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Faces of the Future

June 25, 2013

Roko Laitia Raloa, Assistant Roko Tui Lau at the Lau Provincial Council’s Office, and I are greeted at the boat tender by the head teacher of the primary school to which we are presenting our talk on Fiji coral reef …

Mysterious Eyes Glow in the Darkness

June 24, 2013

Written by Dawn Bailey

Bioluminescence occurs when a biological organism produces a chemical reaction where energy is released in the form of light. A familiar example of bioluminescence is the firefly, emitting a yellow-green light. In the marine environment, most bioluminescence appears as a …

Killer Starfish

June 23, 2013

Written by Andrew Bruckner, PhD

One of the most unusual group of animals found on the reef are the echinoderms. So named because of their “spiny skin”, these animals are pentamerous or radially symmetrical (five point). Found only in the sea, they include sea urchins, …

Restocking the Future – Part 2

June 22, 2013

Written by Amy Heemsoth and Andrew Bruckner, PhD

Restocking giant clams requires patience and lots of nurturing. The overall process can take as long as 3 years to grow a giant clam that is able to be sold to the aquaria trade and even longer for meat production. …

Searching for Sea Snails

June 21, 2013

Written by Andrew Bruckner, PhD

Reef building corals start out from a small larvae (planula) that settles onto the reef, or from a fragment that has broken off another colony. The polyps that make up the coral divide, repeatedly, into two or more daughter polyps, …

Canopies of Coral

June 20, 2013

Written by Andrew Bruckner, PhD

Fiji’s coral reefs house some 333 species of corals of all shapes, sizes and colors, many of which we’ve seen in Lau Province. We’ve examined many reef types, some which fringe the shore (fringing reefs), some in the center of …

Sea Cucumber Craze – Part 2

June 19, 2013

Written by Amy Heemsoth

Throughout the Lau Province it’s typical to find sea cucumbers drying in the sun. The dried sea cucumbers are called beche-de-mer. These sea cucumbers fetch a good price and for some islands it has become their primary source of income. …

Local Management to the ‘Reef’ Rescue

June 14, 2013

Written by Stacy Jupiter, PhD

Across the world, coral reefs and fisheries are in crisis. In Fiji over the past few decades, increased demands for cash income and material goods, coupled with growing populations and access to markets, have led to substantially increased pressure on …

Restocking the Future – Part 1

June 11, 2013

Written by Amy Heemsoth

For those of you who have never seen a giant clam, let me tell you they are incredible creatures. I’m intrigued by these enormous, marble-colored flesh animals. Their size alone is impressive with potential to grow up to almost 5 …

Colorful Corals

June 8, 2013

Written by Andrew Bruckner, PhD

In addition to a much larger variety of corals, reefs of Lau seem to have an unusually large number of fluorescent, brightly colored corals, more than we’ve seen in past expeditions. Corals are usually light or golden brown, but some …