding the health of this specific mangrove forest, and learn about scientific tools used in ecology to help monitor human and non-human impacts to mangroves.
Click on this icon to explore mangrove-related videos. You will see this icon both on the main “Home Screen” featuring Erin Johnson, as well as at the end of each mangrove video, which will route you back to the main page displaying all mangrove videos.
It’s one epic show down. Watch as these checkered puffer fish battle for tasty mangrove tree crabs, and learn about why these crabs are such an important food source to animals living amongst the mangroves!
HARD-BOTTOM
Click on this icon to explore hard-bottom related videos. You will see this icon both on the main “Home Screen” featuring Erin Johnson, as well as at the end of each hard-bottom video, which will route you back to the main page displaying all hard-bottom videos.
Are you team jellyfish or worm? Float along as you watch while an upside-down jellyfish is attacked and consumed by a venomous bristle worm in a unique predatory event. Learn about the role that jellyfish play in hard-bottom habitats, and why it is such an important, but often overlooked, food source for marine animals.
Relax amongst the swaying soft corals and learn about how these incredible animals (you read right: corals are animals) feed, why they are an important foundation species, and strangely, how fish pee can fuel their ability to grow and thrive!
Hard-bottom habitats, like the one in this marine protected area, can provide support high biodiversity. Swim alongside different ray species and spot a shark as you learn about how scientists assess species diversity, and learn why these animals are so critical in promoting the health of coral reefs.
Coral is becoming increasingly threatened globally—resulting in major loss of habitat, food, and services provided by these ecosystems. Learn about the causes of coral bleaching, which can lead to coral death, and gain a deeper understanding of what coral bleaching is.
This dock piling may be a result of human activity, but the marine life that has established itself on and around the dock piling, a “fouling community” is vibrant and thriving. Swim among fish, sea urchins, sponges and more in this video as you learn about how artificial structures can provide habitat for many marine organisms and why that
Join Dr. Stoner as she cruises with a southern sting ray, an animal that frequents hard-bottom and sandy habitats in search of food. Learn about their role as ecosystem engineers in this brief encounter.
Watch Dr. Archer as she uses a special, non-toxic dye to demonstrate the incredible filter-feeding power of a sponge, and discover how scientists study how much water these animals can pump through their bodies. While you watch, you’ll learn about why sponges play such an important ecological role in hard-bottom habitats.