Gambier Islands, French Polynesia

Acropora Gardens

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Mangareva contains more diverse coral habitats than anything we have seen to date. Parts of the outside rim of the atoll are emergent. The cross sectional profile starts with a classic reef flat, 10 m wide in places and often …

Cauliflower Coral

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Cauliflower coral, in the genus Pocillopora, are among the most widely distributed and most abundant corals found on the fore reef. These branching corals are covered with small bumps (called verrucae), which contain corallites and help in the identification of …

Nightdive to Assess Coral Fluorescence

Joao Monteiro collects coral samples on a nightdive to assess coral fluorescence by measuring the photosynthetic efficiency of corals during the Global Reef Expedition.

Fish Communities at the Acteon Group

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During our surveys in the Acteon group we saw very few fish.  There were few sharks or other large predators and even large herbivorous fish such as surgeonfishes and parrotfishes were noticeably low in number. The Acteon fish communities were …

Many Corals, Few Fish

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We have arrived in Mangareva, having just completed surveys in the remote Acteon Group. Each of the four atolls we surveyed was small, about 5 to 10 km2 including the lagoon. This meant we were able to do all our …

Coral Bommies and Patch Reefs

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Navigation hazards are many in Hao Atoll, due to a myriad of submerged patch reefs that rise to the surface from the 60 m deep lagoon floor. These reefs are distributed in a seemingly random pattern. Some are circular and …

Rolling Stones

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Like other animals, corals need to reproduce to survive. Unlike most other animals, corals are attached to the seafloor and cannot move around to find a mate for coral reproduction. To address this challenge, corals have developed several alternative reproductive …

Hao Atoll at Eye Level

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Research dives can be distilled down to lists of what is seen and what is not seen. Surveying the reef means figuring out what is there and what is missing. For the last few days, the science team has been …