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interesting.. |
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Posted
on August 20, 2008 at 10:37 AM
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Predicting Coral Health By Identifying Nearby Microscopic Algae
ScienceDaily (July 23, 2008)
A new indicator of coral health has been discovered in a community of microscopic single-celled algae called dinoflagellates. The study reveals that a particular type of these algae renders corals more susceptible to disease.
"Corals are fascinating organisms whose survival is dependent on dinoflagellates that live inside the coral's tissue," says lead author Michael Stat, an assistant researcher at the Hawaii Institute for Marine Biology (HIMB) at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. "The relationship between these dinoflagellates and corals has long been considered mutual...
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Press Release!!!! |
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Posted
on August 04, 2008 at 9:28 AM
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Press Release: First Statewide Underwater Survey of California Reefs by Citizen Scientists
Los Angeles – A network of over 200 volunteer divers from the Reef Check Foundation has completed a statewide scientific survey of California's rocky reef ecosystems. Results of the first two years of the survey have been released in a 135-page report, "Reef Check California 2006–2007: Citizen Monitoring to Improve Marine Conservation." Initial results show differences in fish and invertebrate populations in various parts of the state. For example, divers found that abalone were still quite rare at the Southern California survey sites whereas, in northern California, noticeably smaller red abalone were found in shallow waters accessible to recreational fishing than found in deep waters. The report will provide baseline data for future comparisons on cha... |
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Good news for Reef Check! |
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Posted
on July 29, 2008 at 12:05 PM
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Here are some various updates from Reef Check, ch-ch-ch-check them out!
Reef Check Baja California: New and recertified fishermen monitor Marine Protected Areas of Isla Natividad
by Reef Check California Director of Science Cyndi Dawson
Greetings Reef Checkers - I have just returned from a very productive trip to Isla Natividad, Baja California Sur. It is an incredible project that we are fortunate to be involved with as partners with the Mexican NGO Comunidad y Biodiversidad (COBI).
To give you some background, fishermen in Mexico can form cooperatives and gain access to exclusive fishing rights or concessions to a particular area. In this case, the Cooperativa Buzos y Pescadores de Isla Natividad owns the concession around Isla Natividad. More information about the Coopertiva and the Isla Natividad Marine Reserve Project is on COBI’s website.
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Happy Shark Week! |
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Posted
on July 28, 2008 at 11:01 AM
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In honor of Shark Week, I thought I'd put up an article today talking about shark diving. Enjoy!
The World’s Scariest Shark Dives
By Chris Shott, ForbesTraveler.com
There are scores of jaw-dropping shark-sighting hotspots in the seven seas, with guided tours ranging from simple snorkeling trips to swanky yacht-propelled scuba excursions.
You don’t have to be Jacques Cousteau to go scuba-diving in shark-infested waters.
Just ask his son, fellow sea-explorer Jean-Michel Cousteau: “I took the Duchess of York, who was afraid of water,” he says. “In three days, this incredible lady learned to scuba dive, put a chain-mail suit on, and went and fed sharks in the Bahamas.”
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Changing just one thing can help corals a lot |
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Posted
on July 24, 2008 at 9:32 AM
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Fishing Bans May Save Corals from Killer Starfish
The more fish in the water, the fewer coral-munching starfish
By Adam Hadhazy
Good news for the world's vanishing corals: a new study shows that commercial fishing bans in Australia's Great Barrier Reef kept a lid on coral-gobbling starfish.
"This is definitely good news for coral," says John Bruno, an associate professor of marine science at the University of North Carolina (U.N.C.) at Chapel Hill.
Researchers found that there were as many as seven times fewer outbreaks ... |
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Please read!!!!!!!!1 |
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Posted
on July 15, 2008 at 12:15 PM
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Rough seas: One-third of coral reef species face extinction
By Dan Vergano, USA TODAY
"I'd like to be
under the sea,
in an octopus's garden
in the shade."
Or so the Beatles put it back in the good ole' days, before things got really rough in Neptune's realm.
Amid a host of problems for the world's oceans, last week brought a reminder that coral reefs, the sentinel species for measuring the health of the seas, are taking a beating. One-third of all coral reef species face extinction worldwide, reports the latest study, released by Science magazine, with more species looking threatened.
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Reef Check Press Release!! |
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Posted
on July 14, 2008 at 9:18 AM
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Los Angeles, California – Coral reefs in the IndoPacific have largely recovered from the devastating hot water die off or “bleaching event” that killed up to ninety percent of corals on some reefs in 1998. In a presentation made today at the International Coral Reef Symposium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Reef Check coral reef ecologist Gregor Hodgson reported that ten years later, recovery has occurred more quickly and more completely than expected. Caribbean reefs, however, are losing about three percent living coral every four years due to a combination of human impacts.
According to Hodgson, “When the devastating 1998 bleaching event occurred, and the extent of dead coral was tallied, many scientists feared that the dead reefs would not recover, and that the remaining live reefs could be killed if the such intense bleaching events continued.”
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New study, same news |
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Posted
on July 14, 2008 at 9:16 AM
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UCF Study Finds Coral Reefs Taking Longer to Recover, Some Don't
July 8, 2008
By Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala
Coral reefs off the shores of Florida are taking much longer to recover and, in some cases, appear not to heal at all once damaged, according to a research team presenting its findings at this week’s International Coral Reef Symposium in Fort Lauderdale.
The findings don’t bode well for the reefs or the state’s economy, which derives millions of dollars from tourists wanting a look at coral reefs and the marine life they generate.
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This is not good |
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Posted
on July 14, 2008 at 9:15 AM
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NOAA Report States Half of U.S. Coral Reefs In "Poor" or "Fair" Condition
July 7, 2008
The State of Coral Reef Ecosystems of the United States and Pacific Freely Associated States: 2008
High resolution (credit: NOAA )
Nearly half of U.S. coral reef ecosystems are considered to be in "poor" or "fair" condition according to a new NOAA analysis of the health of coral reefs under U.S. jurisdiction.
The report issued today, The State of Coral Reef Ecosystems of the Unit...
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Fiji Times Online: Beauty under water |
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Posted
on July 01, 2008 at 11:50 AM
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by: ALUMECI NAKEKE
TWENTY years ago villagers of Waitabu on the north eastern coast of Taveuni would never a give a second thought about their reefs or what dwelled on their shores. They walked on the reefs breaking the corals and took home whatever they could eat no matter how small.
There was heavy seaweed growth because there was no more fish to feed on it.
The state of the Waitabu Village coast was so pathetic that at first sight, Helen Sykes, a marine ecologist, had no hope it could return to its natural state and refused when approached by the community to set up a marine protected area (MPA) or tabu on their fishing ground. But with the community's continual persistence Ms Sykes agreed.
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