On May 24th, we visited Coffin's Patch as our first snorkeling spot of the day. According to legend, it got its name after the sinking of a cargo ship that was carrying empty coffins. The major marking for this area is a six foot tall stake that slightly protrudes from the water. This stake is now home to a plethora of organisms. It is a shallow mid channel patch reef with an average depth of about ten feet. Besides Looe Key, Coffin's Patch had the most biodiversity that we had seen throughout the week. There was an abundance of reef fish and soft corals. There was also minimal algae cover compared to the other sites we had previously visited. This site had the most amount of structure on a reef compared to other sites we had explored so far. This leads to a high abundance of fish and invertebrates due to the increase amount of crevices and hiding places for these organisms to protect themselves from predators. Since we were about three miles offshore the seas were rough, so rough that most of our group unfortunately began to feel sea sick. This site had a high abundance of soft coral because soft coral thrive in areas with high water flow, whereas hard corals normally can't withstand the intensity of the current. 
The water was also less turbid than the other sites we had gone to previously, however this could be because it was too deep for us to stir up the water when we jumped off the boat. Since the water was clearer it was easy to see the beautiful coral down below. This area had minimal algae cover due to the higher diversity of grazing reef fish. These fish eat the algae that begin to grow on the coral. This phenomena is very important for the coral because algae grow much faster than coral and if left uncontrolled the algae with over grow and begin to outcompete the coral for light and space.|
Species of Organisms Found at Coffin’s Patch
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Scientific Name |
Common Name |
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Sparisoma viride |
Stoplight Parrotfish |
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Scarus guacamaia |
Rainbow Parrotfish |
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Lactophrys triqueter |
Smooth Trunkfish |
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Chrysiptera parasema |
Yellowtail Damselfish |
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Ocyurus chrysurus |
Yellowtail Snapper |
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Sphyraena barracuda |
Great Barracuda |
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Mycteroperca bonaci |
Black Grouper |
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Lutjanus apodous |
Schoolmaster Snapper |
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Lutjanus griseus |
Mangrove Snapper |
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Ginglymostoma cirratum |
Nurse Shark |
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Stegastes partitus |
Bicolored Damselfish |
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Acanthostracion quadricornis |
Scrawled Cowfish |
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Holacanthus ciliaris |
Queen Angelfish |
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Pomacanthus arcuatus |
Grey Angelfish |
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Chaetodon capistratus |
Foureyed Butterflyfish |
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Paracanthurus hepatus |
Blue Tang |
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Haemulon carbonarium |
Caesar Grunt |
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Haemulon sciurus |
Blue Striped Grunt |
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Eretmochelys imbricata |
Hawksbill Sea Turtle |
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Millepora alcicornis |
Branching Fire Coral |
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Porites asteroides |
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Acropora cervicornis |
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Siderastrea siderea |
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Colpophillia natans |
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Diploria clivosa |
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Diploria labyrinthiformis |
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Dichocoenia stokesi |
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Meindrina meindrites |
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