While conducting coral reef surveys in the Cook Islands, scientists were shocked to see the ongoing devastating effects of a Crown-of-Thorns-Starfish (COTS) outbreak. On the reefs surrounding the island of Aitutaki, over 80 percent of the live coral community was
Communities in the Cook Islands have turned to traditional Māori conservation methods, such as ra’ui, to protect their reefs and nearshore fisheries. In a ra’ui, chiefs and community leaders set aside an area for conservation where regulations are agreed upon
The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation has published our latest findings from the Global Reef Expedition. Released today, the Global Reef Expedition: Cook Islands Final Report contains critical information on the health and resiliency of coral reef ecosystems in
Maggie Dillon is a Science and Education Intern for the Khaled bin Living Oceans Foundation (KSLOF). She is a senior at St. John’s College in Annapolis Maryland. After graduating, Maggie is interested in pursuing a Master’s Degree in Marine
One of our aims in coming to Palmerston was to transport official representatives of the Cook Islands Marine Park Steering committee to this remote island. The committee is on a fact-finding mission, to determine what people think of the marine
For the last 3 days we surveyed the reefs around the remote Palmerston atoll. We were privileged to dive the reefs around Palmerston and to make a shore visit to meet its inhabitants and discuss our coral reef research with
