From the 24th of May until the 20th of June, the Guse lab including Liz, Madeline, Iliona, Natascha and myself went to Okinawa Japan to join the Masayuki Hatta lab (Ochanomizu University), the Minagawa lab and the Ueno Lab (NIBB Okazaki) at Sesoko Marine Station on Okinawa to collect coral larvae for comparative field studies in different areas coral biology. All participants shared a lab at Sesoko station to rear coral larvae and perform experiments. Coral spawning was predicted to occur bon the 3rd of June. Unexpectedly, spawning occurred already on the 31st of May. Luckily, we had arrived a early enough to witness this impressive annual event. Please check out the images below for some impressions of our trip. Our trip was generously supported by the Excellence-Initiative of Heidelberg University.
SESOKO MARINE STATION:
THE GROUP:
COLLECTION SITES:
COLLECTED CORALS IN WATERTABLES
THE NIGHT OF SPAWNING
THE DAY AFTER SPAWNING: CORAL GAMETES WERE WASHED TO SHORE
FIELD WORK FUN
