Research in the Bahamas of A Gorgonian Coral Species

The Georgia Aquarium was recruited to assist in a National Science Foundation project conducted by the University at Buffalo and University of Miami. Elliott Jessup, along with three other Georgia Aquarium biologists went down to Florida, where the University of Miami provided the vessel for the trip to the Bahamas. This was no vacation though, but was instead an interesting study on population dynamics.

Tubastraea Research Trip

Elliott Jessup and volunteer Scientific Divers in Training, Tom McNamara and Charles Evick, joined the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) along with Georgia Institute of Technology for a week of coral research aboard the 224’ OSV Bold, this time out of Key West. The purpose of this trip was to investigate a potentially invasive species of coral, Tubastraea coccinea.

Lionfish Invasion

The Georgia Aquarium dive team has a joint project out of Savannah, Georgia with NOAA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in an effort to eradicate the non-native lionfish. Lionfish species (specifically the species Pterois volitans and to an extent Pterois miles) have invaded the Atlantic coasts of both the US and Central America.