Farasan Bank

A Field of Flowers

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This morning we headed to Shib Ammar, a submerged patch reef at the outer edge of the Farasan Banks, some 40 miles offshore. Twenty knot winds from the northwest, and a 1.5 meter swell made for a wet and bumpy …

Sharks and Rays Today

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Our fifth day of research was an epic day. Once again, we had blue skies, calm seas and clear water. One of the local experts warned us of strong winds and a change in conditions, but so far the seas …

Recent Reef Disturbance

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Our team continued reef assessments along middle shelf locations to better characterize the spatial extent of the disturbance. We first examined two locations along the unnamed submerged reef platform described yesterday, first at the northwestern tip, about 6.4 km west …

Rebirth of a Coral Reef

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For our third dive of the day we surveyed a submerged mid shelf reef, adjacent and west of a deep water channel that bisects the Farasan Banks. As I descended to the bottom, something seemed amiss. Unlike the crystal clear, …

Above the Waterline (Al Lith)

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Today we continued exploring the reefs in the northern portion of the Farasan Banks and several team members surveyed the mountainous Abu Latt (Al Lith Island) Island. The islands sandy beaches are important hawksbill nesting grounds, with twelve tracks observed …

Our First Dives (Abu Latt)

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Saturday, April 4. Our research team boarded the Golden Shadow on Saturday morning, departing from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia around mid day for a 7 hour (120 mile) journey to the northern end of the Farasan Banks. We reached our first …

The ROVie

This ROV Movie (ROVie) was taken during the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation Farasan Bank Expedition.

3 May 2006 : Science Diary – ROV in Operation

This ROV in Operation underwater video of the remotely operated vehicle was taken during the Farasan Bank Expedition to the Red Sea. About the ROV in Operation So far we have run two test dives on the ROV to make …