Society Islands, French Polynesia

Bringing the Message to Many

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My two weeks aboard the Golden Shadow have come to a close. During that time, I spent the days diving with the science team.  At night, as the ship swayed with the swells of the ocean, I reflected on their research as …

Thriving Alien and Declining Local Invertebrates

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The French Polynesian scientists participating on the Society Islands mission took the opportunity to quantify the abundance of a number of French Polynesia invertebrates… species that have, or may have, a commercial and food subsistence role in the near future. …

The Legacy Site – What Will the Future Tell?

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The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation works on a global scale to improve our understanding of coral reef health and the ecological integrity of coral reef ecosystems. Pollution, coastal development, overfishing, climate change, disease, and predation can negatively impact …

Reality TV – The Reef

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French Polynesia is a long way from my hometown of St. Albert in Alberta, Canada. For many of my students, coral reefs are an abstract concept. Fortunately, in my short time with the science team, I have acquired many amazing …

Investigating the Reef Slope

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For the last week, the Global Reef Expedition scientists have been diving and surveying the leeward side of fore reefs around Raiatea, French Polynesia, focusing their efforts on the reef slope. This particular reef community changes its structure along a …

Living in Harmony, but Stress Can Kill

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Coral reefs are often called the rainforests of the seas. Teeming with life, reefs harbor a broad range of organisms that rely on a complex network of ecological interactions and symbiosis (close and often long-term interaction between two or more …