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A variety of organisms make their home on this tropical coral reef in Indonesia.

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Live from the Field: Bali, Indonesia

A view of the island of Moorea.

Video

The Moorea Biocode Project

A "reef hotel" made of PVS layers on the seafloor.

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Worth the Investment: Ocean Real Estate Reveals Hidden Diversity

Alexis Temkin stands in marsh grass holding a reptile.

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Five Questions With Alexis Temkin, Searching For Links Between Deepwater Horizon & Human Health

A diver collects water samples.

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Ocean Sampling Day – Taking the Pulse of the World’s Oceans

In 2011, storms and lack of ice-cover due to a warmer winter climate resulted in hundreds of seal pups being washed up on the shore of Prince Edward Island. Like many, this young seal faced an uncertain future. See more Nature's Best Photos.

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Ice-Loving Seals and the Loss of Sea Ice

Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative researchers collect samples from a Pensacola Beach with oil layers in the sand. They use genomics to track how the communities of microbes change as they digest different components of oil after a spill.

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Three Ways You Can Use Genomics to Study Oil Spill Impacts

On Moorea, an island in French Polynesia, researchers are striving to complete a biocode—a DNA catalog of every life form big enough to pick up with tweezers.

Overview

Scientists Catalog Life on the Island of Moorea

two people in the water with mountains in the background

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Welcome to the Moorea Biocode Project

With their brown and yellow markings, seaside sparrows (Ammodramus maritimus) blend in well with marshgrass.

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Beyond the Sea: How Oil Spills in the Ocean Affect Birds On Land

"Barely a room onboard escaped being turned into a part of the sequencing laboratory," wrote Rob Edwards in a blog post about doing genomic sequencing at sea.

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Sequencing at Sea: Studying Small Things Using Big Equipment

Tiny organisms found on ARMS

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From Field to Lab: How Carbon Seeps Provide a Chance to See Future Impacts of Ocean Acidification