Pacific Ocean

Be Careful, They Don’t Travel Alone

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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 …

Stories of a Fish Surveyor

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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 …

Cool Catfish

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The Great Barrier Reef… home to thousands of marine species. Dazzling coral reefs, majestic sharks, elegant manta rays, imposing groupers and cods, ancient giant clams, and rainbow coloured reef fish such as butterflyfish, angelfish and damsels. These are some of …

Ctenophores Galore

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Brightly colored sea stars are a regular occurrence on our survey dives. We only tend to notice them when we see a new and highly decorated species or dive a site where they are highly abundant. One survey dive we …

Sharks!

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Sharks are a natural component of coral reef ecosystems, where they occupy the role of top-order predators. Reef sharks are important to the overall health of the coral reef assemblage, and their presence is generally an indication of a coral …

Surprise Encounter with an Olive Sea Snake

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Let me tell you about yesterday’s wonderful (seriously) sea snake encounter while it’s still fresh in my mind. First of all, up here in the northern Great Barrier Reef we’re getting close to saltwater crocodile territory.  They can grow to …

Threadfin Pearl Perch: A Gem of a Fish

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As we travel across the Pacific Ocean during the course of the Global Reef Expedition we encounter many species of fishes on our survey dives. Many are widespread species that we see in most of the countries we visit though …

Rugged Reefs

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Sitting at 25 m (82 ft) wrapped in a completely tangled metallic chain that would make Mr. T envious, I often ask, “What have I gotten myself into?” Indeed, one may wonder why anyone would want to take a long, …

Stars of the Reef

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The most familiar members of the phylum Echinodermata are the sea stars (aka starfish). Also contained within this phylum are diverse members such as sea cucumbers, crinoids, brittle stars, and sea urchins. Echinoderms possess an interesting body shape known as …