I study at the University of Swansea in Wales which is part of the United Kingdom. I first came to Bermuda in the summer of 1995 to carry out the research for my university undergraduate project. I worked here for 3 months and in that time I designed, constructed and built traps to attempt to catch coral larvae out on the coral reefs. Coral larvae are baby corals and are the product of sexual reproduction.
Reproduction is important as it is the way in which corals can settle and live in new areas.
In other words, the larvae are the only way in which these animals can move as the adults are fixed to the bottom. The larvae drift in the water before they find an available and also suitable place in which they want to live. Space on the bottom is scarce on the reef, like a crowded neighborhood where there is no room to build a house. When corals die, either due to human impacts or naturally due to hurricanes, we need to understand what controls the resettlement of the larve to the reef to better plan how to sustain reefs. My trap was designed to catch the larve as they began to settle to the bottom and look for a place to live.