The Indo-West Pacific is known for their rich, diverse soft coral (octocoral) communities, and the Ribbon Reefs were no exception. They are plant-like, resembling trees or bushes, but they are made up of polyps just like a stony coral. Distinguished
For our first three days of research, we are comparing the coral and fish community within three Ribbon Reefs. Ribbon Reefs form a chain of 10 individual reefs beginning to the north of Cairns and stretching close to 120 km
Over the next month our research team will explore the remote northern Great Barrier Reef Marine Park to evaluate the effectiveness of management in protecting biodiversity and enhancing the resilience of the reef system to climate change. The Marine Park
Living Oceans Marine Education Team Promotes Coral Conservation From September 10th to October 3rd 2013, we were working in Tonga. In addition to underwater research, marine education about coral conservation was a large part of our mission there and we teamed up
The hunt for marine invertebrates begins… It is 6:30 in the morning, and Nathaniel (“Nat”) Evans and Daphné Grulois depart with the film crew (Alison Barrat, Ernie Kovacs) to Surprise Atoll. Depositing Alison and Ernie at their filming location, Nat
It is green sea turtle nesting season right now and here in the northern atolls of New Caledonia there are some beaches that are well known as favorite nesting spots. The green turtle spends almost all its life at sea
Sometimes the most exciting marine wildlife encounters happen at the surface rather than under the water. On this particular occasion we were on our surface interval between the first and second dives on the southern tip of Huon Atoll. A
Today we finished survey work at Huon Atoll, in the north west of the D’entrecasteaux Atolls Natural Park. As I descended on my dive, I was greeted by the now common site of a couple of grey reef sharks, a
For the last few days, we have been in northern New Caledonia, near the protected D’entrecasteaux Atolls National Park. It feels very remote up here, and from where the M/Y Golden Shadow sits just outside the park boundary, we can
As I clambered dripping onto the boat after our second dive of the day on the west side of Huon Atoll, I was greeted by a cacophony of dive chatter- a sure sign that something eventful had been seen. To
