Walls of fish at Victory Bank

Written by Chris Mirbach Expedition Log: BIOT – Day 19 On a single dive on Victory Bank in the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), I saw the greatest abundance of fish I have ever witnessed, after having completed nearly 1000 …

Coral Bleaching Hits Indian Ocean Reefs

Findings of coral bleaching in the Indian Ocean from the Global Reef Expedition mission to BIOT were published on CBSNEWS.com. Coral Bleaching Hits Indian Ocean Reefs CBSNEWS.com May 19, 2015 Michael Casey Coral bleaching has reached the Indian Ocean after …

Wobbling Coastlines of the Chagos Islands

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Expedition Log: BIOT – Day 18 I’m spending the week walking the coastlines of as many of the islands of Peros Banhos atoll as I can with an accurate global positioning system (GPS). The challenge we face when extracting the …

Marine Bucket List

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Expedition Log: BIOT – Day 17 Every marine biologist has a bucket list of creatures they want to see during their life underwater. I am no exception and during the BIOT missions I seemed to have amazing luck, with the …

Bountiful Butterflyfishes

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Expedition Log – BIOT Day 16 We’ve been seeing a great diversity of butterflyfishes here in BIOT, around 18 different species. Butterflyfish belong to the family Chaetodontidae and are consequently known as chaets by their most avid fans and researchers. …

The Rays of BIOT

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Expedition Log: BIOT – Day 15 The science team is always eager to see rays during any dive, and diving in the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) hasn’t disappointed us when it comes to majestic ray encounters. During our first …

The hunt for the (surprisingly) elusive model coral

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Expedition Log: BIOT – Day 14 Scientific breakthroughs are made every day, though the vast majority go unnoticed by the general public. Particularly important are discoveries that can lead to improvements in human well-being, such as those culminating in novel …

The Colors of BIOT

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Expedition Log: BIOT – Day 13 On a recent lagoonal dive in the center of Salomon Atoll I felt like I was at a carnival swimming through a pool of rainbow glazed popcorn. Fluorescent lime green, pink, purple, blue and …

Seabirds of Chagos: The Islands are for the Birds

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Expedition Log: BIOT – Day 12 The distances in Chagos are vast, but we know we are nearing a new island when we begin to see more seabirds – a technique sailors have used for centuries. Today, like most days, …