Research Station Carmabi news (Page 3)

28 Aug

Educational videos about coral reefs

Program: Changing Seas Episode: Mysterious Microbes From: http://video.wpbt2.org/They are some the ocean’s tiniest inhabitants. On coral reefs, microorganisms are copious creatures. But in a world that’s invisible to the naked eye, drastic changes are taking place. Throughout Florida, scientists painstakingly work to identify key players within this microbial community. Recent breakthroughs revealed a direct link between a human pathogen and a devastating coral disease Clich here to see this video Microbes rule the reef. They determine both coral reef health and decline. Exploration [...]

By Research Station Carmabi news 0 Comments Read more...
01 Jan

New Carmabi report on the current state of Curacao’s coral reefs 2012

To download the report, Vermeij MJA (2012) Curacao State of the reef 2012 Carmabi (c)2012 Papiamentu follows english below The coral reefs of Curaçao represent one of the best reef systems left in the Caribbean at present. However, this does not mean that these reef systems are doing well.  On the contrary: increased coastal development has resulted in pollution of near shore waters through the release of (untreated) sewage, nutrients and chemicals and overfishing represent some of the factors that have [...]

By Research Station Carmabi news 0 Comments Read more...
28 Aug

Strange symptoms in reef fish

Recently a large number of fish species has been observed carrying signs of what could be a disease. Two types have been observed and herbivorous fish seem most affected. The first "disease" was historically observed on surgeonfish (A. bahianus), but is now also occuring on several species of grunts and hamlets. Indiviuals affected are covered by dark, round patches, usually dark grey/ black in color, that can occur all over their body. Examples of this "disease" are shown  in [...]

By Research Station Carmabi news 0 Comments Read more...
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 [...]

By Research Station Carmabi news 0 Comments Read more...
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 [...]

By Research Station Carmabi news 0 Comments Read more...
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 [...]

By Research Station Carmabi news 0 Comments Read more...
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 [...]

By Research Station Carmabi news 0 Comments Read more...
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 [...]

By Research Station Carmabi news 0 Comments Read more...
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 [...]

By Research Station Carmabi news 0 Comments Read more...
31 Dec

Research at Carmabi highlighted in NATURE

Work on sponges on Curacaoan reefs by Jasper de Goeij, a Carmabi associate scientist, has been highlighted in NATURE, one of world's leading scientific journals. Below one finds the text of the article: How the sponge stays slim: One species' rapid cell shedding explains its huge carbon-catching capacity. Published online Nature doi:10.1038/news.2009.1088 By: Matt Kaplan Biologists have discovered how a reef-dwelling species of sponge can filter enormous amounts of carbon without growing in size.The sponge Halisarca caerulea can absorb up to two-thirds of [...]

By Research Station Carmabi news 0 Comments Read more...