Pacific Ocean

After the Fire

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Expedition Log: Cook Islands – Day 11 After a drove of crown of thorns starfish (COTS) moves through the reef, all that remains are the stark white coral skeletons. These quickly become covered in a green and brown fuzz of …

Faster Than a Speeding Bullet?

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Expedition Log: Cook Islands – Day 10 Juvenile and adult crown of thorns starfish (COTS) do not walk on their arms. Instead, they have thousands of tiny tube feet which occur along the grooves underneath each arm. Operated hydraulically using …

Locust of the Reef

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Expedition Log: Cook Islands – Day 9 Coral reefs are considered one of the most productive and species-rich ecosystems in the world, but that doesn’t make them invulnerable to natural threats. The reefs in the Cook Islands have recently been …

No Fish With My Chips Please

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Expedition Blog: Cook Islands – Day 8 On one of our last nights in Aitutaki we feasted on a traditional Aitutaki buffet, featuring locally grown root crops, breadfruit, spinach, bananas, salads, potatoes, free range chicken and locally caught barbequed fish. …

COTs Removal: No Easy Feat

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Written by Carly Reeves Expedition Log: Cook Islands – Day 7 We’ve been chasing down the crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) here on Aitutaki for twelve days now, and I’ve got the scars to prove it. A spine to the leg / …

Worm snails

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Expedition Log: Cook Islands – Day 6 We’ve seen a lot of unusual and colorful creatures that attach to the surface of a coral, bore a hole into its skeleton, or become encased by the coral as it grows. Most …

The Hunchback of Aitutaki

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Expedition Log: Cook Islands – Day 5 If you asked me if I thought we’d see a lot of turtles during our mission to Aitutaki, I’d have said no. There are very few sponges, which is an important food source …

Aitutaki’s Grazers

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Expedition Log: Cook Islands – Day 4 It is always exciting to visit a new place and to dive on new reefs. What I find remarkable is that you can tell so much about the state of a reef, the …

Whale Season

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Expedition Log: Cook Islands – Day 3 As we landed in Aitutaki, the science team was excited to discover that it was humpback whale season. Each year between July and October these majestic animals pass by the Cook Islands on …

Charismatic Coral Cover Indicators

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Expedition Log: Cook Islands – Day 2 One of the most charismatic families of reef fish are the butterflyfish (Chaetodontidae). We’ve written about these species in previous blogs, but the importance of these species as an indicator of reef health …