Field Release Tomorrow!

For the past week, we have been examining the denning behavior of 20 spiny lobsters in an enclosed area (mesocosm) that contains ten artificial shelters. Each morning, we snorkeled the mesocosm and recorded where the animals are. We can tell each animal apart because they have a unique combination of colored antennae tags. After four days, we reduced the number of artificial shelters in the mesocosm to five to examine whether habitat loss will result in a change in denning behavior.

Now that we know the dominance status of each individual and have examined their denning behavior in an enclosed area, we are ready for the final stage of our experiment. Tomorrow we will be releasing our first set of 20 spiny lobsters onto a field site to examine their denning behavior and dispersal in the natural environment. To prepare for our first release, we placed weighted transect lines along our sites. Using transect lines allows us to locate specific structures and to easily navigate our sites. Some great pictures of this process will be posted soon!