Farasan Islands Habitat Mapping in Saudi Arabia Using CASI and QuickBird Imagery

Farasan Islands Habitat Mapping in Saudi Arabia Using CASI and QuickBird Imagery Map products derived from remote sensing technology increase our understanding and ability to manage tropical marine environments. The enhanced mapping capabilities of hyperspectral sensors are well understood; yet technology uptake, particularly …

The Other Coral Eaters

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I’ve spent a lot of time talking about the corals, how they are faring, and what invertebrates are eating them. I’ve only briefly mentioned fish, even though they are the showcase of the Red Sea. From charismatic megafuana like the …

Diagnosing the Crime Scene

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The Farasan Banks is a very unique and diverse marine ecosystem with more reef habitat per unit area than anywhere else we’ve surveyed along the Saudi Arabian Red Sea coast. Like other areas, the major framework builders of these structures …

Observing Majestic Whale Sharks

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After another spectacular day exploring the Farasan Banks, I was once again enamored by the wonders of the Red Sea and the rich diversity of life that abounds on the reefs and in surrounding waters. We completed two spectacular wall …

Red Whale Shark

This Red Whale Shark underwater video was taken during the Farasan Banks Expedition.

Groundtruthing

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Over the last few weeks, you’ve heard a lot about our SCUBA surveys, what we’ve seen, and the health and resilience of these reefs. One of our major goals during this Expedition is to identify areas of rich biodiversity, as …

Fishing at the Farasan Banks

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Even though we are in a very remote location off the southern Red Sea coast of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, fishermen abound. There are many coastal villages near the Farasan Banks with large fishing communities. Many of our sites …

Assessing reef health and resilience

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Most of us have read about the coral reef crisis and have heard about the factors that have contributed to the degradation of reefs – most often overfishing, pollution, sedimentation have been cited as the causes, and more recently climate …