The Effect of Motor Oil After Two Weeks of Exposure GROUP TWO: Rebecca Isaacs Gianni Benmussa Monica Gonzalez Jessica Kurth Karan Srivastava Chelsea Werner

PROTEIN CONCENTRATION: From 9/20/06: From 9/27/06: Decrease

PROTEIN CONCENTRATION (mg protein/g wt. weight) Our zooxanthellae count has decreased over the weeklong exposure to motor oil Up until this point, variation in density has been accounted for by range in polyp size Now we may be seeing the effect of motor oil on our aiptasia DATE POLYP WIEGHT (grams) ZOOX. COUNT (cells/g wt. wieght) PROTEIN CONCENTRATION (mg protein/g wt. weight) CHLOROPHYLL (Chl a/zoox) 9/20/06 0.04 212.5 E 6 8.764 6.15 E -8 9/27/06 0.124 64.9 E 6 1.64 0.193 E -8 The levels of zooxanthellae, protein, and chlorophyll have all decreased since the exposure of the aiptasia to the motor oil

It appears that while there may be some loss in biological activity, but there is no visible bleaching of the coral One constant observation we have made since adding our variable has been the consistent rise in salinity each time we check the tank Usually around 40 ppt Add 250 mL distilled water each time We plan on keeping the current 1% concentration of oil - 80 mL - for another week depending on today’s lab results

Background Image Sources: www.seaslugforum.net/images/100538b.jpg “The closer coral reefs are to ports, oil wells, urban areas, shipping lanes, and other developed areas, the more threatened they are.” -From The Dead Coral Diver by Curtis Runyan (http://newsroom.wri.org/wrifeatures_print.cfm?NewsletterID=28) Background Image Sources: www.seaslugforum.net/images/100538b.jpg http://www.coral.noaa.gov/themes/zoox_pics.html 3. http://www.reefbase.org/dataphotos/ 4. http://www.searchanddiscovery.com/documents/2005/wanless/images/fig01.htm