Currently, the Reef Islands has no airport and barely any visitors make their way to this group of islands in the south eastern Solomon Islands. In fact, our ship is one of only four to make it out this year—with
I am really excited to be aboard the M/Y Golden Shadow for the second half of the Living Oceans Foundation’s (LOF) Solomon Islands mission. I have joined the LOF education team and I am representing a partner organization, OceansWatch. OceansWatch
During the course of our survey dives we see many representatives of the Phylum Mollusca (mollusks). Frequently we see gastropod (snail) shells but most are carried about the reef by small hermit crabs which have taken up residence in the
As a coral surveyor, it often happens that I can while away an hour-long dive almost thoroughly upside down, my face only inches away from the substrate as I count and measure colonies. This means I often miss the ‘big
Typically, people scuba dive to see beautiful coral reefs that are teeming with life. For most of us (scientists), we are focused on getting our work done, and it’s often difficult to fully appreciate all that is going on around
In 1953 Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Frédéric Dumas co-authored the book The Silent World (with the rather verbose subtitle: A story of undersea discovery and adventure, by the first men to swim at record depths with the freedom of fish).
During a recent dive I was struck by the number of Blue Lace Corals (Distichopora violacea) that were present. This is not a particularly rare or usually noteworthy species but it was notable on this dive due to its higher
We collect enormous amounts of data and observations during our missions, a lot of which is collected in situ, or in its original place, by researchers while they’re underwater. But one of the things we do while underwater is take
On every mission during the Global Reef Expedition survey divers can usually point to one dive as being the highlight of the trip. It might be a dive with lots of great looking healthy coral or maybe a dive where
If you ask someone “Why do fish school?” you will likely get “to avoid predators” for an answer. After all, the more eyes you have watching the harder it is for anything to sneak up on you. Furthermore, if a
