Spread of the green snail Turbo marmoratus in French Polynesia

This article on the spread of the green snail in French Polynesia published in Ocean & Coastal Management was a result of research conducted by Living Oceans Foundation Chief Scientist Andrew Bruckner and Coral Reef Ecologist Alexandra Dempsey with other …

Earth Matters January Puzzler: Palau’s Coral Reefs

Each month, NASA Earth Observatory’s Earth Matters blog offers a puzzling satellite image for its readers to ‘solve’… or weigh in on as to what part of the earth the satellite image depicts and why it is of interest.  The January …

Chagos Study Shows Coral Reefs Resilient To Warming Events

A recent Chagos study shows that substantial reef recovery is possible after large-scale warming events. This article by Climate Progress cites Living Oceans Foundation’s recent Global Reef Expedition mission to BIOT relative to the study and their significance with respect to recent …

COTS Control, Collection, and Conservation

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Expedition Log: Maldives – Day 18 Over a short three-week period, our team of four scientists collected over 7,500 crown of thorns starfish (COTS) from three locations off North Malé Atoll and South Malé Atoll in the Maldives. While this …

Securing the Survival of Anantara’s reefs

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Expedition Log: Maldives – Day 17 Our third area of research in the Maldives involved recent outbreaks of COTS reported from South Malé Atoll near Anantara Dhigu and Veli. Marine Biologists Marta Rigo and Alba had first observed starfish in the …

Cotton Candy Corals

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A mass bleaching event in the Indian Ocean turns corals cotton-candy shades of pink and blue Written by Elizabeth Rauer The phrase ‘coral-bleaching’ brings to mind ghostly-white skeletons of coral but what we found when we dived on reefs in the …

Courageous Crabs

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Expedition Log: Maldives – Day 13 Corals have very few defenses against crown of thorns starfish (COTS). Their shape may partially protect them, especially species with long, closely spaced branches that are inaccessible to the stomach of the starfish. There …

The World’s Top Culture, Wildlife, and Nature Photographers

The International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP) includes in its fellowship an international cadre of some of the world’s top culture, wildlife, and nature photographers. Together, they work with conservation organizations all around the globe to visually document their efforts in protecting …

Sources of Starfish

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Expedition Log: Maldives – Day 7 One of the most challenging questions we are regularly asked is where the crown of thorns starfish (COTS) come from. A reef can be unaffected for years or even decades and then suddenly thousands …