Latest News from the Coral & Reefkeeping World
Honduras Issues Nationwide Fishing Ban to Protect Coral Reefs, Grouper, and Key Marine Species
A Major Win for Coral Reef Conservation in the Mesoamerican Reef Region After more than three years of collaboration, persistence, and science-based advocacy, the Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL) and our partners from the Bay Islands Technical Committee, Healthy Reefs for Healthy People, Fundación Cayos Cochinos, and Fundación Cuero y Salado have...
THE MYSTERY OF MUCUS!
By Rebecca Campbell Gibbel, MS, DVM WHAT GOOD IS SLIME? For many marine animals, mucus is an essential part of their lives, providing a protective barrier. Clownfish have a mucous coating on the surface of their skin, gills and gut that is three to four times thicker than other similarly sized fish....
A sea cucumber a day keeps the coral doctor away
By Carly E. Karrick Do you think an apple a day keeps the doctor away? What about a cucumber, or maybe even a sea cucumber? Sea cucumbers are animals related to sea stars that filter coral reef sediment, which is the solid material on the bottom of a reef. They have...
Bleaching without witnesses: the history of coral bleaching in South Atlantic reefs
By Thomas Banha For a long time, Brazilian reefs were overlooked in global coral bleaching assessments. This year, two studies reconstructing the history of coral bleaching in Brazil were published just two days apart. Hopefully, this marks a turning point for our reefs helping to put South Atlantic corals in the...
Cladocopium thermophilum: A powerhouse of thermal tolerance
By Anna Fiesinger Coral reefs face an existential threat from rising ocean temperatures, but one tiny alga is rewriting the rules of survival. Cladocopium thermophilum, a symbiotic alga found in the Persian Arabian Gulf’s extreme environment, has emerged as a critical player in the Gulf’s coral resilience. This microbe’s extraordinary ability...
Marine Conservation: Coral Reefs
A high school student researches causes of coral mortality, exploring many causes and solutions proposed to manage them. Her explorations will interest anyone who wants to understand coral reefs. She finds that global warming is the “elephant in the room”. KATE PAJEL As a Filipino-American … The post Marine Conservation: Coral Reefs...
A crab-tastic mutualism
By Daniela Restrepo Galeano Corals are known for their mutualistic relationship with tiny algae that live within coral tissue cells. But this is only one of the multiple collaborations that corals maintain. Mutualism with animals like crabs is less well known and less commonly studied. Nonetheless, crabs have shown to benefit...
Mexico bans captive dolphin shows based on GCRA’s water pollution studies
The Mexican Senate voted unanimously to ban captive dolphin shows for tourism due to decades of pressure by Mexican animal rights groups, supported by water pollution studies done by the Global Coral Reef Alliance. Much of this results from shocking recent cases of dolphin self harm indicating … The post...
