Ever wonder about the hidden secrets of a #CoralReefs water column? Well #manta #mantaray and #TeamCoral and #TeamFish surely want to know about the available food to eat! There’s a lot of info hiding in plain sight in clear (ish), tropical waters (1/n) https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-020-02021-6

Happy to share the 3rd paper from my PhD! Biogeochemical variability and trophic status of shallow and #mesophotic #CoralReef water column following a #coral bleaching event in the #Maldives (2/n) @CoralReefs_UQ @CoralCOE @SpringerCORE https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-020-02021-6

The PDF can be viewed here: https://rdcu.be/b9vES  (3/n)

Before and after the 2016 mass #coral bleaching event in the Maldives, our team collected seawater from shallow and #mesophotic reefs by diving @imkristenbrown @CoralReefs_UQ (4/n)

We surveyed the particulate organic matter (POM) of coral reef water columns across the central Maldives atolls (5/n)

We also tried a new method (thanks to the creative idea of my partner!) to collect seawater from deeper depths (50 m) beyond dive limitations – a surface hand pump with a 50+ m weighted hose paired with a depth recorder! (6/n)

The post-bleaching water column was oligotrophic, with low nitrogen and likely phosphate limitation. Particulate organic matter had highly variable carbon #isotope values (7/n)

We also found that nitrate and phosphate concentrations were higher at 50 m compared to 10 and 30 m depths (8/n)

Interestingly, there were differences in isotopic values of POM collected by divers vs pump, which required the boat (dhoni) to move avg 600m off the shallow reef. This could be due to pelagic nutrient input related to oceanography or composition of particulate matter (9/n)

Overall, we have much to learn about benthic-pelagic coral reef nutrient cycling in the unique Maldives archipelago subject to monsoon seasonal upwelling! We need more sampling of coral reef waters (FIN)