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https://www.greenpeace.org/international/story/24868/did-you-know-there-are-enormous-mountains-under-the-sea/

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Seamounts are large submarine volcanic mountains, formed through volcanic activity and submerged under the ocean. Though they were once seen as nothing more than a nuisance by sailors, scientists have discovered that the structures of seamounts form wildlife hotspots. The steep slopes of seamounts carry nutrients upwards from the depths of the seafloor towards the sunlit surface, providing the sea life with nutrient-rich food.

We are currently on an epic journey, sailing from the Arctic to the Antarctic . We are stopping along the way to do research that will help us understand the complexity of the massive amounts of water that surrounds us. Our next stop is the Mount Vema seamount and here are four things you need to know about it:
1/ Mount Vema is as high as 767 giraffes piled on top of each other
The Vema seamount was discovered in 1957 (some sources say 1959) by an Oceanographic Research vessel with the same name. From the ocean floor, it stretches 4 600m high. That is 4,5 times higher than the iconic Table Mountain in South Africa, or as high as 767 giraffes piled on top of each other . Which also means that the peak of Mount Vema is just 26m below the ocean surface, so it will be possible for Greenpeace to go there with human divers and show the amazing biodiversity of the region.
2/ The first explorers of Mount Vema were on a hunt for diamonds
The discoverers initially hoped to find large diamond deposits on Vema. Instead they found another kind of wealth: the Tristan rock lobster or Jasus tristani , a lobster species that is otherwise found only on the Tristan da Cunha archipelago about 1,000 nautical miles away. This kind of lobster enjoyed great fame among seafood lovers and sold for a good price, before it became virtually extinct at Mount Vema due to overfishing. The population of Tristan lobsters still hasn't recovered to this day
3/ Mount Vema is littered with abandoned fishing gear
Now, instead of Tristan lobsters, surveys in the area only find old discarded fishing equipment, a deadly trap for numerous animals. Abandoned fishing gear, called "ghost gear" continues to catch sea creatures as if they were still being used, snaring and entangling species that cannot free themselves and end up dying. This damages both marine life and the fisherman who lose part of their potential catch.
4/ A Global Ocean Treaty could help protect this place
Seamounts like Mount Vema are often found miles from countries' national waters, far out on the high seas. That makes it difficult to give them proper protection, as the gaps in existing regulations can be easily exploited by destructive industries. This is why we are campaigning for a global treaty to protect the high seas, so that unique ecosystems like Vema's can finally be protected effectively.

Greenpeace is going from pole to pole to show the biodiversity, threats and possible solutions to protect our oceans, and Mount Vema is the next stop!
Joins us to cover our planet in ocean sanctuaries. Helena Kowarick Spiritus is an oceans campaigner with Greenpeace Germany

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Did you know there are enormous mountains under the sea? - Greenpeace International

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Seamounts are large submarine volcanic mountains, formed through volcanic activity and submerged under the ocean.

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Water and air. So very commonplace are these substances, they hardly attract attention―and yet they vouchsafe our very existence. The beginnings of life  are shrouded in myth: Let there water and air. Living phenomena spontaneously generated from water and air in the presence of light, though that  could just as easily suggest random coincidence as a Deity.

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This article was most recently revised and updated by

seamount, large submarine volcanic mountain rising at least 1,000 m (3,300 feet) above the surrounding deep-sea floor; smaller submarine volcanoes are called sea knolls, and flat-topped seamounts are called guyots. Great Meteor Tablemount in the northeast Atlantic, standing more than 4,000 m (13,120 feet) above the surrounding terrain, with a basal diameter of up to 110 km (70 miles), illustrates the size that such features can attain. The sides of larger seamounts generally are concave upward and rarely slope more than 14°; smaller seamounts lack this concavity and can have sides as steep as 35°. In plan, seamounts tend to be elliptical or elongate, possibly because the lavas are extruded from linear rifts in the seafloor.

Most material dredged from seamounts is microcrystalline, or glassy, oceanic basalt that probably formed as submarine lava flows. The summits and flanks of seamounts are generally covered with a thin layer of marine sediment.

Seamounts are exceedingly abundant and occur in all major ocean basins. By the late 1970s more than 10,000 seamounts had been reported from the Pacific Ocean basin alone. Virtually every oceanographic expedition discovers new seamounts, and it is estimated that approximately 20,000 exist in the oceans of the world.

A linear cluster of seamounts may result when several are fed by lava extruded from a single linear rift. Most Pacific seamounts occur in linear clusters or elongate groups of 10 to 100. The individual seamounts in a chain may share a common ridge connecting their bases, as in the Mid-Pacific Mountains. Seamount chains in the Pacific basin tend to be aligned northwesterly, and several chains are intimately associated with fracture zones; the Eltanin Fracture Zone in the southwestern Pacific is an example. At least one seamount chain, the New England Seamounts, lies in the northwestern Atlantic. No seamount chains have been reported from the Indian Ocean, possibly because that basin has been less extensively surveyed.

Richard Pallardy.

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Seamount | Volcanic, Marine Ecosystems & Biodiversity

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Seamount, large submarine volcanic mountain rising at least 1,000 m (3,300 feet) above the surrounding deep-sea floor; smaller submarine volcanoes are called sea knolls, and flat-topped seamounts are called guyots. Great Meteor Tablemount in the northeast Atlantic, standing more than 4,000 m

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By: Eva Gruber

Entire mountains and mountain ranges lay submerged beneath the surface of our oceans. These underwater mountains, called seamounts rise thousands of feet from the sea floor, and stand waiting, as they have for millions of years, to be explored. Nobody paid much attention to these seamounts before the 1980's until fishermen, forced by nearshore overfishing to venture out into deeper waters, began pulling up huge catches from them. Until then, seamounts were thought to be devoid of life and unremarkable scientifically. Boy, were we wrong.

Seamounts are technically defined by oceanographers as conical in form and rising to at least 1,000 meters (3,281 ft) above the sea floor. Many of them are actually extinct volcanoes. If they broke the surface, they would be islands much like Hawaii or the Aleutian Islands.

In fact, the highest mountain on Earth, Mauna Kea, was a seamount that broke the surface and now makes up the Big Island of Hawaii. It rises 30,000 feet above the sea floor (so heavy that it presses down on the oceanic plate).

However, the majority of seamount peaks are many thousands of feet below the surface and take here place in the landscape within the deep sea.
Types of Seamounts
Seamounts are as diverse in shape and size as they are numerous - each harboring its own story of formation. For example, a guyot is a seamount with a flat top. Over the course of its formation over millions of years, it breaches the surface. The peak then erodes and flattens over time due to weathering and wave action. As more time passes, the seamount slowly sinks below the surface again, becoming a "tablemount" or guyot.

A total of around 9,950 seamounts have been mapped - this is only a fraction of those thought to exist. An even smaller percentage of these have actually been explored by scientists. So, there are still many seamounts to be discovered and mapped around the ocean basins - it is predicted that due to geological activity, a large amount of seamounts exist in the Pacific Ocean.
How to Discover a Seamount
Discovering a seamount requires a lot of modern technology, which is why so little is known about them. Only within the past few decades have we had the technology available to pierce the mysterious deep sea to be able to locate and chart seamounts.

Bathymetry is the study of the depth of the ocean floor and is measured in modern times through the use of ship-mounted sonar devices. The amount of time that it takes for a sonar ping to reflect back to the ship reveals the depth of the seafloor. Satellite altimetry is done, as the name suggests, from space. Orbiting satellites are used to send a microwave pulse of energy to the ocean surface, and then record the return time.

These incredibly sensitive and high-tech instruments have proven to be excellent tools for mapping our oceans, its currents, its features, and the amount and location of heat stored in the ocean which informs the study of climate change.

Submersibles (manned and unmanned) can also be used to explore seamounts, once they have been located. They can record observations, gather measurements and collect chemical/geological/biological samples, allowing us to put eyes and (robotic) hands at great depths - depths much greater than a human diver could go.
Life on a Seamount
Seamounts are one of the most common type of habitats in the world, due to their abundance and dominance of the ocean floor. New studies suggest that seamounts encompass about 28.8 million square kilometers of the earth's surface - way larger than any single land-based habitat. And yet, due to the challenges and rigors of deep sea exploration, relatively little is known about the ecology of seamounts. Because of the way that seamounts influence currents, they often are areas of nutrient upwelling - supporting a productive and diverse ecosystem. This is why they are so often targeted by fishermen, as many of them support extensive fisheries. There is concern about this targeting, as most seamount fishing involves bottom trawling. Bottom trawling is one of the most destructive of fishing practices - where entire ecosystems are scraped (similar to clear-cutting a forest) off the seamount.

Because of the vast distances and depths between and among seamounts, no two seamounts may be alike, and some likely harbor life endemic to that one seamount, much like an island. Seamounts also can be hotspots of biodiversity rising up from what is often compared to as the barren desert that is the seafloor. Marine biologists still have a lot of exploration, sampling, collecting, and classifying to do so that we can fully understand the ecology of seamounts and their influence on the diversity and health of the oceans.

Look at this stunning National Geographic gallery of lifeforms from seamounts around the world.
Orange Roughy
One of the most well-known case studies of overfishing on seamounts is of the slimehead ( Hoplostethus atlanticus), or orange roughy as it was re-branded to increase its appeal in the seafood market. This fish occupies many seamounts across the western Pacific and eastern Atlantic, and is notable for its lifespan of at least 149 years. However, due to its flesh being considered a delicacy, it is targeted by commercial fishers and has since been classified by the Marine Conservation Society as "vulnerable to exploitation". This is due to its natural history as a slow-growing, long-lived fish with relatively low reproductive rate. Many stocks have already crashed beyond recovery, and the remaining ones are in no way sustainable at current fishing rates.

In fact, a joint report by TRAFFIC Oceania and the World Wildlife Foundation's Endangered Seas Program argues that, "probably no such thing [exists] as an economically viable deep-water fishery that is also sustainable. Similarly, international agreements to reduce fishing capacity, to remove subsidies which encourage overfishing, to encourage co-operation in management of fish stocks and flag States to take responsibility for their vessels fishing on the high seas, appear to have gone largely unheeded, to the detriment of deep-sea species and their associated ecosystems." For more information, look here.
Seamount Threats
Some of the higher seamounts pose a hazard to seagoing vessels. Muirsfield Seamount is named after the ship that struck it, sustaining heavy damage to the keel. However, the most likely threat that seamounts pose is when, due to instability from old age, their sides and flanks slough off causing an undersea landslide which has the potential to trigger a massive tsunami.

But really, we humans pose more of a threat to seamounts that seamounts do to us - through overfishing and bottom trawling. Nearly 80 species of fish are targeted on seamounts, but when the bottom is trawled, the whole ecosystem is destroyed. When we demand unsustainable seafood, commercial fisheries are inclined to fish wherever and however they can with no regard to long-term fisheries stocks. The best choices we can make are informed by scientists. If you eat seafood, the best thing to do is consult Monterey Bay's Seafood Watch Program to check if what you are eating is not in danger of becoming threatened or extinct.

For more information, read more from our sources: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and Seamount Catalog

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Entire mountains and mountain ranges lay submerged beneath the surface of our oceans.

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It felt a lot like a moon landing to the researchers who experienced it-descending thousands of feet below the surface of the ocean into complete darkness. Ambient ocean light extends down only about 600 feet. After that, no amount of straining your eyes will help you see through the inky blackness.

Scientist Tim Shank and photographer Luis Lamar were descending into Lydonia canyon, one of several among the canyons and underwater mountains sitting 130 miles from Massachusetts, when they were slowly surrounded by darkness.

Descending thousands of feet can take hours.

When the lights affixed to the underwater submersible carrying the researchers were finally switched on, the world around them looked like a different planet.

The Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument is made of sprawling underwater mountain ranges and vast canyons-the formations spread out for 4,913 square miles. From the surface of the ocean, it's impossible to see the vibrant Connecticut-size, deep-sea world unless you dive beneath the surface.

"It was like being in an aquarium, but you weren't sure where the aquarium started," says deep-sea biologist Tim Shank from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. "I was speechless."

For two weeks in September, a team of researchers from Woods Hole, OceanX, and NASA spent time aboard the Alucia research vessel, with funding from OceanX and Bloomberg Philanthropies.

The goal?

The monument was established by the Obama administration in 2016 to protect a region known to be diverse and yet still largely unknown. Monuments restrict commercial activities like industrial fishing or mining.

Now, the monument is at risk of losing those protections under the Trump administration. Late last year, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke recommended that the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts monument, along with several others, be opened for commercial activities, though the agency has yet to act on this recommendation.

Fearing the area could soon get degraded by human interference, the expedition members were eager to explore the biodiverse ecosystem.

"It's a whole new world down there," says Rachel O'Neill, a geneticist from the University of Connecticut who was on the trip.

Aboard the ship, O'Neill sequenced the DNA of organisms that were collected below. This not only allowed the research crew to identify new species, but it also helped them learn how organisms are adapting to extreme environments.

"The crux of this is to understand the ecological adaptations that make these coral ecosystems thrive," says Shank. "We know these corals grow at a very slow rate, so when we see one a foot tall, it could be 500 years old."

Understanding how deep-sea wildlife grows can help conservationists better protect it, he adds. Even thousands of feet below the sea, ecosystems are not immune to contamination.

"We see plastic bags, cans, shower rods, paint cans-I've seen trash down to 11,000 meters. If you can name it, we've seen it," says Shank.

A plastic bag caught on a coral could prevent it from feeding and eventually kill an organism that is home to other species, from fish to invertebrates. Scientists are only just beginning to understand how the deep sea helps wildlife thrive higher up in the water column. Above the biodiverse canyon walls, notes Shank, they've observed higher densities of larger marine creatures like whales, dolphins, and even sea birds.

The team plans to unveil the new species they've discovered as they continue studying samples throughout the next year.

Learning from the deepest reaches

Both Shank and Lida Teneva, an OceanX science officer, say researching deep-sea coral and other organisms could lead to medical breakthroughs. Some species of sea stars, for instance, are able to completely regrow severed limbs, a feat biomedical researchers want to adapt for clinical settings.

The expedition was also an opportunity for Woods Hole and NASA to test an autonomous vehicle called Orpheus.

"It can jump like a grasshopper and move around [on the ocean floor]," says Shank. Able to withstand the intense pressure of the deep sea, it can take measurements and search for signatures of life.

Beyond studying Earth's oceans, the research team says future iterations of the design will be used to explore Europa, a moon orbiting Jupiter that could have an environment suitable for life.

The future of the monument

Conservation groups like Earth Justice and the Natural Resources Defense Council have vowed to fight the administration in court if any steps are taken to roll back protections for the monument.

Scientists aboard the Alucia say they've only just scratched the surface of the park. Comparing the monument to Manhattan, Shank says they've only explored a parking space.

Still waiting to be seen are miles of canyons larger than the Grand Canyon and extinct volcanoes-endless stretches of mountain ranges and mysterious sea creatures hidden in the dark.

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Exclusive photos: Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine Monument explored

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It felt a lot like a moon landing to the researchers who experienced it-descending thousands of feet below the surface of the ocean into complete darkness. Ambient ocean light extends down only about 600 feet. After that, no amount of straining your eyes will help you see through the inky blackness.

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Cobalt - metallic element can be found in seamounts.

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Cobalt - metallic element can be found in seamounts.

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Spanning 1.7 million square miles of ocean from Hawaii to Mexico, a hidden underwater world teems with life. More than 5,500 deep-sea species reside in the area of the Pacific known as the Clarion Clipperton Zone, and roughly 90 percent of them have yet to be described by science, according to a new study.

"Everything in the [deep sea] is extremely cold and obviously completely dark," says Adrian Glover, a co-author on the study and scientist at the Natural History Museum of London, which led the research. "The amount of food is very low. Yet somehow-you know, the cheesy Jurassic Park line-life finds a way to survive down there."

To create a comprehensive inventory of all the species living in this region, the researchers sifted through more than 100,000 biological records from research expeditions, with some reports dating back to the 1880s.

They recorded an abundance of arthropods such as shrimps and crabs, as well as sea cucumbers, mollusks, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, the hyper-durable tardigrade, which can survive some of the most extreme environments on Earth.

But there's a catch: The species in this zone share their home with one of the ocean's largest known reserves of precious minerals, including cobalt, nickel, and manganese. Concentrated in billions of dark lumps scattered across the seafloor called "polymetallic nodules," these types of minerals are required to create renewable technology such as solar panels and batteries for electric vehicles, which will be critical in the fight to slow climate change, experts say.

As a result, the CCZ has become a prime candidate for potential deep-sea mining operations. Though not yet legal, commercial seabed mining in international waters is creeping toward reality, which could have devastating consequences for deep-sea biodiversity, research suggests. That's why determining what species dwell in this region is so important, says study leader Muriel Rabone, a deep-sea researcher at the Natural History Museum of London. (See photos of more deep-sea creatures.)

"If there are mining activities in the area, we need to understand what those impacts may be," says Rabone, whose study was published today in Current Biology. Without an idea of how many species there are in the CCZ, "we are going in blind," she says.

Deep-sea wonders

In the past few decades, scientists have used underwater remotely operated vehicles to study the CCZ, which reaches depths of 18,000 feet in some areas. Yet, the biological data from these expeditions is often overlooked, says Glover.

"There's a huge amount of samples that just get collected from these environments and don't get worked up."

To help remedy this, the researchers spent many months combing through and compiling deep-sea data from seven different sources. One of the platforms they pulled from is a database called DeepData, where contractors-including mining companies-are required to submit findings from exploratory mining environmental assessments through the International Seabed Authority, the intergovernmental body tasked with regulating seabed mining.

Of the 5,578 species the researchers recorded, just 436 of them have been formally described by science. This list includes gelatinous "gummy squirrel" sea cucumbers and colorful polychaete worms, as well as some species like sea lilies that actually live on stalks attached to the polymetallic nodules, according to Glover.

Glover is currently working on a separate research project funded by The Metals Company, a metal producer that has several exploratory mining contracts in the CCZ with the aim to eventually mine in the area. However, the authors declared no conflicts of interest on this study. (Read more reporting about how mining the CCZ could be disastrous for ocean life.)

"If we are going to be able to synthesize and understand what's going on in the Clarion Clipperton Zone in a way that we can effectively manage the region, we have to combine knowledge from industry, from academia, and from private foundations," says Lisa Levin, an oceanographer at the University of California in San Diego who was not involved in the study. "We have to bring all the resources together."

While the study provides a clear picture of all known deep-sea animals in the CCZ, it also shows everything we don't know about biodiversity in this region-which is an equally crucial finding, says Levin.

"Another really important point about this paper is that everything in it has to be an underestimate, because so many parts of the Clarion Clipperton Zone haven't been sampled," she says.

Mining impacts

To retrieve the polymetallic nodules in the CCZ, companies plan to use large machines that excavate the seafloor, which will likely kill many of the fauna living there as well, past research shows. Additionally, the plumes of sediment stirred up by mining operations may smother some species, while noise pollution from machinery could stretch hundreds of miles from the original mining site, models suggest. (Learn more about the race to mine the deep sea.)

In the face of so many potential risks, more than 700 marine experts have signed a letter calling for a pause on seabed mining operations until more research can be done.

"We need further science to assess what the damage might be," says Julian Jackson, an oceans manager at Pew Charitable Trusts, which funded the new study.

However, speculators and mining companies argue that deep-sea mining is necessary sooner rather than later to meet growing demands for renewable technologies. The next round of talks to discuss deep-sea mining regulations is set to happen this summer.

"It will be a question of how much risk that society is willing to take," says Glover. "We'll wait to see whether they'll move forward [with seabed mining] or not. Meanwhile, we'll try and get as much information as we can."

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These deep-sea animals are new to science-and already at risk

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About 90 percent of species found in the Clarion Clipperton Zone have never been identified, yet they may be at risk from mining for minerals such as cobalt and nickel.

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Seamounts are underwater mountains that rise from the seabed. Because most of the world's seafloor is a muddy plain, seamounts are special deep-sea features that support unique creatures. Seamounts can arise along mid-ocean ridges, as isolated landmarks, or as volcanoes in chains and clusters. Off California, several seamounts were ancient islands that only went under over the last several million years. Though seamounts may seem remote and most are unexplored, research already shows that they benefit our ocean and us. Here are five reasons that seamounts matter.
Seamounts create conditions that support life and biodiversity.
Seamounts have a big effect on the deep-sea environment. They accelerate ocean currents, generate waves, increase upwelling, and amplify tides. These changes improve the food and nutrient supply for filter feeders while removing waste and reducing sediment build-up. Thus, seamounts create better conditions for a wide variety of ocean wildlife, from seafloor invertebrates like corals to pelagic species like sharks that prey on fish drawn to deep-sea nutrients.
Deep-sea corals and sponges love seamounts.
Seamounts provide the perfect rocky, sediment free surfaces for cold-water corals and sponges. These fragile invertebrates build essential habitat for other deep-sea creatures while trapping carbon and boosting nutrient movement. Deep-sea coral and sponge communities are also protective nurseries for juvenile fish, including commercially caught species like redfish.
Need unique habitat? Seamounts rise to the occasion.
Because seamounts rise through the depths, each one creates unique habitats throughout the water column. California's Rodriquez Seamount, for example, peaks in a low oxygen zone and supports ecosystems distinctly suited to the harsher conditions. As one researcher, Dr. David Clague, remarked during a research cruise, "the assemblages of animals [at Rodriquez] were distinct from any we have seen on other seamounts...".
Seamounts are stepping stones across the ocean.
Many seamount-adapted species can't live just anywhere in the deep sea. As such, seamount chains provide the right conditions in the right places for these animals to expand their range. Gumdrop Seamount is one such stepping stone: mulberry file clams off California are genetically similar across over 1,000 miles of ocean, and it is believed that their larva spread from seamount to seamount. Without these seamounts, they could be trapped!
Seamounts host extensive climate records.
Many cold-water corals and sponges around seamounts are very long lived-one deep-sea sponge is estimated to have been 11,000 years old! Over the course of their lives, these animals trap materials in their skeletons that show different aspects of the climate. Rare bamboo corals around the San Juan Seamount, for example, offer us a long-term glimpse of how our ocean and atmosphere have changed. And, more importantly, how humans are changing them today.
Unknown deep-sea wonders live at every seamount.
Deep-sea habitats account for 90% of the world's oceans. Despite this coverage, the deep sea and its seamounts remain largely unexplored. For all the ecological benefits we know that they provide, there is much more waiting to be discovered. Just as humans raced to summit every mountain, it's time for us to dive deep and discover these underwater peaks!

We are working with Marine Applied Research and Exploration to find and protect deep-sea corals near the Northern Channel Islands in California. You can help us save these unique ocean wonders!
Support our deep-sea expedition today! Feature Photo: A blob sculpin on the Davidson Seamount, photo by NOAA / MBARI 2006

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5 Reasons Seamounts Matter " Marine Conservation Institute

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ShareLikeTweetLinkedInPin Seamounts are underwater mountains that rise from the seabed. Because most of the world's seafloor is a muddy plain, seamounts are special deep-sea features that support unique creatures. Seamounts can arise along mid-ocean ridges, as isolated landmarks, or as volcanoes in chains and clusters. Off California, several seamounts were ancient islands that only went...

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Whales are indicator and keystone species, storing carbon in their bodies, fertilising the seas and circulating nutrients from the surface to the depths of the ocean. They have existed for over 50 million years, have complex, species specific culture, travel huge distances at varying depths and are found in all oceans. They speak uniquely of the health of multiple ecosystems impacted by the changes of the anthropocene.

Roger Payne's seminal 1970 album Songs of the Humpback Whale brought whale song and the soundscape of the ocean to public attention, helping foster the Save the Whale campaign against commercial whaling and the subsequent whaling ban by the International Whaling Commission in 1986. Whale song, with its phrasing, rhyme and continuous variation transformed our understanding of the ocean from a place of silence into a complex, vibrant soundscape full of sophisticated, intricate life forms. This soundscape is now known as the biophony.

Whales rely on sound in an extremely sophisticated, embodied way to hunt, socialise and navigate. As Philip Hoare notes in his book, The Whale: In Search of the Giants of the Sea, "light and smell doesn't travel easily through water but sound does. It is the most important sense for underwater animals." In addition, sound travels at least four times faster in water than it does in air. Biologist and author of How to Speak Whale, Tom Mustill, describes cetaceans as "super listeners" explaining "a sonar pulse close by could be like a sound bomb."

Whale song, and the culture it indicates, is once again under threat, this time from anthropogenic noise (anthropophony) that pervades every ocean, often at alarming frequency. Our proposal wishes to draw attention to the effect this changing soundscape has on whale behaviour and how this impacts the marine environment upon which we all depend.

A MUSICAL AND VISUAL PERFORMANCE: HOME FAR AWAY

We are collaborating with musician Michelle Hromin and her new music collective Standard Issue on a performative response to the above.

Together, we are drawing inspiration from field recordings of whales and anthropogenic noise provided by scientists to explore displacement and the idea of whale solastalgia. We are beginning with a text score called Home Far Away based on practices of deep listening and sound pulsation. Performers will then interact with pre-recorded sounds and cultivate a humanized sense of solastalgia to mimic that of whales. The final event will take the form of Standard Issue's live musical performance and a live drawing performance by RCA Painting student Cassie Vaughan, hopefully at the Natural History Museum beneath the blue whale skeleton. This drawing will be displayed on a screen behind the performers and act as a conversation, both with the musicians and the sounds to which they are responding.

The project is in development, with rehearsals beginning at the Royal College of Music in March, 2023.

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Whales are indicator and keystone species, storing carbon in their bodies, fertilising the seas and circulating nutrients from the surface to the depths of the ocean. They have existed for over 50 million years, have complex, species specific culture, travel huge distances at varying depths and are found in all oceans.

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Earth’s ‘hidden continent’ is submerged beneath New Zealand

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Geologists believe Zealandia is the youngest continent on Earth - and that it deserves scientific recognition

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Satellite data reveal nearly 20,000 previously unknown deep-sea mountains

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By looking for tiny bumps in sea level caused by the gravity of subsurface mountains, researchers have roughly doubled the number of known seamounts.

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Deep-sea mountains: Earth’s unexplored ecosystems that are teeming with life

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On land, the highest mountains reach up to the sky and their slopes are blanketed with cloud. In the ocean, the tallest peaks stretch towards the surface and their sides are swathed in plankton. Explore the hidden world of seamounts.

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There were startling colours here just a year ago, a dazzling array of life beneath the waves. Now this Maldivian reef is dead, killed by the stress of rising ocean temperatures. What's left is a haunting expanse of grey, a scene repeated in reefs across the globe in what has fast become a full-blown ecological catastrophe.

The world has lost roughly half its coral reefs in the last 30 years. Scientists are now scrambling to ensure that at least a fraction of these unique ecosystems survives beyond the next three decades. The health of the planet depends on it: Coral reefs support a quarter of all marine species, as well as half a billion people around the world.

"This isn't something that's going to happen 100 years from now. We're losing them right now," said marine biologist Julia Baum of Canada's University of Victoria. "We're losing them really quickly, much more quickly than I think any of us ever could have imagined."

Even if the world could halt global warming now, scientists still expect that more than 90 percent of corals will die by 2050. Without drastic intervention, we risk losing them all.

"To lose coral reefs is to fundamentally undermine the health of a very large proportion of the human race," said Ruth Gates, director of the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology.

Coral reefs produce some of the oxygen we breathe. Often described as underwater rainforests, they populate a tiny fraction of the ocean but provide habitats for one in four marine species. Reefs also form crucial barriers protecting coastlines from the full force of storms.

They provide billions of dollars in revenue from tourism, fishing and other commerce, and are used in medical research for cures to diseases including cancer, arthritis and bacterial or viral infections.

"Whether you're living in North America or Europe or Australia, you should be concerned," said biologist Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, director of the Global Change Institute at Australia's University of Queensland. "This is not just some distant dive destination, a holiday destination. This is the fabric of the ecosystem that supports us."

And that fabric is being torn apart.

"You couldn't be more dumb... to erode the very thing that life depends on - the ecosystem - and hope that you'll get away with it," Hoegh-Guldberg said.

Corals are invertebrates, living mostly in tropical waters. They secrete calcium carbonate to build protective skeletons that grow and take on impressive colours, thanks to a symbiotic relationship with algae that live in their tissues and provide them with energy.

But corals are sensitive to temperature fluctuations, and are suffering from rising ocean temperatures and acidification, as well as from over-fishing, pollution, coastal development and agricultural runoff.

A temperature change of just 1 to 2 degrees Celsius (1.8 to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) can force coral to expel the algae, leaving their white skeletons visible in a process known as " bleaching."

Bleached coral can recover if the water cools, but if high temperatures persist for months, the coral will die. Eventually the reef will degrade, leaving fish without habitats and coastlines less protected from storm surges.

The first global bleaching event occurred in 1998, when 16 percent of corals died. The problem spiralled dramatically in 2015-2016 amid an extended El Nino natural weather phenomenon that warmed Pacific waters near the equator and triggered the most widespread bleaching ever documented. This third global bleaching event, as it is known, continues today even after El Nino ended.

Headlines have focused on damage to Australia's famed Great Barrier Reef, but other reefs have fared just as badly or worse across the world, from Japan to Hawaii to Florida.

Around the islands of the Maldives, an idyllic Indian Ocean tourism destination, some 73 percent of surveyed reefs suffered bleaching between March and May 2016, according to the country's Marine Research Center.

"This bleaching episode seems to have impacted the entire Maldives, but the severity of bleaching varies" between reefs, according to local conditions, said Nizam Ibrahim, the centre's senior research officer.

Worst hit have been areas in the central Pacific, where the University of Victoria's Baum has been conducting research on Kiritimati, or Christmas Island, in the Republic of Kiribati. Warmer water temperatures lasted there for 10 months in 2015-2016, killing a staggering 90 percent of the reef.

Baum had never seen anything like it.

"As scientists, we were all on brand new territory," Baum said, "as were the corals in terms of the thermal stress they were subjected to."

To make matters worse, scientists are predicting another wave of elevated ocean temperatures starting next month.

"The models indicate that we will see the return of bleaching in the South Pacific soon, along with a possibility of bleaching in both the eastern and western parts of the Indian Ocean," said Mark Eakin, coral reef specialist and coordinator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Coral Reef Watch, which uses satellites to monitor environmental conditions around reefs. It may not be as bad as last year, but could further stress "reefs that are still hurting from the last two years."

The speed of the destruction is what alarms scientists and conservationists, as damaged coral might not have time to recover before it is hit again by warmer temperatures.

But some may have a chance.

Last month, Hoegh-Guldberg helped launch an initiative called 50 Reefs, aiming to identify those reefs with the best chance of survival in warming oceans and raise public awareness. His project partner is Richard Vevers, who heads the XL Caitlin Seaview Survey, which has been documenting coral reefs worldwide.

"For the reefs that are least vulnerable to climate change, the key will be to protect them from all the other issues they are facing - pollution, over-fishing, coastal development," said Vevers, who founded The Ocean Agency, an Australian organisation seeking new technologies to help mitigate some of the ocean's greatest challenges. If the reefs remain healthy and resilient, "they can hopefully become the vital seed-centres that can repopulate surrounding reefs."

Nature itself is providing small glimmers of hope. Some of Kiritimati's corals, for example, are showing tentative signs of a comeback.

But scientists don't want to leave it to chance, and are racing ahead with experiments they hope might stave off extinction.

"We've lost 50 percent of the reefs, but that means we still have 50 percent left," said Gates, who is working in Hawaii to breed corals that can better withstand increasing temperatures. "We definitely don't want to get to the point where we don't intervene until we have 2 percent left."

Going a step further, she is also trying to "train" corals to survive rising temperatures, exposing them to sub-lethal heat stress in the hope they can "somehow fix that in their memory" and survive similar stress in the future.

"It's probably time that we start thinking outside the box," Gates said. "It's sort of a no-win game if we do nothing."

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More than 90 percent of coral reefs will die out by 2050

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Earth has already lost half of its 'underwater rainforests' over last 30 years

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Beneath the ocean surface, an expansive network of dynamic skeletal-like invertebrates harbours at least 25 per cent of all known marine species. Both hard and soft corals provide the basis for functioning coral reefs, which are some of the planet's most biologically diverse and valuable ecosystems. They provide important cultural, economic, recreational and social benefits to hundreds of millions of people. They buffer shorelines against damage from storms and provide a source of medicine. And they are dying.

Coral reefs are under relentless stress from myriad global and local issues, including climate change, declining water quality, overfishing, pollution and unsustainable coastal development.

"Coral reefs are one of the most sensitive ecosystems globally to the ravages of human activities," says Gabriel Grimsditch, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) marine ecosystems expert. "They are especially vulnerable to climate change and warming ocean temperatures, and mass coral bleaching and mortality events are predicted to increase in frequency and intensity as temperatures continue to rise."
How do coral reefs die?
When corals are impacted by these environmental stressors, they expel the microscopic symbiotic algae zooxanthellae from their tissues. Because this is their primary food source, corals become more sensitive to environmental stressors and turn pale or white, hence the term 'coral bleaching'. To recover from bleaching, corals need to re-absorb the zooxanthellae, which is only possible when the effects of environmental stressors are mitigated.

"The loss of foundational species like corals that provide important habitat can have devastating consequences and knock-on effects on the thousands of unique and wonderful species that call coral reefs their home," says Grimsditch.
How healthy are the world's coral reefs?
According to the " Status of Coral Reefs of the World 2020 " report, a quantitative analysis of a global dataset spanning from 1978 to 2019 co-produced by UNEP, the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI), the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN) and various international partners, 14 per cent of the world's corals was lost between 2009 and 2018.

A 70-90 per cent decrease in live coral on reefs by 2050 may occur without drastic action to limit global warming to 1.5°C. Even with urgent reductions to greenhouse gas emissions, global ocean temperatures could still take decades to stabilize.

However, the report notes that "high coral cover and diversity" means that coral reefs are resilient and can recover if we safeguard the marine environment and create the right conditions.
What can we do to save coral reefs?
Decision-makers must be decisive in leading urgent climate action to ensure coral reefs survive. For one, including coral reefs as a priority ecosystem in the UN Convention on Biological Diversity Post-2020 Biodiversity Framework would hold governments, businesses and other stakeholders accountable for safeguarding their health. Beyond the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, decision-makers must go beyond the goals of the Paris Agreement to secure a future for coral reefs.

Meanwhile, reducing local anthropogenic pressures through legislation, education and other means would promote reef resilience. "Climate action and reduction of localized threats must go hand-in-hand if we want coral reefs to survive for future generations to enjoy and benefit from them," says Grimsditch.

Coral reef monitoring and restoration can supplement global efforts to address climate change and other stressors. Photo: UNEP

How is UNEP addressing coral reef health?
UNEP sets the environmental agenda and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment. It addresses coral reef health through the lenses of science, management, policy and funding.

In association with its partners, UNEP releases important reports on coral reef topics such as restoration, bleaching projections, international policy, economic value and more to provide decision-makers and the public with reliable information and recommendations.

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Coral reefs are under relentless stress from issues such as climate change, declining water quality, overfishing, pollution and unsustainable coastal development.

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/ Posted in CORAL Updates

We recently held our annual State of the Reef Address, which highlighted the urgent need for action to protect coral reefs. Heather Starck, the Executive Director of the Coral Reef Alliance, emphasized the devastating impact of climate change, overfishing, pollution, and other human activities on coral reefs around the world. Coral reefs are critical ecosystems that provide food and livelihoods for millions of people; their preservation is vital.

State of Our Reefs

Heather stressed that coral reefs are still in decline. This means that nearly 1 trillion dollars annually in food, tourism, and coastal protection are in jeopardy. Our science is telling us that 75% of reefs are currently threatened and this figure is anticipated to climb to 90% by 2030. "We're also seeing that Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease in the Western Caribbean is spreading at 155 meters per day" according to Heather and the CORAL team scientists. This is a highly lethal disease that started in 2014 and continues to spread rapidly across the Caribbean.

While there's urgency to act, the team at CORAL has reason for hope. Starck shared with us that, "for example, 341 commitments worth nearly $20 billion were recently made at the Our Ocean conference this month in Panama including funding for expanding and improving marine protected areas and biodiversity corridors." We find hope in the fact that 193 countries within the UN agreed to the first of its kind high seas treaty to protect 30 percent of our lands and Oceans by 2030.

Our Approach

Starck described CORAL's science-based approach for addressing the needs of the world's coral reefs. This includes supporting resilient coastal communities, reducing water pollution, and promoting sustainable fisheries - all of which we believe will allow coral reefs to adapt and survive as they face global climate change.

Next Dr. Helen Fox, CORAL's Conservation Science Director, shared exciting updates on the progress made by her team in advancing the science around coral adaptation and evolution. This is in hopes that reefs to adapt to the environmental changes brought on by climate change. Dr. Fox's team has been working with the Allen Coral Atlas, a new resource that maps the world's coral reefs and monitors their threats to provide actionable data and a shared understanding of coral ecosystems. CORAL is part of the Atlas partnership and is leading the coordination of the field component of coral bleaching monitoring program. One day, we hope to that helps to improve the detection of bleaching events from space.

A Visit to CORAL's Field Sites

The most engaging addition to the State of the Reef Address this year was live video streaming to field sites in both the Western Caribbean and Hawaii.

Jennifer Myton, CORAL's Conservation Program Director, and Francis Lam, Executive Director of the Roatan Marine Park in Honduras, spoke about their work in the region. One of the main programs at the Roatan Marine Park is the patrol program, which has five boats of rangers who survey this protected marine zone and deter illegal fishing and other activities that counteract local community efforts to improve the environment. CORAL's holistic approach to supporting local organizations has made a real difference in coral reef health in the Western Caribbean, as evidenced by the growth and impact of the Roatan Marine Park.

Next we went to the Mauka (mountains) of Maui where our Hawaiian Islands Program Coordinator, Makayla Richmond, and team are working on sedimentation, a critical issue in the Waikoli watershed of West Maui. They are decommissioning agricultural roads that run parallel to stream gulches and installing plants to trap the sediment. Our approach is intended to be a long-term, nature-based solution to the problem of stormwater run-off depositing tons of sediment suffocating the corals.

What's Next for CORAL?

The Coral Reef Alliance plans to scale up its work to meet the growing needs of coral reefs, and the organization depends on the support of its community to succeed. The Chair of the Board, Kirby Ryan, expressed gratitude to everyone for their ongoing support and involvement in the Alliance's work despite the challenges of the pandemic. Looking forward, we plan to continue urgent and important work to protect and restore coral reefs globally, with the hope of gaining more support from people who are interested in preserving this critical natural wonder that supports 25% of ocean life and hundreds of millions of people.

CORAL's 2023 State of the Reef Address has emphasized the pressing need for action to protect coral reefs. Through the work of scientists, conservationists, and local communities, we hope to preserve these critical ecosystems for future generations.

Interested in attending State of the Reef next year? Sign up for CORAL's newsletter, the e-current.

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State of the Reef Address 2023: Urgent Need for Action to Protect Coral Reefs - Coral Reef Alliance

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The Coral Reef Alliance State of the Reef Address 2023 emphasized the urgent need for action to protect coral reefs. Through the work of scientists, conservationists, and local communities, we can hope to preserve these critical ecosystems and the services they provide for future generations. Join us in protecting and restoring coral reefs globally!

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Tropical Snorkeling - Destinations, Equipment & Safety Tips

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This page will help you tell the difference between what live vs dead coral looks like. With rising ocean temperatures, damage from tourism, and overfishing, it's estimated that 25%-50% of the world's corals reefs are already dead, up to 75% have suffered bleaching events, with the remainder at risk. Finding a live healthy coral reef is actually becoming rare.

Many people have their first snorkeling experience at popular tourist locations like Hanauma Bay, Oahu in Hawaii, or Trunk Bay in St. John. Since most of the coral at these locations is dead many new snorkelers may not realize what they are missing, or what live vs dead coral looks like.

Coral Looks Like a Stone or Plant, But It Is a Colony of Animals

Coral is like the forest of the sea, except it is not a plant, it is a colony of animals (called polyps).

These little animals live in a symbiotic relationship with algae, and they build tiny calcium stone houses for themselves. And all of these houses get stacked on top of each other and form larger structures like apartment buildings or termite hills. These can take many different shapes that might look like hard rock boulders, or branches. They can also form flexible structures that can move with the currents of water. In the closeup picture you can see the structure of their calcium houses. The animals are withdrawn inside. Many corals only come out at night to feed, although there are some exceptions.

For example the first picture below is a leather coral (partially bleached), and the animals are mostly retracted. The next picture shows the animals out feeding.

Here is an excellent article that explains coral animals.

It's sometimes hard to think of corals as animals, but they are. They often feed on zooplankton that they pull inside and digest in stomachs. Aquarium owners often feed their corals with brine shrimp.

What Live Vs Dead Coral Looks Like

Check out the pictures below. These are just a few samples of some common corals that can be seen in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

Compare what live vs dead coral looks like. Look at the color and shape. Old dead corals will be broken down, and lack a healthy color, and are sometimes covered in algae.

Corals that have been bleached from rising ocean temperatures turn white when the symbiotic algae leaves the coral. In some rare circumstances these may recover if the algae returns.

Are you finding this live vs dead coral page educational? We share lots of tips like this in our free monthly newsletter.

Dead or Dying Elkhorn Coral

Live Elkhorn Coral

Dead, Unhealthy, or Damaged Brain Coral

Live Brain Coral

Unhealthy Sea Fan Corals

Only the center purple fan looks relatively healthy in the picture below. Soft corals like these also have tiny polyps that feed on microorganisms in the water.

Live Sea Fan Coral

Dead Staghorn Coral

Live Staghorn Coral

Bleached Table Coral, Soon to Be Dead

Mix of Live and Bleaching Table Corals

Bleaching Boulder Coral

Live Boulder Coral

Live vs Dead Coral - Cauliflower Side by Side

Algae Sometimes Takes Over a Dead Reef

When you are trying to see if something is live vs dead coral, one way to tell is that dead coral often becomes covered in algae like in the picture below.

Corals Are Critical for Healthy Oceans

Corals clean the oceans, provide habitat, and are food to countless other species. And we are seeing a global mass extinction on a scale that is terrifying for not only ocean health, but human fisheries. Without coral reefs, human jobs and food sources are rapidly declining.

So the next time you are out snorkeling, and see some beautiful fish, like in the pictures below, make sure and look behind at the coral, and take note of its condition. The corals are 95% dead in the two pictures below. Without corals, you can expect the ocean's entire ecosystem to be stressed and declining.

What Can You Do?

Helping prevent the continued destruction of coral reefs is pretty easy, on a personal level at least.

1. Learn to recognize the live vs dead coral on the reef.

2. Only use sunscreens that don't kill reefs, or wear a full body rash guard.

3. Don't touch or kick coral, use good reef etiquette.

4. Fight the human causes of global warming any way you feel you can. Support an ocean charity and vote for good policies.

More Snorkeling Tips

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Live Vs Dead Coral - Useful Pictures And Descriptions

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Learn how to identify live vs dead corals. See pictures and descriptions, including what coral bleaching looks like.

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Outforia Quicktake: Key Takeaways

1. Coral is an essential part of ocean ecosystems, supporting a large percentage of marine life and protecting coastal areas.

2. Coral bleaching occurs when corals become stressed and expel the microorganisms that provide them with nutrients, increasing their risk of death.

3. There are over 6,000 species of coral, classified into two main subclasses: Hexacorallia (stony corals) and Octocorallia (soft corals).

4. Coral reefs are some of the most biodiverse places on Earth, and their loss could have severe consequences for coastal communities and industries such as tourism and fishing.

5. Coral is also a source of natural compounds used in medical treatments, making it an important resource for human health.

Whether you're a keen scuba diver or simply an ocean lover, chances are pretty high that you've marveled at the wonders of the world's colorful coral reefs at some point in your life.

But, how much do you really know about coral?

It turns out that, in addition to looking really cool, coral is also one of the most fascinating creatures on the planet. In fact, there are thousands of species of coral in the world, each of which plays its own role in supporting the greater ocean ecosystem.

If you've ever wanted to learn more about coral, then this article is for you. Up next, we'll introduce you to the 22 most incredible types of coral. That way, you can impress your friends with your knowledge and be a better steward of our world's oceans.

The 22 Out-of-this-World Types Of Coral

There are well over 6,000 different types of coral on this planet, so we couldn't possibly talk about them all here. But, to help you learn more about these fascinating animals, we've created this list of the top 22 coolest types of coral on Earth. Here's what you need to know:

1. Elkhorn Coral (Acropora palmata)

First up on our list is the elkhorn coral, which is one of the most widely distributed corals in the Caribbean Sea. It can grow to be up to 12 feet (3.7 m) long and 6 feet (1.8 m) high, so it's truly a wonder to behold if you get to dive near any elkhorn coral reefs.

The elkhorn coral likes to grow in large groups called thickets, which are normally found in shallow waters. Due to its large size, it often provides an essential habitat for other types of marine animals such as the Caribbean Reef Octopus.

However, the species is currently threatened throughout its range due to a number of factors, including the white band disease.

The white band disease kills the elkhorn coral's tissues. In conjunction with climate change, pollution, and unsustainable fishing pressure, the white band disease has killed about 97% of the world's elkhorn coral population. Thankfully, there are a number of organizations that work to protect elkhorn coral reefs from further damage.

2. Open Brain Coral (Trachyphyllia geoffroyi)

A highly popular coral species for use in home fish tanks, the open brain coral is a type of coral that has an odd-looking figure-eight shape and plenty of superb colors. In fact, as they get older, open brain corals can develop into a slew of different fluorescent colors, which is why they're so popular among home reef aquarists.

These corals are naturally found in a wide range of different locations in the Indo-Pacific oceans, though they tend to prefer sandy and muddy seafloors. In particular, they are mostly found from New Caledonia to the Red Sea and they prefer water that's less than 130 ft (40 m) deep.

Open brain corals are also prone to bleaching in the wild, which is one of the reasons why they're listed as near threatened on a global level. However, over-harvesting for the aquarium trade is easily the coral's biggest threat in the long term.

3. Bubble Coral (Plerogyra sinuosa)

Boasting a spectacular bubble-like pattern, the bubble coral is an instantly recognizable coral that's popular among reef aquarists. It has bubble-shaped tentacles that can actually expand and contract depending on the coral's feeding schedule.

They are naturally found throughout the Indo-Pacific oceans from about the Red Sea to the Line Islands.

Interestingly, these corals live in a symbiotic relationship with some dinoflagellates (single-cell eukaryotes). These tiny dinoflagellates are able to photosynthesize, which provides the bubble coral with most of its necessary nutrition.

Nevertheless, like most corals, even the widely distributed bubble coral is listed as near threatened. Its biggest threat is climate change.

4. Staghorn Coral (Acropora cervicornis)

Similar to the elkhorn coral, staghorn coral is another important species in the Caribbean. The staghorn coral has more of a tubular shape than the elkhorn coral, making it appear more like the horns of an adult male deer.

Staghorn corals also grow in large thickets, which can be important habitats for fish. They tend to have branches that are a few inches thick but a single colony can be up to about 4 feet (1.2 m) high. They are normally found in shallow water in the Caribbean, as well as around the Bahamas and Florida.

Unfortunately, like elkhorn coral, staghorn coral has also been decimated by white band disease over the last few decades. Staghorn coral is less responsive to human interventions like dedicated breeding programs, however, so its populations are still on the decline.

5. Leaf Coral (Pavona decussata)

A rugged-looking type of colonial stony coral, the leaf coral is an animal that's found in the shallow waters of the Indo-Pacific. Aptly named, it usually forms a leaf-like shape that's only about 3 to 10 millimeters thick.

Leaf corals are widely distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific, however, relatively little is known about its overall population. Most leaf corals live no further than about 50 ft (15 m) in depth and they prefer to live on sloping surfaces.

It's believed that the leaf coral is at risk of widespread bleaching, however, and it is listed as vulnerable by the IUCN.

6. Vase Coral (Montipora capricornis)

Also called Monti, after its Latin name, vase coral is a highly popular type of coral among home aquarists.

It is naturally found throughout the Indo-Pacific, especially in the Red Sea. For the most part, it prefers to live in the upper portion of the reef where the water is warmer.

Vase coral is a common sight in aquariums because it tends to tolerate captivity quite well. In fact, while it has multiple polyps, like all other corals, vase coral has a symbiotic relationship with zooxanthellae, which are single-celled dinoflagellates that perform photosynthesis.

So, when given enough sunlight, most vase coral can survive off the zooxanthellae's photosynthesis alone.

7. Venus Sea Fan Coral (Gorgonia flabellum)

One of the best-known types of soft coral, the Venus sea fan tends to form massive fan-like structures that grow vertically upward from the ocean floor.

As a soft coral, it does not produce a hard shell of calcium carbonate. However, the Venus sea fan coral can hold itself upright in the current, growing to a height of about 6.6 ft (2 m) with relative ease.

The Venus sea fan coral is found throughout the Caribbean, though it is also very common in the Bahamas. They have a number of coral polyps on their tentacles that can filter feed for plankton that float through the current. However, the Venus sea fan's symbiotic relationship with dinoflagellates provides it with much of its photosynthesized nutrition.

8. Sun Corals (Tubastraea)

Sun corals are not one, but a whole genus of different cup corals that are found throughout the Caribbean. They are known to inhabit waters as far north as the Florida Keys, but they prefer deep waters, particularly around shipwrecks.

Since sun corals don't rely on photosynthetic microorganisms for their sustenance, they're actually one of the easier corals to care for in captivity.

They can eat surprisingly large food, such as mysis shrimp. However, since their polyps only open at night, they have to be fed during the nighttime hours. Who knew?

9. Lettuce Coral (Agaricia agaricites)

One of the more common corals of the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean, lettuce coral is, as you might've guessed, a type of coral with a distinctive lettuce-like appearance.

Lettuce coral can be found throughout the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean as well as near a number of atolls off the coast of Brazil. It prefers seagrass meadows, lagoons, and other fairly deep depths of down to 245 ft (75 m).

As it is the dominant species of coral in much of its range, the lettuce coral is one of the few coral species in the world that's listed as a species of least concern. However, it is susceptible to bleaching, especially when El Niño events cause rising ocean temperatures in the region.

10. Organ Pipe Coral (Tubipora musica)

Organ pipe coral is a type of soft coral that's found throughout the central and western Pacific.

Interestingly, despite being classified as a soft coral, organ pipe coral does have a hard skeleton of calcium carbonate. It is known for its long polyps, which tend to look a lot like organ pipes.

When organ pipe coral dies, it often leaves behind a skeleton of calcium carbonate. This skeleton can be bright red, which makes it particularly attractive to scuba divers who come across it.

That being said, the organ pipe coral can be quite difficult to care for, so it's not a great species to keep in an aquarium. But, if you come across it while diving, it's sure to be an awesome experience.

11. Grooved Brain Coral (Diploria labrynthiformis)

Aptly named, the grooved brain coral looks strikingly like a human brain. It boasts a set of deep grooves that look a whole lot like the folds of the human brain and it often has a grey coloration which only adds to its brain-like appearance.

Groove brain corals can grow to be about 6 feet (1.8 m) in diameter. They usually take on a circular shape but, while it might look like there is just one giant groove brain coral, these animals like to grow in groups of multiple individuals. So, what you see as a single specimen is often a small colony.

Thankfully, while the grooved brain coral is susceptible to bleaching and disease, it seems to be fairly resilient. Furthermore, it is still somewhat common throughout its range and the IUCN lists the grooved brain coral as a species of least concern.

12. Boulder Star Coral (Monstastrea annularis/Orbicella annularis)

Most commonly known as the boulder star coral, this species of coral is found in the western Atlantic, particularly around the Caribbean. It is one of the more abundant reef-building corals within its range and it can be found throughout the region down to a depth of about 260 ft (80 m).

The boulder star coral tends to form small boulder-shape structures with dozens of individual polyps. They are often found in colonies that look like piles of green or yellowish rocks, which can help with identification while diving.

That being said, the boulder star coral is currently listed as endangered due to the effects of climate change.

13. Great Star Coral (Montastraea cavernosa)

Similar to the boulder star coral, the great star coral is another animal that tends to form large, rock-shaped colonies. It is a type of stony coral that has a symbiotic relationship with zooxanthellae that provide it with the majority of its nutrition.

Most great star corals will form massive domes that look green, red, or brown in color. However, there are actually two morphs of this species, diurnal and nocturnal. So, the diurnal morphs, which tend to be brown, have polyps that expand and feed during the day and night. The nocturnal morph is usually brightly colored and it expands only at night to feed.

These corals are found mostly around Trinidad and Tobago, though you can find them around the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. It is also occasionally spotted along the coast of western Africa.

14. Clubbed Finger Coral (Porites porites)

One of the smaller species of coral in our list, the clubbed finger coral is found in the Caribbean and in some parts of western Africa.

As you can guess from its name, the clubbed finger coral has small lobes that look a lot like thick fingers. These lobes usually aren't more than about 1 inch (2.5 cm) wide and they tend to be white or blueish-grey in color.

Some clubbed finger corals can live impressively long lives. Although more research is being done to learn more about this species, it's possible that an individual can live for many centuries.

Furthermore, the clubbed finger coral is one of the few corals that's not currently at risk of extinction. It has a fairly widespread distribution, though some populations, particularly around the US Virgin Islands have been damaged by bleaching and disease in recent years.

15. Smooth Cauliflower Coral (Stylophora pistillata)

Thought that corals spend their lives in one place? Think again!

The smooth cauliflower coral actually likes to travel around quite a bit, thanks to its tendency to attach itself to floating objects, like shipwreck debris. Then, as these objects drift around in the ocean, the smooth cauliflower coral goes along for the ride. Who would've known?

However, the smooth cauliflower coral isn't only known for its globetrotting tendencies. It also grows into a cauliflower-like shape with colorful, rounded branches. They're usually found in the Indo-Pacific and you can find them at a wide range of depths in the ocean.

16. Massive Starlet Coral (Siderastrea siderea)

Massive starlet corals tend to grow into large dome-shaped structures that are composed of dozens of smaller individual corals. These corals often have a dimpled surface that makes them look a bit like an oversized golf ball.

They are usually found in the western hemisphere, particularly near Bermuda, the Bahamas, and other parts of the Caribbean.

These corals can be found at depths of up to about 230 ft (70 m). In fact, they really don't like living in high-silt environments, like tide pools, so they'll either grow in well-lit shallow waters or in the depths of the ocean.

17. Honeycomb Coral (Diploastrea heliopora)

Forming beautiful honeycomb-esque colonies, the honeycomb coral is a widespread type of coral that's found throughout the Indo-Pacific. It is particularly common around the Red Sea where it can be found at depths of up to 100 ft (30 m).

These corals like to form large colonies which can be up to 16 ft (5 m) wide. Sometimes, they can form dome shapes, but they often turn into large sphere-like boulders.

Honeycomb corals are unfortunately listed as near threatened by the IUCN. Their major threats include pollution and climate change, though trampling by visitors to coral reefs is also a major issue for the honeycomb coral's survival.

18. Finger Coral (Montipora digitata)

Although it shares a similar common name to the clubbed finger coral, the finger coral is a completely separate species. It is a type of stony coral that's mostly found in eastern Africa, particularly around Mozambique.

This coral forms small bush-like structures with large, finger-esque branches. Nevertheless, unlike many of its neighboring corals, the finger coral seems relatively unaffected by bleaching. While climate change is an issue, the finger coral seems to resist bleaching damage and it is considered a species of least concern.

19. Common Mushroom Coral (Fungia fungites)

One of the more recognizable stony corals, the common mushroom coral is a relatively small animal found in the coral reefs of Hawai'i.

The common mushroom coral forms small oval shapes that look a whole lot like your standard wild mushroom. They prefer to live in mostly quiet reefs with relatively little activity. In fact, they don't form colonies like many of the other corals in Hawai'i.

Furthermore, the common mushroom coral will only attach itself to a reef for the early part of its life. When it gets larger, it will break free from the reef and live on its own on the seafloor.

20. Precious Coral (Corallium)

A popular source of coral material for jewelry and other manufactured goods, precious coral refers to the species within the genus Corallium.

There are about 31 species of precious coral on Earth, most of which like on rocky seafloors. They can actually be found in the Mediterranean, too, which isn't common. In fact, you can find them around Sardinia and the Strait of Gibraltar, though they are also found near Japan and Taiwan.

What makes these corals special, however, is that they leave behind a hard skeleton of calcium carbonate when they die. These skeletons are often red in color, which makes them popular as a raw material among jewelry makers.

21. Carnation Coral (Dendronephthya)

Often known as the carnation corals, all of the species within the genus Dendronephthya feature funky tree-like structures that make them a popular choice for home aquarists.

The carnation corals come in many different shapes and colors as there are dozens of species within the genus. They are mostly found in the tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific, especially in the Red Sea.

That being said, while carnation corals are popular among home aquarists, they are not easy to care for. Unlike most other corals, the carnation coral feeds only on phytoplankton so it needs a constant source of food in order to survive.

22. Colorful Sea Whip (Leptogorgia virgulata)

Last but not least, the colorful sea whip is a type of colonial soft coral that lives along the western coast of the Atlantic Ocean. In fact, it can be found as far north as the Chesapeake Bay and as far south as Brazil.

These corals have long, branch-like arms that can grow into massive structures, though the majority of colorful sea whips are no more than about 24 inches (60 cm) tall.

The colorful sea whip serves as a very important habitat for a number of other species, including the Atlantic wing oyster and a few different types of shrimp. Despite this, it is often damaged by shrimp trawling nets, which can wipe out large portions of the population.

How Corals Are Classified

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With over 6,000 species of coral in the world, scientists have had a tricky time trying to categorize and classify all the different coral species.

All corals belong to the kingdom Animalia (yep, corals are animals!), the phylum Cnidaria, and the class Anthozoa. Beyond the class Anthozoa, however, things get a little hectic.

The class Anthozoa is technically subdivided into 3 subclasses. This includes:

Subclass Hexacorallia - The subclass Hexacorallia includes the order Scleractinia, which is all of the stony corals.

Subclass Octocorallia - The Subclass Octocorallia is home to the order Alcyonacea, which contains the soft corals.

Subclass Ceriantharia - The subclass Ceriantharia is actually not a type of coral. This subclass includes the sea anemones, which, while related to coral, do not have a skeleton-type structure. Rather, anemones are filled with fluid while corals have an exoskeleton on each polyp.

Since sea anemones aren't technically corals, we won't focus on them here. But, in this section, we'll give you a quick look at the world of coral taxonomy to help you better understand these fascinating creatures.

1. Subclass Hexacorallia (Stony Corals)

The first subclass of coral that we'll discuss is the subclass Hexacorallia. This subclass is also known as the stony corals because many of them have a calcite exoskeleton that makes them appear hard and stone-like.

The real difference between the stony corals and the soft corals, however, is their shape.

Stony corals have body segments with fewer than 6 axes of symmetry. This might seem like a pretty arbitrary distinction, but that's what the taxonomists decided, so we all simply have to follow suit. That being said, soft corals usually have simple, unbranched body structures with more than 8 tentacles. So, they're often easy to distinguish from stony corals.

Within the subclass Hexacorallia, there are 35 families. However, there are thousands of species and not all have actually been classified in a species so there are many stony corals that scientists don't know much about.

Stony corals are also very difficult to classify due to their great diversity. Some of the major families in this subclass include:

Acroporidae

Agariciidae

Astrocoeniidae

Caryophylliidae

Dendrophylliidae

Euphylliidae

Faviidae

Flabellidae

Fungiidae

Merulinidae

Micrabaciidae

Montastraeidae

Oculinidae

Pocilloporidae

Poritidae

Rhizangiidae

Turbinoliidae

Mussidae

2. Subclass Octocorallia (Soft Corals)

The subclass Octocorallia contains some 3,000 different species of soft corals. These corals usually have at least an 8-fold symmetry, so they include species that are commonly referred to as the gorgonians, the sea pens, and the blue coral.

As we've mentioned, the soft corals usually don't have a very well-developed exoskeleton like the stony coral. Though, the real defining feature is that they tend to have longer, unbranched tentacles.

Like with all things coral-related, though, the taxonomy of the soft corals below the subclass level is complex. There are 6 orders and more than 40 families of soft corals, but, like the stony corals, some species have not yet been classified. Some of the major families include:

Alcyoniidae

Nephtheidae

Xeniidae

Chrysogorgiidae

Ellisellidae

Isididae

Primnoidae

Gorgoniidae

Plexauridae

Taiaroidae

Anthothelidae

Coralliidae

Melithaeidae

Paragorgiidae

Parisididae

Subergorgiidae

Clavulariidae

Tubiporidae

What Is Coral Bleaching?

If you're interested in corals, at some point, you've probably heard people talking about coral bleaching. But, what is coral bleaching, you might ask?

Essentially, coral bleaching is a process that happens when coral gets stressed out. Of course, coral doesn't get stressed out by its math homework like we humans might, but it does become stressed out when there are major changes in its environment.

For example, when a coral's habitat starts to get much warmer or much colder than it normally is, the coral starts to get a bit nervous. Eventually, if these extreme temperatures continue for too long, the coral will physically expel the microorganisms that live on its surface in a process known as bleaching.

This might not seem like a big deal, but these microorganisms provide most coral species with vital nutrients through photosynthesis. So, when the coral expels these microorganisms, it has less access to sustenance that it needs to survive.

The process of bleaching usually turns coral white due to its lack of food and the lack of algae living in their tissues. While bleaching on its own won't kill coral, it does greatly increase the coral's risk of death.

If the conditions that led to the bleaching (e.g., warm water, lots of pollution, or extreme low tides) continue, the coral is at a much higher risk of death. As a result, long-term bleaching events can completely wipe out sections of a coral reef.

Coral Fun Facts

Fancy yourself as a veritable coral expert? Here are some coral fun facts that you ought to know:

1|Coral is the Medicine Cabinet of the Ocean

While most people think of medicine as something that's artificially created in a lab somewhere, most medicine is actually derived from natural compounds.

In fact, many medicines are derived from various coral species.

How? Well, some coral species have unique compounds that aren't found in any other life form. That's because corals have had to develop their own chemical defense systems over the millennia to protect them from predators.

As a result, we humans can often use these chemicals to create medication for a wide range of diseases. So, if you ever do have to take medication when you're feeling ill, you likely have coral to thank.

2|25% of the World's Marine Life Depends on Coral

While most marine species don't live in coral reefs, about one-fourth of all marine life does live in a coral reef for some part of its life cycle. Indeed, the secure, sheltered environment created by coral reefs makes it the perfect place for small organisms to grow before they're ready to swim into the great blue beyond.

3|The Great Barrier Reef is Visible From Space

Yep, that's right-astronauts can see the Great Barrier Reef from space!

Okay, they can't see the individual corals in the reef, but there are some superb images of the outline of the Great Barrier Reef that have been taken by satellites. Some of the best photos of the reef were taken back in 2004 by the Envisat satellite, which used a spatial resolution of 980 ft (300 m) to create the images we see today. That's pretty darn cool, if you ask us!

Coral FAQs

Here are our answers to some of your most commonly asked questions about coral:

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A Colorful Exploration: 22 Types of Coral and Their Beauty

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Outforia Quicktake: Key Takeaways Coral is an essential part of ocean ecosystems, supporting a large percentage of marine life and protecting coastal areas. Coral bleaching occurs when corals become stressed and expel the microorganisms that provide them with nutrients, increasing their risk of death.

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- Soft corals: These corals have flexible skeletons and often form large colonies with branching shapes. They include leather corals, sea fans, and sea whips.

- Stony corals: These corals have hard, calcium carbonate skeletons and are the main builders of coral reefs. They include brain corals, star corals, and elkhorn corals.

- Gorgonians: These corals are a subgroup of soft corals that have a central axis of support. They are often fan-shaped or tree-like and sway with the water currents. They include sea fans, sea whips, and sea rods.

- Zoanthids: These corals are small, colorful polyps that form mats or clusters on rocks or other surfaces. They have a symbiotic relationship with algae that provide them with nutrients and color.

- Mushrooms: These corals are soft-bodied polyps that resemble mushrooms or anemones. They can be solitary or colonial and come in various colors and patterns. They can reproduce by budding or splitting.

- Deep-sea corals: These corals live in cold, dark waters below the reach of sunlight. They do not have symbiotic algae and rely on capturing food from the water. They include black corals, bamboo corals, and bubblegum corals.

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“珊瑚园丁” - 这些“海洋之子”在全球范围推行珊瑚保育

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劳力士通过“保护地球・恒动不息”计划（PERPETUAL PLANET INITIATIVE），协助“珊瑚园丁”（CORAL GARDENERS）的年轻海洋保育倡导者达成其使命：拯救珊瑚礁。

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Right now, we're growing coral babies and repopulating damaged areas of the Reef. The best part is, you can help.

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Scientists discovered heat-tolerant corals in redsea 2022

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Scientists discovered heat-tolerant corals in redsea 2022

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Feathery orange moss, bouquets of tightly bound lime green and mustard yellow buds, gently swaying blood red branches, and huge pebbles adding a shock of blue and purple - to the uninitiated, this dazzling display might resemble an underwater garden, albeit an improbably colourful one.

And in a way it is. Except when you get up close, really close, and you see the thousands of tiny creatures, often no bigger than half an inch wide, packed tightly together in colonies to create this ethereal Red Sea landscape. We are of course talking about coral polyps, the soft-bodied organisms that together can form reefs the size of islands.

They only cover a tiny area of the earth - less than one per cent - but they are the vital building blocks of a healthy marine ecosystem. By providing food, and habitats for breeding and nursery grounds, they support around 25 per cent of all marine life, including over 4,000 species of fish.

Humans benefit too. Reefs provide food and livelihoods for millions of people around the world; they protect shorelines from intense wave impact and are the source of many medicines. A UN report from 2006 estimated that just one square kilometre of reef could be worth up to US$600,000 a year.

But corals are facing the very real threat of extinction due to the pressures of climate change. Globally, reefs have already suffered a decline of over 50 per cent in the last 50 years and research suggests warming and acidifying oceans could wipe out up to 90 per cent of the world's corals by 2050 if nothing is done to save them.

A reef's vibrant colours actually come from tiny algae called zooxanthellae that live inside the coral tissue. Their relationship is symbiotic: in return for a home within the coral, the zooxanthellae provide most of the coral's food and nutrients.

The zooxanthellae are incredibly sensitive to changes in the ocean. If temperatures become unsuitable - usually too high - the thermal stress will cause them to be expelled from their host. The corals, in turn, lose their main source of food, becoming ghostly white in a phenomenon known as coral bleaching.

At this stage, the coral is still alive - but it can't survive for long without the zooxanthellae. If temperatures remain high for prolonged periods of time, and the zooxanthellae don't return to their host, the coral will eventually die, withdrawing life support for other sea life.

The devastation will echo across the entire marine ecosystem and beyond - the ocean will lose enormous biodiversity, fisheries will suffer and millions of people will lose their source of food and income.

In 2020, researchers discovered that some corals in the Gulf of Aqaba - a trench at the meeting point of Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia - could withstand extreme temperatures. One degree above an area's summertime maximum monthly mean sea surface temperature for a period of a week (generally given as Degree Heating Week, or DHW) can be enough for bleaching to occur but these corals have been known to survive a seven-degree rise.

The reason these super-corals exist in the Gulf of Aqaba is because "the Red Sea has a strong latitudinal temperature gradient," according to Dr Sebastian Schmidt-Roach from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia. And because the Red Sea's coral population is relatively young.

During the last ice age - two and a half million years ago - sea levels fell and the Red Sea was cut off from the Indian Ocean, becoming intensely dry and salty. Then when the ice caps melted, the region reflooded. Over generations, as corals migrated into the Red Sea, passing a bottleneck in the south where temperatures reach average highs of 34°C every summer to the very north where temperatures drop to 16°C in winter, they adapted to the extremes in temperature and transported their newly acquired heat resilience with them.

It's hard to underestimate the importance of this discovery given how much hotter our oceans are getting. The Red Sea, which already has warmer waters than elsewhere in the world, experienced 23 DHW events in 2020. Just 40 years ago, there were next to none.

KAUST's Professor Manual Aranda compares some of the current coral restoration efforts to the legend of Sisyphus, who rolled a boulder up a hill only to have it plummet to the bottom as soon as he reached the top. "Because you're planting the same corals that were there to begin with, the next heat wave just kills them again, destroying all the work you've done," he explained.

But the discovery of a heat-resilient super-coral is changing the game.

Professor Aranda and Dr Schmidt-Roach, along with the rest of the research group at KAUST known as the Coral Hub, are focusing on enhancing the natural reproductive success of specific coral colonies that have shown increased thermal tolerance.

Once they identify the corals that can naturally survive in warmer environments, they cross-breed these with multiple others within their species. During breeding, the heat-resistant corals have a small advantage over the others and reproduce more as temperatures are slowly raised, meaning the entire population gradually becomes more heat-resilient.

In effect, this intervention speeds up the genetic exchange that would normally happen over thousands of years, giving corals a fighting chance to keep up with the rapidly changing climate.

And by encouraging the thermo-resistant corals to interbreed in this way, rather than growing multiple cultures from the same coral in a petri dish, genetic diversity is maintained; it protects the population from things like disease that could wipe out entire colonies in one go.

"The mutations are already there," Professor Aranda explained. "This selection weeds out the corals that won't do well, giving the remaining individuals a proliferation advantage."

"The problem is, we only have about 30 years," he added.

Once temperatures hit between 1.5°C and 2°C above pre-industrial levels, between 70 and 90 per cent of the world's corals will be lost. As most of the Red Sea's coral reefs are currently in a good state, it's vital that researchers act now while they have a head start; building resilience before future marine heatwaves hit these reefs.

The Red Sea Project is pioneering a whole new concept: using floating coral nurseries to establish a seed stock out in the wild.

Because the corals aren't physically attached to land, researchers can quickly react to warm events: adding shade to decrease thermal and UV stress or lowering them to deeper, cooler water. They can even move the whole nursery to a better location if needed.

They also need to ensure coral colonies are close enough together. If colonies are too far apart to procreate, the mere presence of thermo-resilient corals won't be enough to re-establish the population if bleaching events do occur.

Once restoration projects are underway, monitoring becomes critical, and KAUST has developed techniques that will give constant feedback on performance to maximise chances of success.

They are using cutting-edge Structure from Motion photogrammetry to create high-resolution 3D images of the entire reef at around 300 sites. Creating such comprehensive mapping - with photos taken from various angles to build a full picture - takes several months. The modelling will be repeated every six to 12 months to help scientists observe minute changes in the reef, especially for massive corals that are slower-growing and would normally only increase in size by 2cm a year.

By reviewing these images, researchers can detect subtle changes and determine growth rates - something difficult to do using traditional methods. This mapping then helps scientists understand where certain types of coral grow well to ensure intended enhancements are truly informed by nature before planting begins.

These innovations are being used in a world-leading project that harnesses the power of tourism to protect coral reefs.

The Red Sea Project is a luxury regenerative tourism offering being built across previously untouched areas of the west coast of Saudi Arabia. By its completion in 2030, the development, which is roughly the size of Belgium, will offer 50 resorts, 8,000 hotel rooms and more than 1,000 residential properties across 22 islands and six inland sites. Initial phases are well underway and it expects to begin welcoming guests by the end of 2022.

The Red Sea Development Company (TRSDC), the developer running the project, aims not only to reduce any stress the development might put on the pristine environment but to leave these spectacular landscapes better than if they had been merely left untouched.

Dr Rusty Brainard, TRSDC's chief environment officer, said: "We're using the development as a vehicle to actually improve the environment."

"Over the vast 20,000km ² special economic zone - 7,000km ² of which is marine - we're trying to enhance biological diversity by 30 per cent over 20 years."

Given that we could lose most of the world's corals in the next 30 years, a 30 per cent increase in diversity is staggeringly ambitious. If they can achieve this, the development will set the global standard for an entirely new approach to conservation - one that really addresses the balance of social, economic and environmental concerns.

The development has a forward-looking approach to resource management. Dr Brainard explained: "We're not going to try to take the marine environment back to what it was 50 years ago because that's very different from the climate we will have in 20 years. We need to use science to inform what combination of species could best survive future conditions."

KAUST's coral regeneration research - something never done before at such an immense scale - is a key part of the development. Using their data on which habitats different types of coral prefer, seed stock can be planted in specific locations where they are likely to take very quickly. This allows TRSDC to build easily accessible reefs close to the resorts specifically for tourists.
Saudi Green Initiative is Saudi Arabia's whole-of-government approach to combat climate change.
Novice divers often struggle with buoyancy and can unintentionally cause damage to reefs by knocking into them. These man-made and maintained "sacrificial sites", filled with impressively diverse reefs, not only provides them with an amazing experience but also protects existing natural reefs from tourism pressures.

The coral research is just one fragment of its commitment to sustainability. To ensure the development protects the entire ecosystem - both marine and terrestrial - TRSDC is putting environmental protection as the first priority at every level. This includes its commitment to use entirely renewable energy, establishing a marine protected area with no fishing and no anchoring, a destination-wide single-use plastic ban, and zero waste to landfill policies, and an annual one million visitor cap.

Unlike many developments that only aim for carbon neutrality onsite, The Red Sea Project will also offset visitors' entire carbon footprint. DBrainard explained: "Our business requires people to fly from all over the world, which is a huge carbon footprint. We own that footprint. For us to achieve carbon neutrality, we have to sequester every molecule of carbon associated with the project."

The goal is to achieve this through enhancing native vegetation, including the planting of mangroves, seagrass and marine algae. TRSDC is aiming to be carbon neutral across the entire supply chain by the time the project is fully operational, addressing an estimated 2.5 million metric tonnes annually.

Guests will be able to visit some of these sites, as well as a new coral conservation centre at The Red Sea Project, which will be established under a new research agreement with KAUST. There's enormous value in this according to Dr Schmidt-Roach. He said: "There is huge value in educating tourists about what corals are and how beautiful they are because it fosters stewardship for marine resources, which we hope will benefit areas beyond the Red Sea."

Taking these extra steps make financial sense, especially in the long run.

Dr Schmidt-Roach explained: "If we look at how much it costs to replace services provided by coral reefs, it is much smarter and more economical to invest into coral reef protection now rather than having to rebuild something coral-like later on."

Indeed, the attraction of the Red Sea is its stunning biodiversity. Its thriving coral reefs provide the habitat that enables, sometimes by a couple of degrees of separation, nesting sea turtles, dugongs, cetaceans, and even migrating birds. "If we screw that up," Dr Brainard said, "we're essentially killing our business model."

This is the crux of it: TRSDC fully understands the economic benefit of protecting and enhancing the natural environment - its main asset - to guarantee future tourism revenue. If regeneration efforts are successful, the destination's perceived value will only grow over time.

So, what does this mean for the declining reefs elsewhere? Firstly, once the coral colonies are successful, "there's no boundary for them," according to Professor Aranda. Over time, by mating with corals outside the area, this heat-resistant quality could spread to other coral populations.

The team at TRSDC also hopes the project's success will provide incentives for Blue Capital investment into coral and other valuable ecosystems around the world. By making the project as cost effective and profitable as possible, others may emulate it. "We want this to become a new global standard that people will copy," Dr Brainard said.
Saudi Green Initiative is Saudi Arabia's whole-of-government approach to combat climate change.
Perhaps, then, the future of coral might not be so bleak. If scientists like those at KAUST continue making leaps in their vital research and we change our mindset to value and invest in our precious ecosystems, our reefs might be still here - and thriving - for many generations to come.

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Is this how we can save the world's reefs?

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Scientists have discovered heat-resistant corals in the Red Sea - but this is only the beginning of sustainable regeneration in the area

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A recovery in the number of corals growing on the Great Barrier Reef over recent years has paused, with government scientists blaming bleaching, disease and attacks by starfish.

Results from the latest annual surveys of more than 100 individual reefs show a small drop in coral cover over the northern and central parts of the reef over the past year.

The Great Barrier Reef - the world's biggest coral reef system - faces an uncertain future as the ocean continues to accumulate heat caused by the burning of fossil fuels.

That heat has caused a series of mass coral bleaching events over the reef, including four in the past seven years, that can weaken corals and affect their ability to reproduce.

The report from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (Aims) details the results of in-water surveys of 111 reefs carried out between August 2022 and May this year.

The surveys came after the summer of 2022 which saw the first mass coral bleaching on record to occur during a La Niña - a climate pattern that usually brings cooler conditions.

The report said: "The effects from the 2022 bleaching event, the fourth in seven years, caused some coral loss on some reefs. It is likely that those corals which survived bleaching have been affected by reduced growth and reproduction."

Last year's report said three years of relatively benign conditions produced record levels of coral cover in the reef's northern and central areas.

That growth in corals was underpinned by a group of faster-growing coral species that also tend to be the most at risk from bleaching events.

Dr Mike Emslie, who leads the long-term reef monitoring program at Aims, said there was an expectation the reef would have continued to recover, but the data showed otherwise.

"This demonstrates that even less-severe bleaching events are enough to cause a pause in coral cover," he said.

He said the recovery in recent years was "definitely a good news story", but this "could turn around very quickly with another mass bleaching event, and there's still the risk from crown-of-thorns starfish and coral disease".

When corals sit in unusually warm water for too long, they seperate from algae that live inside them. The algae provide much of the corals' nutrients, and give them their colour.

An annual survey by the Australian Institute of Marine Science found a 2022 bleaching event, the fourth in seven years, caused coral loss on the Great Barrier Reef. Photograph: AIMS/Jo Hurford

Corals can recover if temperatures are not too extreme, but scientists say there are also "sub-lethal" effects from bleaching.

Reef experts are concerned an El Niño climate pattern could take hold this summer, further raising the risk of another mass bleaching event.

Dr David Wachenfeld, the research program director at Aims, said the most recent summer had delivered mild conditions with low coral bleaching and only one cyclone.

"However, we are only one large scale disturbance away from a rapid reversal of recent recovery," he said.

"The reef remains a wonderful, complex and beautiful system, but it is at increased risk with climate change driving more frequent and severe bleaching events, putting increasing pressure on the ecosystem's resilience."

The report said hard coral cover in the northern section of the reef, from Cape York to Cooktown, was estimated at 35.7%, down from 36.5% in 2022.

Between Cooktown and Proserpine, the reef's central region, coral cover was estimated at 30.8%, down from 32.6% last year.

In the southern region, from Proserpine to Gladstone, coral cover was at 33.8% - virtually unchanged from the previous year. In this section, some reefs suffered from disease and attacks from crown-of-thorns starfish.

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Recovery of Great Barrier Reef stalls as scientists point to bleaching, disease and starfish attacks

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Reef experts say an El Niño climate pattern could take hold this summer, raising the risk of another mass bleaching event further

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We're saving the Great Barrier Reef and all its living diversity for future generations. With our partners, we're delivering impact on the Reef.

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an article about coral reefs recovery and recolonization (i cant read this but might be helpful?)

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an article about coral reefs recovery and recolonization (i cant read this but might be helpful?)

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articles published/ analyses by Hawaii's Gov

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articles published/ analyses by Hawaii's Gov

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The goal of the Coral Bleaching Recovery Plan is to promote coral reef recovery following
the 2014-2015 global coral bleaching event. Coral bleaching is a stress response, generally
induced by high temperature and light levels, where the coral animal expels zooxanthellae,
or photosynthetic dinoflagellates that provide coral polyps with energy. Bleached corals are
in a weakened state and will eventually die if temperature and light levels remain high. We
sought to identify management interventions most likely to promote coral recovery following
the mass bleaching event in Hawai'i, specifically by synthesizing published information and
expert opinions relevant to future policy and rule making by the Department of Land and
Natural Resources (DLNR). The Coral Bleaching Recovery Plan summarizes these findings,
with the goal of supporting effective capacity to implement management actions to promote
coral recovery in Hawai'i.

CONCLUSIONS
Establishing a network of permanent no-take Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and establishing a network of Herbivore Fishery Management Areas (HFMAs) were the top ranked actions arising from the expert judgment assessments and the literature analysis. These were top ranked actions in both evaluations of global and local expert judgment as well as scientific literature.

The next step should be to evaluate where the top-ranked actions including spatial management and perhaps a selection of fisheries rules would have the greatest positive impact in terms of coral reef recovery. Also, an evaluation of how management actions could enhance resiliency to future coral bleaching events is needed. Bleaching events are predicted to increase in both severity and frequency and so a proactive, resilience-based management framework should be considered to support the ability of Hawai'i's reefs to resist frequent climate disturbances.
Additional Resources (click image to download):
More information on coral bleaching: https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/reefresponse/home/coral-impacts/

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The goal of the Coral Bleaching Recovery Plan is to promote coral reef recovery following the 2014-2015 global coral bleaching event. Coral bleaching is a stress response, generally induced by high temperature and light levels, where the coral animal expels zooxanthellae, or photosynthetic dinoflagellates that provide coral polyps with energy.

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A new survey from the Australian Institute of Marine Science found that much of the Great Barrier Reef's coral cover has recovered from recent storms and bleaching events.

A new survey, published by the Australian Institute of Marine Science, has found continued coral recovery across two-thirds of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, largely due to increases in the fast-growing Acropora corals.

The highest amounts of coral cover were found in the northern and central parts of the reef, while coral cover in southern parts decreased. Since monitoring began 36 years ago, the Australian Institute of Marine Science has conducted annual surveys of the UNESCO World Heritage Site by using aerial surveys and divers.

The survey comes after a mass bleaching event was confirmed in March, the fourth in six years. Australian Institute of Marine Science's chief executive Paul Hardisty said: "In our 36 years of monitoring the condition of the Great Barrier Reef we have not seen bleaching events so close together."

While the latest results show that the Great Barrier Reef is able to recover, climate change is exacerbating cyclones, bleaching events and other damaging events, making them last longer and more frequent. The study also points out that coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks, while generally decreasing on the survey reefs, is still a problem in some parts of the southern reef. Scientists believe that the species' survival rate improves when sea temperatures rise, making them an even bigger problem for corals. One publication even suggests that up to 50% of coral loss on the Great Barrier Reef can be attributed to the crown-of-thorns.

As the survey sums it up: "The combination of few acute stresses and lower accumulated heat stress in 2020 and 2022 compared to 2016 and 2017 has resulted in low coral mortality and has allowed coral cover to continue to increase in the Northern and Central GBR."

According to officials, however, the new Acropora coral growth is particularly vulnerable to future climate change and other threats and could quickly disappear if swift action to protect the reef and mitigate climate change further isn't taken in the near future.

The survey reads: "In periods free from intense acute disturbances, most GBR coral reefs demonstrate resilience through the ability to begin recovery. However, the reefs of the GBR continue to be exposed to cumulative stressors. The prognosis for the future disturbance regime suggests increasing and longer-lasting marine heatwaves, as well as the ongoing risk of outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish and tropical cyclones. Therefore, while the observed recovery offers good news for the overall state of the GBR, there is increasing concern for its ability to maintain this state."
For more from our Ocean Newsroom, .
Photography courtesy of Ocean Image Bank: Mark Fitz, Matt Curnock, and The Ocean Agency.

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High coral cover on Great Barrier Reef recorded - Oceanographic

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The Australian Institute of Marine Science found that much of the Great Barrier Reef's coral cover has recovered to a record level.

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Restoring Florida's Dying Coral Reefs | Refurbished | Insider

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From around the collections

The Horniman connects us all with global cultures and the natural environment, encouraging us to shape a positive future for the world we all share.

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You searched for coral - Horniman Museum and Gardens

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From around the collections The Horniman connects us all with global cultures and the natural environment, encouraging us to shape a positive future for the world we all share. COOKIES We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits.

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Good to see you here

I'm Aleksandra, ceramics artist based in London, UK.

I always loved making sculptures and once I discovered clay I immediately fell in love with this natural material.

Now I make sophisticated sculptures of ceramics and porcelain. Usually they arrive in collections of 10-15 pieces and I sell them online. If at the moment you can't see anything available it means that everything's sold out and I'm working on a new set.

You're always welcome to my instagram page @alexa.verg for recent updates or just to get in touch.

Thanks for coming by!

Outstanding sculptures and customer service!

I've brought a few sculptures from Aleksandra and I've never in disappointed in the quality of the sculptures. The whales I've purchased have been made with so much effort which is apparent by the details in the sculptures. In addition, the customer service I've received has been amazing, whenever I've had a query, Aleksandra responds promptly and works with me to find a solution. Additionally, whenever I've received my whales, she always checks in to make sure they've arrived safely which I appropriate. Don't hesitate to buy any of her sculptures because they are truly amazing, I've had so many compliments on my purchases and I always admire my whales whenever I walk into the room. Thank you Aleksandra☺️

Absolutely beautiful and so grateful I got to purchase a piece. Came in a wonderfully thoughtful package as well.

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Design by Studio Nucleo By Andrea Sanna & Piergiorgio Robino The process of consumption of objects in our homes is one which has historically been insensitive. These objects arrive in our homes as alien spaceships, of which we do not know anything of, and all we learn about them is what they want us to learn.

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Underwater Sculpture by Jason deCaires Taylor

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Overview - Underwater Sculpture by Jason deCaires Taylor

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The art of Jason deCaires Taylor is situated within this emerging environmental paradigm of art, taking the viewer to the depths of the ocean.

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This Side of Paradise is a 2017 art installation that takes us below sea level in Greece's Hydra Island, where an aquatic eco-fiction scene unfolds. Protecting themonochrome submarine forest are artistic duo Hortense Le Calvez and Mathieu Goussin, who make up Forlane 6 Studio. They float amidst wooden tree sculptures and arrows that point to wind strength and currents. The project, though seemingly lighthearted, tackles the significant issue of climate change.

The creative studio 's practice has always had strong links to the sea, delving in themes of environmental dystopia, eco-anxiety and the anthropocene.

Le Calvez and Goussin are decked in French brand Kalypse's designer wetsuits, and shot by the talented free-diver photographer Alex Voyer. See more of Forlane 6 Studio's projects here.

Images via Forlane 6 Studio, by Alex Voyer

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Forlane 6 Studio go underwater for an art installation tackling climate change - PLAIN Magazine

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French studio Forlane 6 go below sea level in Greece's Hydra Island in an underwater installation that tackles today's significant issue of climate change.