Coral Bleaching By Nathalie Regalado Saskia Medina Cristina Lopez Betty Angerville Shannon Hahn

Effects of Oil Pollution on Corals

Background Information Increase amount of oil pollution in the sea has resulted in ‘coral bleaching’ in which corals release the algae from their tissues. When coral reefs are exposed to oils it can be affected in many different ways. Oil can cause decrease in growth, decrease in reproduction and colonization capacity, negative effects on feeding and behavior, and alterations of secretory activity of mucous cells to the coral reefs. IPIECA- International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association. http://www.ipieca.org/downloads/oil_spill/oilspill_reports/Vol3_summary.pdf

Hypothesis H1: Oil pollution will cause coral bleaching. H2: Oil pollution will have no effect on corals.

The Problem of Mixing Oil and Water http://pims.ed.ornl.gov/BlkSeawebsite/ipieca_report_dispersants.pdf Natural Dispersion: “Waves break up the oil slick, forming oil droplets that become suspended in the water. The majority of this oil droplets will flout back to the surface, but a small portion of tiny droplets with neutral buoyancy will remain dispersed in the water almost indefinitely” Water-in-oil emulsification: “The mixing actions of waves can cause water droplets to be incorporated into the oil”.

Protocol http://www.springerlink.com/app/home/main.asp?wasp=570ea5e7aa8d40c58a851234ad2004b8 Exposure Time Test 1 : Control Test 2: 3 hours Test 3: 48 hours Test 4: Week www.elsevier.com/locate/marpolbul Oil concentrations in the tank suggested at 500g of oil (motor oil)/5000L which refers to a ration of 0.1g/L. Due to our 8 L tank, concentration will be 0.8g.

Experimental Control The control group will be kept under the conditions as the experimental group, except exposure to oil.

Three ways of Monitoring Coral Stress: -Measuring zooxanthellae Density -Measuring Amount of Protein -Measuring Amount of Chlorophyll

Measuring Amount of Protein Last Week’s Experiments Measuring Amount of Protein

Procedure for Protein Measurement Spectrophotometer Blank: 100 µL of Distilled Water and 5 mL of Reagent. Re-zero the machine Five different concentration of protein Total of 10 known samples Two unknowns Preparing Unknowns Cut about 4 polyps and weigh them on the machine: 0.0624 g Add 2 mL of seawater Homogenize for 20 seconds Add 100 µL of homogenized solution plus 5 mL of reagent Vortex

Concentration (mg/ml) Data Absorbance Concentration (mg/ml) 0.449 0.25 0.712 0.5 0.993 0.75 1.193 1 1.448 1.25

Results Average absorbance of two unknowns=0.454 Calculated concentration=0.665 mg/mL Calculated amount of protein: 21.3 mg of protein/g of wet weight Class average=12.7 mg of protein/g of wet weight We are 8.6 above average

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