Our atlases of coral reefs and other shallow-water marine habitats are a showcase of our work in a region, containing comprehensive color maps of the seafloor along with a summary of our scientific findings on the health and resiliency of their marine ecosystems.

Atlases are a final product of our scientific research, the culmination of all of our coral reef surveys and mapping activities, available in a form governments can use to make decisions about how they use their coastal lands and waters. To date, the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation has published three Atlases, the Red Sea Atlas, the Bahamas Atlas, and the Atlas of the Amirantes:

 

Red Sea Atlas

Over a four-year period, the Living Oceans Foundation led a massive marine habitat research project in the Red Sea.

The results of our surveys are published in Atlas of Saudi Arabian Marine Habitats, the first-ever atlas to include offshore coral reef habitats in the Red Sea. It is available for download in both English and Arabic.

 

The Bahamas Atlas

The Atlas of Shallow Marine Habitats of Cay Sal Bank, Great Inagua, Little Inagua, and Hogsty Reef, Bahamas, is the result of months of underwater research to survey and map the seafloor. The first atlas produced from research conducted on the Global Reef Expedition, The Bahamas Atlas combines advanced satellite imagery, aerial photography, and data from hundreds of research dives into the first high-resolution coral reef ecosystem maps of many Bahamian reefs. It is available for download in English.

 

The Atlas of the Amirantes

In 2005, the Living Oceans Foundation traveled to the Seychelles, a 115-island archipelago in the Indian Ocean, to study the impact of an El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) ocean warming event on their coral reefs. The Atlas of the Amirantes contains high-resolution benthic habitat maps that were created from this research project for the purpose of aiding the Seychelles government in marine conservation efforts and management plans, the result of months of underwater research to survey and map the seafloor. 

 

These atlases and associated GIS maps can help to understand the value, distribution, and the number of coral reefs in a region, and place them in the context of human use. This can help target management actions such as the designation of marine protected areas or the establishment of marine monitoring programs to the most deserving reefs.

Hard copies of our Atlases are distributed to our partners, government officials, local leaders, and conservation organizations to aid in their decision-making or in any scientific studies they may want to conduct in the future. Please contact us if you would like a copy of one of our Atlases.

Digital versions of all the maps contained in our atlases are available in our World Reef Map, where people are able to download the GIS mapping data upon request for use in coral reef conservation and management.