A mass bleaching event in the Indian Ocean turns corals cotton-candy shades of pink and blue The phrase ‘coral-bleaching’ brings to mind ghostly-white skeletons of coral but what we found when we dived on reefs in the British Indian Ocean Territory
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 24 While traveling from one survey site to another, the ground-truthing team came across two sea turtles mating. They appeared to be green turtles (Chelonia mydas), currently most abundant of the sea turtle species. Green
Expedition Log: BIOT – Day 23 Seagrass beds are found in many tropical coral reef lagoons around they world. They provide important ecosystem services, including sediment retention, juvenile fish habitat, and coastal protection. Historically, seagrasses have also been used as
Expedition Log: BIOT – Day 22 The grim reaper comes quickly if you are a coral. Superbly adapted to their life in the shallow ocean and so successful that they can build some of the biggest structures created by living
Expedition Log: BIOT – Day 21 Working at sea aboard the M/Y Golden Shadow, my day starts at 6:00am with a strong cup of coffee. The sun is just rising, and so is the rest of the dive team. The
Expedition Log: BIOT – Day 20 For some divers, sponges are just unspectacular filter feeders hidden among corals, algae and other organisms but for others, including me, they are fascinating organisms. On many tropical Pacific reefs they are relatively uncommon,
Written by Chris Mirbach Expedition Log: BIOT – Day 19 On a single dive on Victory Bank in the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), I saw the greatest abundance of fish I have ever witnessed, after having completed nearly 1000
