Palau

Palau’s Precious Places

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Expedition Log: Palau – Day 21 Today is the last day the Global Reef Expedition’s mission to Palau. Over the last five weeks our team of scientists surveyed 85 different coral reefs, stretching from Angaur in the south, through the …

The Faces and Functions of Algae on the Reef

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Expedition Log: Palau – Day 19 Algae, often referred to as “seaweed,” are underwater “plants” that, unlike land plants, lack a vascular system. Algae live underwater and obtain water, nutrients, and sunlight directly from the environment. Because algae don’t need …

Musical Coral?

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Expedition Log: Palau – Day 18 When I was writing the blog for the Blue Coral (Heliopora coerulea) I found and learned about earlier in this mission, I came across a reference for Organ Pipe Coral (Tubipora musica). While Blue …

Shrimps: A Gallery of Tiny Treasures

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Expedition Log: Palau – Day 17 On a recent dive while swimming along between coral photo transects on a patch reef in the lagoon near the tip of the Aiyasu Reef system, I spotted a Long Tentacle Mushroom Coral (Heliofungia …

Dartfishes

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Expedition Log: Palau – Day 16 For the past few weeks I have descended into Palau’s waters each day with my two vital pieces of equipment: a tape measure reel and writing slate. My job on this mission is to …

The Chemical Reef

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Expedition Log: Palau – Day 15 Corals reefs capture our imagination with their extreme beauty and diversity, and so when we think about a reef, it usually brings to mind colorful imagery of teeming fish, strange forms of corals, and …

Blennies and Gobies

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Expedition Log: Palau – Day 14 The Indo-Pacific is home to a high diversity of small, elongate bottom dwellers— blennies and gobies. From low visibility sandy bottoms to high-energy outer reefs, blennies and gobies have made a prominent appearance in …