Yearly Archives: 2010

28 Aug

New study on the state of Bonaire’s reefs

Although Bonaire’s coral reefs remain among the healthiest and most resilient in the Caribbean, a new  IUCN report based on the IUCN Resilience Assessment of Coral Reefs highlights some of the threats that exist to Bonaire’s coral reefs, and which could have serious implications for resilience to future climate change and other threats. The report identified recommendations for addressing the current threats, as well as high and low resilience sites. Carmabi helped with the study which can be found [...]

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31 Jul

UPDATED: Caribbean coral species identification tool

There have also been some updates on the coral ID pages. Carmabi compiled a series of pictures that show combinations of corals that are often mistaken  for one another. Because terminology to describe each species is often  subjective (i.e. has larger polyps or smaller ridges) having both  species in one picture might help to get a better idea of how such  closely related/ similar looking "species" can be distinguished from one  another. Corals are now divided in four main [...]

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28 Jul

High seawater temperatures cause worst coral bleaching since 1998

Temperatures continue to look bad for the Caribbean in 2010. At this point, our Degree Heating Week product is as bad as, or worse than, this time in 2005. Our Seasonal Bleaching  Outlook indicates there continues to be a risk of thermal stress in 2010 at levels similar to 2005. The good news is that areas north of the Greater Antilles and in the Gulf of Mexico do  not seem to be at as high a risk. Temperatures in [...]

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01 Jul

Coral Reef Systems: to the middle of the Pacific to find untouched reefs

We invite you to join us in exploring coral reefs - some of the most productive and biodiverse ecosystems on the planet. Follow us as we travel to untouched parts of the globe to conduct scientific research aimed at protecting these special places. Read our blog to hear about our adventures in the field.  Browse photos and video from our expeditions and take a step into an underwater world.  Check out our lively book, Coral Reefs in the Microbial [...]

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03 Jun

Unidentifiable fish species

On the evening of May 30th a fish was caught by local fishermen at a depth of approximately 100 meters. At present no one has any idea what species this fish might be. A picture is shown below and all who know what species this fish is are invited to send an email to m.vermeij@carmabi.org with the supposed species name so the information can be shared with the local fishing community. Thanks in advance. Update June 3rd 2010: After sending the [...]

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28 Feb

Baby corals dance their way home

Baby corals find their way home in their first days as free-swimming larvae by listening to the noise of animals on the reef and actively swimming towards it, an international team of researchers working in the Caribbean has discovered. These findings raise new concerns for the future of coral reefs as increasing human noise pollution in the world's oceans is masking reef sounds. Dr Steve Simpson, Senior Researcher in the University of Bristol's School of Biological Sciences, discovered several years ago [...]

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