Conservation

Great Barrier Reef corals (Kyle Taylor / Flickr / CC BY 2.0)
Great Barrier Reef corals (Kyle Taylor / Flickr / CC BY 2.0)

Deciphering the corals' scents

Last December, marine biologist Caitlin Lawson made her way to the Great Barrier Reef.

Like countless others, she was there for the annual spawning of the corals. However, she was armed, not with expensive photographic equipment, but small plastic containers rigged with tubing.

Her mission? To collect the gaseous chemicals released by the corals (as well as their algal and bacterial symbionts) before, during and after the spawning event.

The staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis) is a branching, stony coral with cylindrical branches ranging from a few centimetres to over two metres in length and height.

Coral restoration projects show promise in Florida Keys

Reef-building staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis) was abundant and widespread throughout the Caribbean and Florida until the late 1970s.  The fast-growing coral formed dense thickets in forereef, backreef, and patch-reef environments to depths over 20 m. 

Staghorn coral
The staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis) is a branching, stony coral with cylindrical branches ranging from a few centimetres to over two metres in length and height.

Coral restoration projects show promise in Florida Keys

Reef-building staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis) was abundant and widespread throughout the Caribbean and Florida until the late 1970s.  The fast-growing coral formed dense thickets in forereef, backreef, and patch-reef environments to depths over 20 m. 

Coral Guardian's team member, Sahril, ensures the maintenance of a restored coral reef.

Adopt a coral during lockdown

Corals are essential to the balance of the planet, but today they are threatened with extinction.  Thanks to restoration efforts as well as the construction of unique artificial reefs, dedicated to the rehabilitation of coral reefs in damaged areas, we make possible the return of lost biodiversity in this environment.

Not Just a FAD: Saving the Reefs in the Seychelles Islands

A diver cuts lose a FAD tangled in the reef, Alphonse Atoll, Seychelles. Photo by Christian Burger.

Drifting fish aggregating devices (dFADs) are threatening endangered marine species and coral reefs in the Indian Ocean. Marine conservationist Lucy Martin worked with the Island Conservation Society (ICS), a non-governmental organization in the Seychelles, on a large survey in 2015 to find out how big an issue FADs actually were.

Elkhorn corals in Florida Keys.
Elkhorn corals in Florida Keys.

Figuring out where to transplant nursery-grown corals

This sounds simple enough, but not when one considers that the reef - the third largest coral reef in the world - measures nearly 150 miles long and four miles wide. The question of where to place the new corals comes into play.

Enter biology professor Robert van Woesik, from Florida Institute of Technology.

Armed with a US$205,000 grant from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, he and his team are working to identify the habitats and localities in the reef tract that offer optimal conditions for coral survival.

High Seas fishing Is a huge waste of money and resources

Close high seas fisheries; It is sound business

Isabelle Côté, a Simon Fraser University professor of marine ecology and conservation, has co-authored a new study that finds little would be lost by eliminating high seas fishing.

In this study Côté and her colleagues evaluated the impact of closing deep-sea fishing on fisheries' catches and values, and their economic consequences for individual countries, identifying which nations would stand to financially gain or lose.

Hunted Out of Fear

The shark is an apex predator that has been on this earth for over 400 million years—a predator that, through the media and our deep-seated fears, has been systematically targeted and hunted throughout the world's oceans, pushing many species close to extinction.