Clipperton: A Plastic Paradise
A little dot in the Pacific, Clipperton is surrounded by coral reefs and encloses a stagnant lagoon. Despite looking like paradise, Clipperton is being invaded by plastic.
Alert Diver Category: Water Planet
Bonaire Inspires Hope for the Future of Coral
DESCENDING THE LIMESTONE STAIRS OF BONAIRE’S famous 1,000 Steps dive site in full scuba gear is challenging. It’s just 64 steps down, but it feels like many more. Once you make it down, you’re rewarded with a Caribbean reef teeming with life …
The Ocean Less Traveled
TALK TO ANY HUMAN UNDER THE AGE OF 13, and they have probably been asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I was just 3 years […]
Watch My Garden Grow
In late 2019 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and a cadre of state, federal, university, and restoration practitioner partners launched Mission: Iconic Reefs (MIR), a two-phased, 20-year, ecosystem-scale restoration initiative for the Florida Keys that focuses on restoring seven high-value, iconic reef systems.
Protecting Hawai‘i’s Fishes
CHARLES DARWIN’S FIVE WEEKS IN THE GALÁPAGOS Islands were crucial to the development of his theory of evolution, likely due to the Galápagos having the world’s second-highest proportion of endemic species. What if Darwin had instead visited the islands with the world’s highest rate of endemism?
To Eat or Not To Eat Fish
SEAFOOD HAS LONG BEEN AN INTEGRAL PART of the human diet, and some people consider it to be an inexhaustible food source. Fish-finding sonar, satellite locating systems, 100-mile-plus longlines with […]
Blame the Ballast
MARITIME TRANSPORT HAS MORE TO DO WITH CORAL DISEASE than you might think. Just like most animals, corals can get diseases. Researchers first recognized coral disease in the early 1970s. […]
Hope for Sharks at CITES 2013
The stakes were high at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) meeting this spring. On the table were the fates of manta rays and five species of shark.
Fighting the European Green Crab Invasion
One of the world’s most destructive invasive species is gaining new ground — or water — in Canada and up to Alaska. Carcinus maenas, which translates to “raving mad crab,” outcompetes many local crab species in devouring clams, oysters, and mussels, and they sometimes even eat other crabs and juvenile fish. They destroy seagrass, an essential habitat for juvenile salmon, herring, rockfish, and many other marine animals.
Guardians of Malpelo
Colombia has some of the strictest illegal fishing laws in the world, but people still need to stand up and enforce them. Erika Lopez has taken on the role of guardian of Malpelo, an island 314 miles (506 kilometers) west of Colombia.