Our second day in the Looe Key Marine Sanctuary was much better! The water was clear and we were able to explore quite a bit. After descending, we grouped together and waited for instructions from Dr. Vagelli. Since the area is protected and it is illegal to collect anything, we only conducted observational work. We came across two cleaning stations, which was really amazing to see. Dr. Vagelli tried to see if the fish would clean him as well, to no avail. Since we explored different parts of the lower keys, we were able to see the same fish in different environments. For instance, the sergeant majors were tiny in other areas in the keys, but at the coral reefs they were roughly two to three times the size.
Marine Field Ecology Course – Rutgers University 