About the Authors

Thomas Arnold

arnoldt@dickinson.edu

Affiliations Department of Biological Sciences, Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, United States of America, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, Maryland, United States of America

Christopher Mealey

Affiliation Department of Biological Sciences, Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Hannah Leahey

Affiliation Department of Biological Sciences, Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, United States of America

A. Whitman Miller

Affiliation Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, Maryland, United States of America

Jason M. Hall-Spencer

Affiliation School of Marine Science and Engineering, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, United Kingdom

Marco Milazzo

Affiliation Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e del Mare, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy

Kelly Maers

Affiliation Department of Biological Sciences, Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Competing Interests

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: TMA AWM. Performed the experiments: TMA AWM MM JHS CM HL KM. Analyzed the data: TMA AWM MM. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: TMA AWM MM JHS. Wrote the paper: TMA MM AWM JHS. Helped to organize the MedSeA training activity on the Island of Vulcano: MM JMH-S. Performed the statistical analysis: TMA.