Today was our last day surveying the Arnavon Islands. The sun was out, the seas were calm, and the diving was spectacular. The Arnavon Islands are uninhabited; however, they are looked after by three communities: Katupika, Kia, and Wagina. Throughout
Last night we transited 10 hours from Gizo Island to get to our new location, the Arnavon Islands. Today, our scientists surveyed the areas around these islands, while the education team conducted a program in the Wagina communities. While visiting
During a recent dive I was struck by the number of Blue Lace Corals (Distichopora violacea) that were present. This is not a particularly rare or usually noteworthy species but it was notable on this dive due to its higher
Today was the first day of the Global Reef Expedition in the Solomon Islands. The weather was perfect for both research and education. There was essentially no wind today. Looking over the side of the boat was like looking through
Our science team has embarked on our last Global Reef Expedition (GRE) mission in Oceania, and the first in the Coral Triangle. We have begun our exploration of the Solomon Islands, a Pacific Archipelago comprised of 992 mountainous islands and
We collect enormous amounts of data and observations during our missions, a lot of which is collected in situ, or in its original place, by researchers while they’re underwater. But one of the things we do while underwater is take
While most of the reefs we have surveyed in the Great Barrier Reef have an emergent reef flat, one of the northern reefs we were studying was fully submerged and quite difficult to locate. After circling around our GPS coordinates
On every mission during the Global Reef Expedition survey divers can usually point to one dive as being the highlight of the trip. It might be a dive with lots of great looking healthy coral or maybe a dive where
If you ask someone “Why do fish school?” you will likely get “to avoid predators” for an answer. After all, the more eyes you have watching the harder it is for anything to sneak up on you. Furthermore, if a
Marine parks have been introduced worldwide to preserve biodiversity and protect important underwater habitats. Protected zones serve as baselines for undisturbed, natural ecosystems that can be used to measure the effects of human activities in other areas, and thereby help
