French Polynesia was one of the most magnificent countries we studied on the Global Reef Expedition. While there, we experienced first-hand some of the most beautiful coral and fish communities in the world. There are times, though, when the data
The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation is proud to release our findings from the largest coral reef survey and mapping expedition ever conducted in French Polynesia. The Global Reef Expedition: French Polynesia Final Report provides a comprehensive summary of the
After a 3.5 hour flight on the Golden Eye, we reached Hao to begin our third research mission in French Polynesia at Gambier. Hao is a large (56 km X 15 km), low-lying coral atoll at the southeastern end of
To state it simply, sharks are interesting. So much so that entire weeks of television are devoted to them. There are a variety of sharks found around the world from the docile wobbegong to the great white shark. The Largest
We have had many interesting dives within the lagoons around the Tuamotu Archipelago, but the Fakarava lagoonal habitats have been the most unique. There are thousands of small patch reefs that extend from the water’s surface to depths as great as
Fish communities in the Tuamotu Archipelago have been much more diverse than in Society Islands, especially on the fore reef. The fish are not only more abundant, but they are larger overall, meaning greater biomass, which is good for reefs
The Global Reef Expedition surveys aim to document what is happening on our coral reefs below water level, but on transit to our dive sites and in between dives, it is hard not to notice the abundant sea birds that
Scientific research is the bread and butter of the Living Oceans Foundation, but public outreach is another key component of our work. During the last two weeks that we have been researching in the Tuamotu Archipelago, we have been joined by a
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
Our coral reef research in the Tuamotu archipelago began with an aerial survey, at an elevation of 500-1000 feet above sea level, using the Golden Eye seaplane. The Tuamotu islands constitute the largest archipelago in French Polynesia, spanning an area
