Expedition Log: Cook Islands – Day 1 Over the last four years, the Global Reef Expedition (GRE) has focused on the Pacific and Indian Ocean. These reefs are vastly different from Caribbean reefs, especially with regards to the numbers of
Expedition Log: BIOT – Day 27 In many ways, BIOT is a biogeographic crossroad in the central Indian Ocean. The archipelago is located in an area affected by extreme climate variability. In adjacent parts of the Indian Ocean, many of
Expedition Log: BIOT – Day 26 My initial thoughts after a diving on BIOT’s reefs can be summed up in a few words: remote, largely inaccessible, seemingly untouched, and flourishing with life. BIOT’s Reefs teeming with life like these Golden
Expedition Log: BIOT – Day 25 Before starting a research mission in a new area, I compile lists of all the species of corals and fishes that are known to occur in an area. For some areas, such as BIOT,
Expedition Log: BIOT – Day 13 On a recent lagoonal dive in the center of Salomon Atoll I felt like I was at a carnival swimming through a pool of rainbow glazed popcorn. Fluorescent lime green, pink, purple, blue and
Expedition Log: BIOT – Day 2 For our first mission to the British Indian Ocean Territories (BIOT), our research is concentrated on the southern banks of the Chagos Archipelago. This area includes a number of small islands and atolls. Our
Expedition Log: BIOT – Day 1 We have just arrived at the Chagos Archipelago to study some of the most remote reefs on the planet for the latest leg of the Global Reef Expedition. M/Y Golden Shadow has just completed
Expedition Log: Palau – Day 21 Today is the last day the Global Reef Expedition’s mission to Palau. Over the last five weeks our team of scientists surveyed 85 different coral reefs, stretching from Angaur in the south, through the
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
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,
