Reef Resilience

Kleptoparasites on the Reef

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Expedition Log: Palau – Day 13 On a previous mission someone had taken a photo of a coral with a strange patchy brownish “discoloration.” When I was asked if I had any idea what was being shown in the picture …

Troubling Taxonomy

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Expedition Log – Day 12 One of the largest challenges for our coral surveys is the proper identification of the corals.  When measuring and counting corals along transects we rarely identify them to species, mainly because there are some 450 …

Turning Back the Hands of Time

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Expedition Log: Palau – Day 11 On most of the barrier reefs we’ve examined off the south and west coast of  Palau, the coral community has been thriving, with 60-90% of the bottom covered in a diverse assemblage of branching, …

Rebirth of the Forest

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Expedition Log: Palau – Day 8 1998 was a bad year for coral reefs. In many parts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans an unprecedented coral bleaching event swept across the reefs, killing much of the coral.  In some countries, …

New Study Reveals Worrying Future for Corals

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Written by Alison Barrat A new paper, Galápagos coral reef persistence after ENSO warming across an acidification gradient, gives a more detailed picture than ever of how ocean acidification and increased ocean temperatures combine to spell disaster for the worlds reefs, …

Fragile Flowers

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Expedition Log: Palau – Day 5 Usually we find the most delicate corals in protected deeper lagoonal waters.  Species such as Anacropora, a cousin of Acropora which forms bushes of long spindly branches, up to a meter tall but only …

Month-Long Palau Coral Reef Research Expedition Begins

LANDOVER, MD, January 8th, 2015 – Today a massive coral reef research expedition begins in Palau. It is a joint project between the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation, the Coral Reef Research Foundation, and Palau International Coral Research Center …