Pavona

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 …

Reefs Around Rangiroa, Aratika and Raraka

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After two weeks, we’ve completed reef assessments around Rangiroa, Aratika, and Raraka and are now examining Fakarava. Tuamotu reefs are dramatically different from Society Islands.  Besides the near absence of crown of thorns seastars (we’ve seen a handful in the …

Life, Death and Rebirth of a Coral Reef

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What comes to mind when thinking about a coral reef is a colorful undersea garden teaming with life: corals, fish, urchins, starfish,  molluscs, crustaceans, sponges and other animals and plants, many still unknown to science.  French Polynesia coral reefs should …

Corals in the Devil’s Crown

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After just one dive at San Cristobal Island, the team decided the water was too rough, so the Golden Shadow moved on. We woke Monday to overcast skies at Floreana, the southernmost of the five inhabited islands. Monday brought three dives …