Latest Atoll Stories

RIO DE JANEIRO, June 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- President Waheed has today announced that the whole of the Maldives will become a marine reserve by 2017. The commitment would see the Maldives become the first country in the world to become a marine reserve. Marine reserve status for all 1,192 islands is likely to attract international investment in pilot schemes to explore new approaches to conservation and sustainability. A number of islands in the Maldives are Biosphere...

HONOLULU, Dec. 11, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The earthquake and tsunami that destroyed parts of eastern Japan in March 2011 washed vast amounts of debris into the Pacific Ocean. The buoyant portion of that debris is making its way toward the US. Based on models, first landfall of the debris could occur in the remote Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) -- designated as Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument by President George W. Bush -- as early as...

Historical reconstruction reveals humans contributed to both degradation and recovery of coral reefs Changing human activities coupled with a dynamic environment over the past few centuries have caused fluctuating periods of decline and recovery of corals reefs in the Hawaiian Islands, according to a study sponsored in part by the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science at Stony Brook University. Using the reefs and island societies as a model social-ecological system, a team of...

Unseasonal warm temperatures caused by El Niño have a profound effect on the fish populations of coral reefs in the South Pacific, scientists have found. An international team of biologists studied the arrival of young fish to the atoll of Rangiroa in French Polynesia for four years and compared their results with satellite and oceanographic data. They found that the El Niño event caused a sudden collapse in the plankton community and this led to a near absence of the young fish that...

An Australian scientist has discovered what could be the world's rarest coral in the remote North Pacific Ocean.The unique Pacific elkhorn coral was found while conducting underwater surveys of Arno atoll in the Marshall Islands, by coral researcher Dr Zoe Richards of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoECRS).The coral bears a close physical resemblance to the critically endangered and fast-vanishing elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata) of the Atlantic Ocean, but genetic...

Stanford marine scientists and anthropologists are developing strategies for sustainable fishing by comparing two remote coral reef ecosystems "“ one inhabited, the other a "no-catch" reserve.Coral reefs "“ kaleidoscopes of pink anemones and silver sharks "“ are the planet's most colorful ecosystems and among its most endangered, say marine scientists.As global warming raises ocean temperatures, many corals blanch and die, a phenomenon called "coral bleaching." And...

A series of surveys were carried out to characterize the physical and biological parameters of the Millennium Atoll lagoon during a research expedition in April of 2009. Millennium is a remote coral atoll in the Central Pacific belonging to the Republic of Kiribati, and a member of the Southern Line Islands chain. The atoll is among the few remaining coral reef ecosystems that are relatively pristine. The lagoon is highly enclosed, and was characterized by reticulate patch and line reefs...

Researchers revealed Thursday that some South Pacific coral atolls have held their own or even grown in size over the past 60 years, despite rising sea levels. Some scientists worry that the tiny, low-lying islands throughout the South Pacific will eventually disappear under rising sea levels. However, two researchers who measured 27 islands where local sea levels have risen 4.8 inches over the past 60 years, found just four had diminished in size. The reason is that coral islands respond to...

Group of Islands in the Indian Ocean Rival Galapagos Islands, Great Barrier Reef in Ecological Diversity WASHINGTON, March 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, the Pew Environment Group praised the United Kingdom (U.K.) for taking one further step towards designating the world's largest marine reserve. The proposed marine reserve would protect a group of 55 islands located in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Known as the Chagos Archipelago, the islands and their surrounding waters cover...

The World Bank is a vital source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world. At first glance, this may not appear to be connected to space technology, but large development projects and the state of Earth's environment are intrinsically linked.Global climate change is also an increasingly important challenge in overcoming poverty and advancing development in the poorest countries and communities, which will suffer the earliest and the most.These factors...