During the month of June 2013, the Global Reef Expedition began conducting coral reef surveys in and around the Fiji Islands. All of the research was staged from the research vessel M/Y Golden Shadow and lasted approximately 30 days. The full science team visited sites in Moala, Totoya, Matuka, Cicia, Tuvuca,Vanuabalavu, Mago, Vanua vatu, Nayau, Fulaga, and Kabara. The high priority research sites listed were identified by the Lau Provincial Office. All of the data and data products developed through this program, including high resolution satellite imagery and habitat maps, will be given to the Lau Provincial Office and relevant Ministries in Fiji and non-governmental offices working on coral conservation initiatives.

Global Reef Expedition Data Contributes to Landmark Report on the World’s Coral Reefs
More than a decade after scientists aboard the Global Reef Expedition surveyed coral reefs across the Pacific, the data they collected continues to contribute to our understanding of the world’s coral reefs.
Today, the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN) released Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2025, the most comprehensive assessment to date of the status and trends of coral reefs worldwide. The report brings together an extraordinary amount of information collected over more than four decades—and the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation is proud to have contributed data from the Global Reef Expedition to this global effort.
