Our mission here is to investigate a mass mortality event that occurred in Canal Copihue. An expedition to this area in 2006 (A) revealed a canal that was filled with live cold water calcifying hydrocorals called Errina antarctica. In 2013 (C) a similar expedition revealed that most of the hydrocorals in this canal had died and the bottom was littered with dead remnants of the beautiful bright corals. Now, on this current expedition, we will be installing monitoring equipment and making fixed photoquadrat sites at three points along the channel where we can monitor how the benthic community changes over time. We will also be installing recruitment plates to see what species colonize the plates (composed of ceramic tiles) and in what order. We are super excited to begin our work in Canal Copihue, which is about a 20 minute boat ride from the mine Guarello.
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