We are currently visiting a remote coral reef about 150 kilometers off the northern coast of New Caledonia called Cook Reef, where we’ve seen an unusually high abundance of top predatory fish. The large numbers of predatory fish are likely
As the dive team descended on our first dive in the northern atolls of New Caledonia, Pelotas Reef, it was apparent to all that this would be a challenging dive. The reason – current! Sea Whips The presence of strong
As I plunged into the water for my last dive of the day on the western tip of Cook Reef in New Caledonia I was greeted by the sight of many different types of fishes. Along with my dive buddy
Biodiversity is the diversity of life from genes to ecosystems. Somewhere between these two extremes are habitats. Habitats are, simply speaking, an area where flora and fauna settle, live, feed, reproduce and die. More formally, marine habitats can be defined
My role on the LOF expeditions in the Pacific has been underwater photography. In addition to being on the lookout for interesting or beautiful subjects for the Facebook photo gallery or to illustrate blog postings, my primary duty is to
Today is transit day. The Golden Shadow is moving from Prony Bay, at the southern end of the main island (Grande Terre) of New Caledonia to Cook Reef in the north. It is a day for all the scientists to
With wind and swell building from the south and east, we identified two relatively sheltered sites north of Ile des Pins for the morning surveys. Ominous rain clouds were building in the sky to the east, but we were glad
As we arrived into Ill des Pins (Isle of Pines) on the first day of the mission, one type of vegetation struck me. Pine forests tower above the landscape, and stretch right down to the shore! Though we came to
Cold Water Diving Shortly after sunrise the main dive boat, Calcutta, set out from Golden Shadow to survey a gently sloping spur and groove reef system on the south eastern side of Ill des Pins. The dive team and crew
Today we arrived in the Niua Island Group. The science team will spend the next two days surveying Niuatoputapu, while the education team will provide land-based education programs. These are also the last two days of our Tonga mission before
