Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation
Providing science-based solutions to protect and restore ocean health
Traveling from dive spot to dive spot in Tonga it’s not difficult to find a misty cloud of water near the surface. We have arrived during Megaptera novaeangliae, humpback whale season. Why are there humpback whales near Tonga this time …
If you follow our blogs, then you might recall the blogs about harvesting sea cucumbers in Fiji. In Tonga, they are also collecting sea cucumbers and processing them. When the sea cucumbers are processed and dried, they are called beche-de-mer. …
This black-banded sea krait (probably Laticauda colubrine) was spotted foraging during the Global Reef Expedition in Tonga. Very widespread through Asian and Pacific seas, with six similar species of Laticauda. Although their venom is among the most toxic of all …
On our second day of diving we had our first encounter with a sea snake. While most of the 62 described species are true aquatic snakes, we observed one of the more primitive snakes, banded sea kraits, Laticauda colubrina. This …
A cultural view of Totoya sharks written by the high chief. As a young boy growing up Totoya, I recall that there were incidents of shark attacks on some of our villagers. In our culture, this type of incident is …
Bioluminescence occurs when a biological organism produces a chemical reaction where energy is released in the form of light. A familiar example of bioluminescence is the firefly, emitting a yellow-green light. In the marine environment, most bioluminescence appears as a …
One of the most unusual group of animals found on the reef are the echinoderms. So named because of their “spiny skin”, these animals are pentamerous or radially symmetrical (five point). Found only in the sea, they include sea urchins, …
Restocking giant clams requires patience and lots of nurturing. The overall process can take as long as 3 years to grow a giant clam that is able to be sold to the aquaria trade and even longer for meat production. …
Aurelia aurita’- Moon Jelly Photo by Ken Marks
