. Atoll research bulletin. Coral reefs and islands; Marine biology; Marine sciences. (Dana). See Guzman and Cortes (1993), Cortes (1997), and Glynn (2001) for succint overviews of the nature of eastern Pacific coral reefs. Like having a favorite book, coral reef biologists often have a favorite reef. My favorite reef is the Uva Island reef in the nonupwelling Gulf of Chiriqui, which has been under constant study since 1970 (Figs. 7 and 8). Why? Because it has offered up so many answers to a long list of research questions. It also supports a high diversity of reef-associated organisms and is l
. Atoll research bulletin. Coral reefs and islands; Marine biology; Marine sciences. (Dana). See Guzman and Cortes (1993), Cortes (1997), and Glynn (2001) for succint overviews of the nature of eastern Pacific coral reefs. Like having a favorite book, coral reef biologists often have a favorite reef. My favorite reef is the Uva Island reef in the nonupwelling Gulf of Chiriqui, which has been under constant study since 1970 (Figs. 7 and 8). Why? Because it has offered up so many answers to a long list of research questions. It also supports a high diversity of reef-associated organisms and is located in a beautiful embayment of a heavily forested, uninhabited island with a waterfall spilling onto a pebble beach. Adding to the excitement of our studies, elasmobranch sightings were common at the Uva Island reef in the 1970s. These included mostly white-tip sharks, bull sharks, and numerous manta rays. As many as a half dozen manta rays could be seen wheeling along the reef front where they were grazing on zooplankton. Occasionally they became an annoyance by swimming into our float lines that marked study sites and dragging them seaward beyond the reef. These graceful animals, and the sharks, are now rarely seen. I must relate a bizarre encounter with one of these mantas, a behavioral maneuver I have not heard repeated. One morning I was deeply engaged in a task that required close attention to the bottom. Although it was a sunny day, the light from above would momentarily dim as if from a passing cloud. After two or three such incidents, I looked toward Anibal. my dr\ ing partner. He motioned for me to look overhead. I had attracted a large manta. \\ ith a four-meter wing span, that was hovering above. I disengaged from my work and began Figure 7. Bird's eye view of the Uva Island study reef, Gulf of Chiriqui, Panama during a midday low tidal exposure. February 8, 1989. (Photo C. M. Eakin). Figure 8. Peter W. Glynn and Ian G. Macintyre preparing for a dive at the Uva
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