Floating along above the reef on our coral surveys here in Tonga, we are occasionally distracted by flashes of bright colors crawling along the reef. These bright colors come from a group of sea slugs called nudibranchs. For the uninitiated,
In the middle of towing Ron across the local marine protected area (MPA) set up in front of Mavana Village, on Vanuabalavu Island, he popped his head up to shout, “Hey, this MPA is really working! The fish are huge.
Bioluminescence occurs when a biological organism produces a chemical reaction where energy is released in the form of light. A familiar example of bioluminescence is the firefly, emitting a yellow-green light. In the marine environment, most bioluminescence appears as a
Across the world, coral reefs and fisheries are in crisis. In Fiji over the past few decades, increased demands for cash income and material goods, coupled with growing populations and access to markets, have led to substantially increased pressure on
After the usual teething problems setting up electronic equipment at the start of a research mission, we (Gwilym and Jeremy (scientists) and Ade (boat driver)) finally made it away from the M/Y Golden Shadow to begin the Fiji ground truthing
For the last 3 days we surveyed the reefs around the remote Palmerston atoll. We were privileged to dive the reefs around Palmerston and to make a shore visit to meet its inhabitants and discuss our coral reef research with
In Rarotonga, I joined the Golden Shadow to research the presence and distribution of Humphead Wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus) on Aitutaki and Palmerston. I aim to collect this data to add towards a Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) analysis I’ve just completed
After starting the barcoding of the total fish fauna at Moorea (Society Islands, French Polynesia) in 2006 under the BIOCODE project (http://mooreabiocode.org/), CRIOBE has spent the last 7 years continuing the genetic barcoding of coral reef fishes over the 118
In 1998, we visited Rangiroa Atoll shortly after sea temperatures rose 6 degrees greater than summer norms and caused massive coral bleaching. Virtually all of the branching coral Pocillopora died and a quarter of the mound-shaped coral, Porites, lost almost
Corals in tropical reefs are like trees in a forest. We all know from the tiny acorn, the mighty oak tree grows but where do the mighty corals come from? You’d think we know all there is to know about
