French Polynesia

Lessons from the Reef: Did You Know?

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It’s been two weeks since the Gambier portion of the Global Reef Expedition to French Polynesia ended. In less than two weeks, our science team will be heading back to French Polynesia to conduct research in Rangiroa. In the meantime, …

Something’s Fishy Around Here

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A fish sandwich? Think again. You may want to leave the fish on the reef, if you live in Mangareva.  There’s a good chance it may be ciguateric and you may get ciguatera poisoning.  Ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP) is seafood …

Acropora Gardens

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Mangareva contains more diverse coral habitats than anything we have seen to date. Parts of the outside rim of the atoll are emergent. The cross sectional profile starts with a classic reef flat, 10 m wide in places and often …

Cauliflower Coral

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Cauliflower coral, in the genus Pocillopora, are among the most widely distributed and most abundant corals found on the fore reef. These branching corals are covered with small bumps (called verrucae), which contain corallites and help in the identification of …

Coral Bommies and Patch Reefs

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Navigation hazards are many in Hao Atoll, due to a myriad of submerged patch reefs that rise to the surface from the 60 m deep lagoon floor. These reefs are distributed in a seemingly random pattern. Some are circular and …

Rolling Stones

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Like other animals, corals need to reproduce to survive. Unlike most other animals, corals are attached to the seafloor and cannot move around to find a mate for coral reproduction. To address this challenge, corals have developed several alternative reproductive …