Keep the Party Going – A Tribute to Jimmy Buffett featuring The Coral Reefer Band. Thrilled to be able to announce that the The Coral Reefer Band will be playing at the Hard Rock Hotel’s …

Oxybenzone, a UV-filtering compound used in sunscreens, has been found in high concentrations in the waters around popular coral reefs in Hawaii and the Caribbean. According to new research, the chemical not only kills coral, it causes DNA damage in adults and deforms the DNA in coral in the larval stage, making it unlikely they can develop properly...

While the management of local and regional stressors threatening coral reefs is critical, these efforts on their own will not be enough in the face of global climate change, says a new interim report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Coral reefs around the world face growing danger from a changing climate, on top of the historic threats from local pollution and habitat destruction.

TORONTO, ON — A team of scientists from Canada and Australia have discovered that the decline in shark populations is detrimental to coral reefs. “Where shark numbers are reduced due to commercial fishing, there is also a decrease in the herbivorous fishes which play a key role in promoting reef health,” said Jonathan Ruppert, a […]

The parrotfish, a species of marine life abundant in Bermuda’s waters, is singlehandedly working to keep both the coral reefs and beaches surrounding the island healthy, all thanks to their voracious appetite and ability to defecate up to 200 pounds of sand per year, with a recent report highlighting the fact that areas that don’t […]

Bermuda-based Catlin Group has joined forces with the Natural History Museum in London to present a major exhibition, which opens today [Mar 27], that explores the importance and beauty of the world’s coral reefs. The exhibition, ‘Coral Reefs: Secret Cities of the Sea’, includes 250 specimens from the Natural History Museum’s coral, fish and marine invertebrate collection. […]

Five years of data collected on reefs and offshore in Bermuda shows that coral reef chemistry – and perhaps the future success of corals – is tied not only to the human carbon emissions causing systematic ocean acidification, but also to seasonal and decadal cycles in the open waters of the Atlantic, and the balance […]

A new three-year NASA field expedition gets underway this year to survey more of the world’s coral reefs, with Dr Eric Hochberg from the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences set to be involved in the study. NASA said, “Coral reefs, sometimes called the rainforests of the sea, are home to a quarter of all ocean […]

Historically abundant predatory fishes such as groupers and snappers are rare and at critically low numbers on Bermuda reefs based on international standards, according to a recently released report by Bermudian scientists Thaddeus and Jessie Murdoch through the Bermuda Reef Ecosystem Assessment and Mapping [BREAM] Programme. In good news, however, hard corals are at good […]

[Opinion column written by Joleah Lamb] There are more than 11 billion pieces of plastic debris on coral reefs across the Asia-Pacific, according to our new research, which also found that contact with plastic can make corals more than 20 times more susceptible to disease. In our study, published in Science, we examined more than […]

The Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute [BUEI] announced that the topic for this month’s ‘Kids Hour Saturdays’ on June 18th is coral reefs. A spokesperson said, “Kids Hours Saturdays’ takes place every third Saturday of the month at 11am and 2pm respectively. Each hour features the screening of short films followed by a book reading for […]

In celebration of World Oceans Day, BioQuest announced it has “officially completed the draft reference genome of the Grooved Brain Coral, marking the first-time whole genome sequencing of a coral reef has been accomplished in the Caribbean by the Caribbean.” A spokesperson said, “This groundbreaking work was conducted locally in Bermuda in collaboration with the […]

The latest design in Bernews’ weekly Wallpaper Wednesday series features a mesmerizing underwater scene, depicting ‘Bermuda’. The design is available in two sizes; a Facebook profile cover image and also in a vertical format, ideally sized for use as a mobile phone wallpaper, WhatsApp status image or Instagram story. You can download both sizes below, […]

In the remote Pacific, the Phoenix Islands provide an unspoiled center for marine science

Watch breathtaking underwater footage off the Panama coast, where coral reefs reproduce in a flurry of carefully-timed action. Read more at http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/A-Coral-Reefs-Mass-Spawning.html

Margaret Wertheim talks about how math and climate change inspired her to start the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef project. Read more at: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/how-to-crochet-a-coral-reef-69064479/

In one reef, three million sea cucumbers released 64,000 metric tons of nutrient-packed poo back into the ecosystem

The reefs in Eilat displayed widespread bleaching, a phenomenon in which the symbiosis between coral and algae fails, typically due to high water temperatures.

A coral reef in pristine condition was discovered in the South Pacific. It is thought to be one of the largest found, as deep as 230 feet beneath the ocean’s surface. Photo: Alexis Rosenfeld/Associated Press

The first DNA barcoding survey of crustaceans living on samples of dead coral taken from the Indian, Pacific and Caribbean oceans suggests that the diversity of organisms living on the world’s coral reefs—one of the most endangered habitats on Earth—is seriously underestimated.

The post New DNA study suggests coral reef biodiversity is seriously underestimated appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Coral reefs worldwide are being destroyed by changes in ocean temperature and chemistry faster than at any time since the last reef crisis 55 million years ago, thousands of marine scientists warned from the International Coral Reef Symposium in Cairns, Australia.

The post Coral reef emergency: 2,600 scientists call for worldwide rescue appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Since researchers began surveys in the 1980s, coral reefs in the Caribbean have undergone widespread change following bleaching and disease epidemics that have reduced the […]

The post Study reveals Agriculture and Fishing Cause Coral Reef Decline appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute MarineGEO Postdoctoral Fellow Maggie Johnnson outlines her research studying the effects of ocean acidification on marine coral near Bocas del Toro, […]

The post Coral reefs and ocean acidification appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Katie Cramer is a MarineGEO Post-Doctoral Fellow and travels to Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama throughout the year to conduct research. Her recent paper […]

The post Q&A: Katie Cramer on the long term human impact on coral reefs in Caribbean Panama appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Caribbean coral reefs have become biologically and economically degraded habitats. The relative weight of the big factors in this ecological catastrophe–pollution, overfishing, warming and ocean […]

The post Coral reefs grow faster, healthier when parrotfish are abundant appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Dead zones affect dozens of coral reefs around the world and threaten hundreds more according to a new study by Smithsonian scientists published in the […]

The post Dead Zones May Threaten Coral Reefs Worldwide appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Coral reefs are home to some of the most colorful, diverse life on the planet. And yet, for all their fame as biodiversity hotspots, it’s […]

The post Coral reef eavesdropping unveils burrowed, romantic male singers appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

While the management of local and regional stressors threatening coral reefs is critical, these efforts on their own will not be enough in the face of global climate change, says a new interim report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Coral reefs around the world face growing danger from a changing climate, on top of the historic threats from local pollution and habitat destruction.

Using 'gardening' techniques to actively restore endangered coral reefs is ecologically sound and economically feasible, according to recent research.

The importance of coral reefs in supporting diverse fish communities has been highlighted in a recent study. However, the effects of damaging fishing techniques were also observed in video footage of the reefs studied, located off the coast of Ireland.

A new study has conducted a preliminary investigation into the design of reserves that would help protect coral reefs from climate change. The results indicate that, 15 per cent of coral reefs in the Bahamas, the study area, would be able to withstand rising temperature, and would therefore be appropriately placed in reserves.

New research has predicted that, if current warming continues, an important type of coral in the central Red Sea could stop growing by 2070. Although the same coral has recovered after previous short-term warming events, it appears that the current continuing trend in warming is likely to be more damaging.

Coral reef formation is already decreasing worldwide. A new study predicts that formation will drop to 60% of its natural rate if anthropogenic CO2 emissions continue to rise over the next century and keep acidifying the oceans.

Periods of slow growth observed in coral reefs in the Caribbean are caused by aerosols in the air from pollution and volcanic activity, recent research suggests. Aerosols cause cooler sea surface temperatures and reduce the amount of sunlight reaching the coral, both of which slow coral growth.

Citizen scientists are increasingly playing an important role in monitoring environmental conditions around the world. There have been concerns, however, that the quality of volunteer data might not match the reliability of data collected by professional scientists. A new study has found that both citizen scientists and professional scientists were able to identify widespread decreases in the cover of live corals and increases in rubble and sand, during two long-term monitoring programmes of coral reefs. These results show that volunteers can indeed play a meaningful role in the conservation of these reefs, say the authors of this study.

Not only can coral reefs buffer humans from disasters, but protecting them is 15 times cheaper than building sea walls.

But protecting your skin and the reefs is possible.

159 coral reefs were examined in the Asian-Pacific region, and 89 percent of those reefs were contaminated with plastics and disease.

These unusual creatures are stunningly beautiful and surprisingly important to life on Earth. Show us what you know!

Almost 40 miles of coral reef and beach around Cancun and Puerto Morelos are now insured against storms.

Oxybenzone, a common UV-filtering agent in sunscreens, linked to deformities and DNA damage in coral around the world.

Leading coral reef ecologist Jeremy Jackson speaks at TED about the havoc humanity is wreaking on the ocean.

It stretches for at least 85 miles and is likely the keystone source of the region's fisheries.

These invasive species are wreaking havoc on reefs and the fish that live amongst the coral.

Since the threats to coral reefs vary depending on location, scientists are customizing solutions to help them survive.

Climate change is forcing tropical fish to migrate, and they threaten to mow down their new terrain.