Phetchabun, Thailand (Oct 23, 2007 16:01 EST) Chon Daen district Tuesday announced the discovery of two "coral mountains", which are being touted as new tourist attractions.


Read full article: ''Coral Mountains' Discovered Off Thailand Eyed As New Tourist Attractions'

Townsville, Australia (Oct 22, 2007 15:34 EST) Over 50 scientists of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies today declared the following statements unanimously:

We call on all societies and governments to immediately and substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Without targeted reductions, the ongoing damage to coral reefs from global warming will soon be irreversible.

Ocean acidification due to increased atmospheric CO2 is accelerating, and will detrimentally effect the growth and skeletal strength of calcifying species, such as corals. Reducing CO2 emissions is the only way to prevent further damage to coral reefs. Loss of coral also impacts on many other species and reduces reef fisheries.


Read full article: 'Reduce Greenhouse Emissions Or Damage To Corals Reefs 'Irreversible''

BLUE BAY, Mauritius (Reuters) - Scientists in Mauritius are warning the Indian Ocean island's ambitious tourism targets will place too much strain on remaining coral.

Facing the threats of trade liberalization to its sugar and textile sectors, Mauritius is boosting tourism with a goal of two million tourists per year from an anticipated 900,000 in 2007. But scientists are nervous about that target.

"Too many tourists will bring it to an unsustainable level," oceanographer Vassen Kauppaymuthoo told Reuters.


Read full article: 'Mauritius scientists fear tourism impact on coral'

Israeli scientists are building a giant concrete reef to lure more divers and snorkellers to the Red Sea without endangering one of the world's most diverse coral communities.

Thousands of divers and snorkellers flock to the popular Red Sea resort of Eilat to marvel at the spectacular ocean life attracted by its coral reefs.

But intensive diving is damaging the reef and researchers want to protect nature without restricting tourism in a country already battling television images of bombs and bloodshed. The solution? A contraption the size of a small house, made up of six concrete blocks weighing 4 tonnes each.


Read full article: 'Israeli scientists build Red Sea concrete reef to lure divers'

MANILA – The Philippines has tightened laws banning fishing and collecting of species on the country's largest coral reef to help it recover from near destruction, the World Wildlife Fund for Nature said on Tuesday.

The 27,400 hectare Apo Reef off the coast of Mindoro island was almost drained of life by heavy fishing, including by dynamite and cyanide, which left only a third of coral cover by the early 1990s.


Read full article: 'Philippines bans fishing to revive biggest reef'

Arlington, Virginia (Sep 12, 2007 16:51 EST) For the first time in history, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species includes ocean corals in its annual report of wildlife going extinct.

A comprehensive study of marine life sponsored by Conservation International (CI) and implemented jointly with the IUCN (World Conservation Union) used data from the Galapagos-based Charles Darwin Research Station and other regional institutions to conclude that three species of corals unique to the Galapagos Islands could soon disappear forever.


Read full article: 'Corals Added To List Of Threatened Species For First Time'

HALIFAX (CP) - Scientists have for the first time discovered a string of coral 'hot spots' in waters off Canada's East Coast and will use the surprising finds to press global fishing interests to steer clear of areas they say are vital marine habitats.

Canadian researchers, in a study to be released Tuesday, said they found heavy concentrations of about 30 species of coral along a stretch of the seabed that extends from the Hudson Strait off Labrador to the Grand Banks off southern Newfoundland.


Read full article: 'Scientists find trio of coral 'hot spots' off Canada's East Coast'

By KATE SPINNER



kate.spinner@heraldtribune.com

CHARLOTTE COUNTY -- Englewood's most infamous abandoned building has not panned out as a home for humans, but it could become a refuge for fish.

County leaders plan to demolish and then submerge the long-vacant condo complex, dubbed the "Beirut building," and turn it into a reef 15 miles west of Stump Pass.


Read full article: 'Charlotte to sink "Beirut building" into sea'

By John McPhaul

San Jose, Costa Rica - A tropical algae thriving on fertilisers from hotel golf courses and badly treated sewage is killing one of Costa Rica's most important coastal reefs, scientists say.

The green, feather-like algae is spreading along the reefs of Culebra Bay in Costa Rica's north-western Gulf of Papagayo, a popular scuba diving spot and home to a rare species of coral. The algae blocks the sunlight and suffocates the reefs.


Read full article: 'Coastal reef being destroyed by algae'

Take a dive off the coast of Eilat these days and you're liable to find yourself swimming around a huge yellow concrete and wire construction that stretches four yards up from the seabed, is four yards wide, and is full of holes. No, this isn't some strange new structure left behind by an alien race, or cargo dropped from a sinking container ship, this is the first artificial coral reef in the Red Sea.


Read full article: 'Saving the Red Sea, one block at a time'

By Ed Stoddard

COZUMEL, Mexico (Reuters) - Magnificent coral reefs on Mexico's Caribbean island of Cozumel appear to have been unscathed by Hurricane Dean, delighting dive operators and diving enthusiasts.

Cozumel, considered one of the world's top diving spots and a big draw for Mexico's tourism industry, was badly hit in 2005 by Hurricane Wilma. The storm mauled hotels with high winds, flooded the famous beach resort of Cancun and damaged reefs.


Read full article: 'Mexican island's reefs spared by Hurricane Dean'

HONOLULU (AP) - It started as a simple dive shop in 1958, taking tourists and locals on scuba tours in the Pacific Ocean off Maui. But a year after opening for business, Maui Divers workers found what resembled a black bush in deep waters off the Molokai Channel.


Read full article: 'From Dive Shop to Tourist Attraction'

FLORIDA KEYS -- Every year, patrons of Florida Keys dive and snorkel shops play a guessing game. Locals and visitors alike try to guess the date and time of the annual coral spawn — sometimes nicknamed "sex on the reef" — on North America's only living coral barrier reef, which parallels the island chain.

Corals have evolved a method of reproduction called "broadcast spawning." The immobile animals send their eggs and sperm into the water in massive quantities. When egg and sperm unite, the resulting larval-stage "planula" swims to the surface to drift in the current and grow. After some time — two days to two months — the planula settles to the bottom where it grows into a polyp. The polyp grows into a coral head by asexual budding that creates new polyps.


Read full article: 'SEX ON THE REEF'

Pacific coral reefs are dying at an unprecedented rate, scientists have found. Almost 600 square miles of reef have disappeared every year since the late 1960s - twice the rate of rainforest loss.

Coral loss had become a global phenomenon caused mainly by climate change, rising sea temperatures and man-made nutrient pollution.

The study's lead author, John Bruno, said: "We have already lost half of the world's reef-building corals."

The results of the study in the central and western Pacific are published in the open-access journal PLoS ONE. It provides the first regional-scale and long-term analysis of coral loss in the region where relatively little was known about patterns of reef loss.


Read full article: 'Coral reef loss at unprecedented levels'

Take action to regularly monitor coral reefs. Information is needed to help scientists understand coral reef bleaching and recovery issues globally. Register now at http://www.projectaware.org/americas/english/coral-watch/ as a Project AWARE CoralWatch Dive Operator, gather your dive students, dive club or dive buddies and contribute coral bleaching data for your area. You'll receive a free kit from Project AWARE created specifically for divers including enough materials to organize five volunteer buddy teams as well as marketing materials for your facility. The data you contribute from healthy or bleached corals helps scientists shed light on serious conservation issues.

Rather collect data as an individual or during your dive travels? Just want a sample to help educate dive students about coral bleaching? Email information@projectaware.org with your request.