When Don Acheson visited Roatan, Honduras, six years ago he was dismayed to see “a lot of algae on the reef … and very little elkhorn or staghorn coral; very few anemones, sea urchins, or sea cucumbers; and very few mollusks or even empty shells.” Fast forward to 2013, when Don decided to visit Roatan… Continue Reading →
May 22 is International Day for Biological Diversity—and this year, the focus is on island biodiversity. Since most of our project sites are located on islands, we thought we’d celebrate this holiday with a deeper dive into what makes life on these places so interesting. Isolated from their mainland counterparts, island plants and animals evolve… Continue Reading →
Scientific research has great potential to inform conservation efforts. All too often, however, scientific results that could be useful languish on library shelves (or get lost in the cloud) instead. Some researchers make concerted efforts to address real-world questions, but these attempts frequently fail because the researchers do not fully understand what kind of information… Continue Reading →
On a beautiful and uncharacteristically calm afternoon in February, Maui County’s Mayor, Alan Arakawa, arrived at Kahekili Beach Park, barefoot and carrying a mask and fins in a bucket. Mayor Arakawa was eager to get in the water to dive with CORAL and our partners from the West Maui Ridge to Reef Initiative and the… Continue Reading →
Wes Crile thinks it takes a watershed to save a reef. Sound daunting? Not to him—he views it as a great opportunity. Since joining CORAL as a Hawai‘i field manager in January, he has been busy getting to know his new watershed in Maui. Because Maui is an island, he says, some of its water… Continue Reading →
On the north shore of Kauai, just north of the well known Hanalei Bay, is an idylic stretch of coastline known as “Makua.” Makua, a Hawaiian word for provider, may refer in this case to the important resources that came from this once vibrant reef ecosystem and helped provide for the needs of people living… Continue Reading →
If you’re ever feeling discouraged about the state of the planet, look no further than 15-year old Dylan Vecchione for inspiration. At age 13, Dylan founded his own nonprofit called ReefQuest to foster marine stewardship through citizen science. But the idea for ReefQuest—and his first “initiative,” as he puts it—began when he was only seven.… Continue Reading →
For Immediate Release March 10, 2014 ROATAN/SAN FRANCISCO—With help from the Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL), the Healthy Reefs Initiative, and Amatela, a Tela-based organization, the Honduran government has designated Tela Bay, which contains one of the Caribbean’s healthiest coral reefs, a federal Site of Wildlife Importance. Close to 800 elkhorn corals (Acropora palmata), listed as… Continue Reading →
On February 11 and 12, 2014, in Nadi, Fiji, The Pew Charitable Trusts, CORAL, and the Fiji Government hosted the Oceania Follow-up Regional Workshop on the Implementation of CITES Appendix II Shark Listings. With representatives from 11 countries in the Pacific and over 60 participants and observers, significant progress was made toward ensuring these newly… Continue Reading →