Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation
Providing science-based solutions to protect and restore ocean health
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 …
As fish surveyors, our job is to identify, count, and size all the fish we see within 30m x 4 m transect lines. To do this, we drop one end of our transect tapes at 10m depth, and swim slowly …
Several of us have encountered a free-floating colonial tunicate during our dives on leeward reefs. Known as Pyrosomes (from the Greek, pyro = fire and soma = body), these unusual tunicates consist of cylindrical- or conical-shaped colonies made up of …
Tunicates, commonly called sea squirts include a diverse assemblage of invertebrates that are usually attached to the bottom, but also include 10 species that live in the water column. These invertebrates share some similarities with vertebrates by having a tail, …
The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation conducted a research mission to the Tuamotu and Gambier Archipelagos of French Polynesia in late 2012 and early 2013 as part of its Global Reef Expedition. This article on the significance of new …
This paper stems from our field research in the Bahamas conducted at the start of the Global Reef expedition. It discusses how Cay Sal Bank was formed how and why it differs from the rest of the Bahamas. The Bahama …
By Alison Barrat In August this year the Foundation teamed up with endurance swimmer Lewis Pugh to complete seven long-distance swims in under a month. He is the United Nation’s Patron of the Ocean, and the goal of the challenge …
Humans have long been in the habit of naming exceptional trees. The General Sherman sequoia, the Methuselah bristlecone pine, and a certain specimen of Ficus religiosa better known as the Bodhi Tree are three such notable individuals. Humans don’t live …
The genus Acropora includes the most diverse and abundant corals found on Indo-Pacific reefs, with different species displaying a baffling number of growth forms and color varieties. With over 150 species known to science, these corals often out compete all …
The Broadclub Cuttlefish (Sepia latimanus)—the second largest species of cuttlefish (to 50 cm)—is the most commonly seen species of cuttlefish on tropical reefs. Though it ranges from the Andaman Sea in the west to as far east as Fiji, this …
