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Oct 3 2012 - 1:57pm
In the past 30 years, the Great Barrier Reef -- Australia's iconic natural wonder -- has lost half of its coral to a combination of forces. Dr. Nancy Knowlton, Sant Chair of Marine Science at the Smithsonian Natural Museum of Natural History and Editor-in-Chief of the Ocean Portal, went on PBS...
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Oct 8 2012 - 12:58pm
A coral (Montastraea faveolata) has just spawned. Each of the hundreds of polyps living in the colony releases a small pink bundle of sperm and eggs. Read more about coral spawing and watch a spawning event.
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May 11 2010 - 3:27pm
Coral reefs are bustling cities of marine life, until rising ocean temperatures turn them into ghost towns. Can reefs spring back from devastating bleaching events? In this episode of the Podcast of Life, Ari Daniel Shapiro and researcher Dr. Randi Rotjan of the New England Aquarium, journey to the...
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Sep 12 2012 - 11:02am
Coral reefs are the most diverse of all marine ecosystems. They teem with life, with perhaps one quarter of all ocean species depending on reefs for food and shelter. This is a remarkable statistic when you consider that reefs cover just a tiny fraction (less than one percent) of the earth’s...
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Jan 24 2013 - 10:32am
In this photo of a shallow coral reef in the Pacific there are three species of forams. On the left, Peneroplis planatus. In the center, Amphistegina lessonii. And on the right, Laevipeneroplis sp. Their colors come from the symbiotic algae that live inside the foram shells.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
A Coral Reef Watch satellite monitors the temperature of the world’s oceans. When ocean waters get too hot, corals release the microscopic algae that provide them with color and, more importantly, food. Without the algae, the corals turn white—or bleach—and may die. More about coral reef ecosystems...
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Apr 18 2011 - 1:36pm
Last September, the Citizens of the Sea blog series brought you a story of doom and gloom from the reefs of Bocas del Toro, Panama. That is the time of year we typically study -- and celebrate -- the annual birth of baby corals in the area. We arrived to find very hot water (2010 turned out to...
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Compare the healthy coral on the left with the bleached coral on the right. Increased water temperatures caused the bleached coral to lose the microscopic algae that give the coral color and provide it with food. More about coral reef ecosystems can be found in the Coral Reefs section.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
This coral reef in the Western Pacific Ocean was killed by human input of silt and sand from nearby islands reaching the coral reef habitat. More about coral reef ecosystems can be found in our Coral Reefs featured story.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Overfishing and sedimentation have heavily impacted this reef off the western coast of Guam. More about coral reef ecosystems can be found in our Coral Reefs featured story.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
What is coral bleaching? These white corals in the Gulf of Mexico’s Flower Garden Bank National Marine Sanctuary are bleached due to an increase in water temperatures, which causes corals to lose the microscopic algae that provide them with food. Bleaching spells trouble for coral reefs. Learn more...
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Oct 23 2012 - 11:54am
A coral reef near Bocas del Toro, Panama recovers from a mass bleaching event that occurred in the summer of 2010. The tops contain some bleaching, but the sides look healthy. Smithsonian marine biologist Dr.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
These corals are dead—smothered in sediments and overgrown with algae. The reef is near Komodo Island in Indonesia. More about coral reef ecosystems can be found in our Coral Reefs featured story.
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Oct 20 2010 - 7:59am
Welcome to Citizens of the Sea, a new blog series where ocean life comes to life. Our book by the same name came out in September, but no sooner had it gone off to the printer than new ocean stories started streaming in. So every other week, we’ll use this series to explore some interesting aspect...
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Apr 14 2011 - 11:19pm
A photo taken at a reef near Bocas del Toro, Panama. The reef suffered a mass bleaching event in the summer of 2010, when water temperatures were unusually high. In this photo, healthy brown coral gives way to the frontlines of disease.
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May 24 2012 - 3:55pm
On World Oceans Day - June 8th, 2012 - the Living Oceans Foundation hosted a live web-based conversation between Sylvia Earle at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History and a team of scientists researching coral reefs and their communities around the Galapogos Islands.
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Oct 2 2012 - 2:28pm
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef (or the GBR as it is known to reef aficionados) stretches for more than 2,300 kilometers (over 1,429 miles) and can be seen from outer space. This largest barrier reef in the world is both a national icon and a global treasure that was recognized as a World Heritage...
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