Micaela, Kayrie and Jelena are measuring how much mucus the corals are producing from stressed and not stressed reefs. We have realized that corlas from the fish farms produce more mucus, and contain more bacteria (both good ones and bad ones) compared to the marine parks. The Vietnamese student Hanh studies the viruses ( a new field) and bacteria in coral mucus. We measure the volume of mucus produced over time. It may be a good indicator on coral health. Slimy indeed.
I hope I explained it well.
Very short: We measure slime production in corals (and yes they produce lot s of it) over time. The same type of corals in stressed areas produce more slime and bacteria than the ones from the protected marine parks.Slime production over time seems to be a good measure of coral health. The same study will be performed 4 times a year to find seasonal differences.
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