Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation
Providing science-based solutions to protect and restore ocean health
Sharks are a natural component of coral reef ecosystems, where they occupy the role of top-order predators. Reef sharks are important to the overall health of the coral reef assemblage, and their presence is generally an indication of a coral …
Let me tell you about yesterday’s wonderful (seriously) sea snake encounter while it’s still fresh in my mind. First of all, up here in the northern Great Barrier Reef we’re getting close to saltwater crocodile territory. They can grow to …
As we travel across the Pacific Ocean during the course of the Global Reef Expedition we encounter many species of fishes on our survey dives. Many are widespread species that we see in most of the countries we visit though …
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 …
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 …
Parrotfishes represent one of the most conspicuous members of the Indo-Pacific coral reef fauna. They are ideal study subjects for addressing questions regarding population and community ecology for several reasons, including their high diversity and abundance, complex reproductive life histories …
