Expedition Log: Caribbean Mangroves – Day 3 My favorite part of our mangrove education program is taking students into a mangrove forest. Their faces light up with excitement when we’re in the field. This experience is one of the most
Written by Olivia Patterson Maura Expedition Log: Caribbean Mangroves – Day 2 Friends of the Environment (FRIENDS) is so thrilled to partner with the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation (KSLOF) to bring mangrove education and restoration to The Bahamas!
Expedition Log: Caribbean Mangroves – Day 1 I’ve just touched down in sunny Abaco, Bahamas and it is absolutely beautiful here. There are white sandy beaches, turquoise-colored ocean, palm trees, and mangrove trees. Yes, mangrove trees. Mangroves are trees or
Expedition Log: Cook Islands – Day 12 As we bandage our wounds, wash and pack our gear, and prepare for our departure, we take time to discuss the outcomes of our project with our partners in Aitutaki. Since discovering and
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
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
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
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.
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 /
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
