Expedition 121: Mission Iconic Reefs

During this R/V ANGARI expedition, graduate and undergraduate student researchers from Clemson University expanded the Childress Lab’s long-term marine science research efforts in the Florida Keys. The researchers are investigating how coral reef restoration influences cryptobenthic biodiversity while targeting sites under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration led Mission: Iconic Reefs initiative. This partner-driven Mission aims to restore structure, function and resiliency to nearly three million square feet of Florida’s Coral Reef over the next two decades.

The pair of Clemson researchers worked tirelessly, SCUBA diving on several sites, including the iconic Carysfort Reef, Horseshoe Reef, Cheeca Rocks, Sombrero Key, Newfound Harbor, Looe Key and Eastern Dry Rocks. On each dive, the team conducted reef transect surveys, collected photomosaic reef imagery and recorded underwater video surveys of fish populations. They also deployed Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (A.R.M.S.) on the seafloor at each site. These structures will remain onsite for 1-2 years before the team returns to count and catalog the marine life that have taken up residency within them. Data gathered from this work will help scientists to better understand hidden reef communities and the health of coral reef food webs within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.