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
For those of you who have never seen a giant clam, let me tell you they are incredible creatures. I’m intrigued by these enormous, marble-colored flesh animals. Their size alone is impressive with potential to grow up to almost 5
They have cylindrical bodies, leathery skin, and generally are peculiar looking creatures. You may or may not have noticed these slow moving animals on the bottom of the sea floor. They are sea cucumbers, and they are considered a delicacy
After two weeks, we’ve completed reef assessments around Rangiroa, Aratika, and Raraka and are now examining Fakarava. Tuamotu reefs are dramatically different from Society Islands. Besides the near absence of crown of thorns seastars (we’ve seen a handful in the
Science Without Borders® is a registered trademark of the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation. When Walter Wyatt’s airplane went down in remote seas in the Western Bahamas, it sank almost immediately. The unfortunate pilot could not have imagined that
I’ve spent a lot of time talking about the corals, how they are faring, and what invertebrates are eating them. I’ve only briefly mentioned fish, even though they are the showcase of the Red Sea. From charismatic megafuana like the
The Farasan Banks is a very unique and diverse marine ecosystem with more reef habitat per unit area than anywhere else we’ve surveyed along the Saudi Arabian Red Sea coast. Like other areas, the major framework builders of these structures
Even though we are in a very remote location off the southern Red Sea coast of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, fishermen abound. There are many coastal villages near the Farasan Banks with large fishing communities. Many of our sites
Most of us have read about the coral reef crisis and have heard about the factors that have contributed to the degradation of reefs – most often overfishing, pollution, sedimentation have been cited as the causes, and more recently climate
On most of the reefs I have dived on over the last ten days, I can always find a coral that is missing some of its tissue. Most often, it’s been eaten by some other animal. Two colonies of Acropora,
