Keep watch

A male releasing sperm - it looks like smoke.

"Therefore keep watch, for you do not know the day or the hour." - Matthew 25:13

We had been on spawn watch for six days. Every evening, we gathered in the lab and took turns checking on our corals every 20 minutes. This went on for four hours each night. Patiently, we waited. Diligently, we watched. Other species of corals were spawning early, and we didn't want to miss our chance. We were careful to only shine red lights on the corals, so they didn't think it was daylight and decide not to spawn. We checked the water off the dock to see if any corals were spawning in the ocean. We were so careful. 

It was Easter. Our sixth day monitoring our corals. Three days after the full moon. Two hours after sunset. Matthew and I did a lap around the dock to see if any spawn slick was visible on the surface of the ocean. "It kind of smells like a spawning night," he stated. I couldn't tell if he was joking or serious. Then he leaned over the edge a little further and dipped a petri dish in the water. We examined the sample first with a waterproof flashlight on the dock and later under a microscope in the lab. Eggs. Coral eggs. Small coral eggs with symbionts. Exactly like our species. 

Matthew collecting gametes from one of our
captive coral parents. 

It was about 20 minutes later that we found the first male in our collection beginning to release sperm. It looks like smoke curling out of the coral, milky white liquid billowing into the bin. "Sperm!" I called out and immediately moved the bin to our gamete collection table. Matthew began pipetting the sperm out of the bin with a turkey baster while I recorded the time. 

Over the course of the night, we had 7 different colonies spawn - both males and females. We were able to do an experiment on fertilization rate in eggs of different ages. We started controlled crosses with parents from known lineages. We combined gametes in bulk crosses for future experiments. It was a highly successful night. 

By the time we wrapped up, it was 3:00 in the morning. I drove home in a state of delirium and crashed into bed. 

We got spawning. Thank goodness.