Shipwrecks Teem with Underwater Life, from Microbes to Sharks
.Shipwrecks may also inadvertently assist the spread of invasive plants and animals that wreak biological havoc. Wrecks are new structures that invasive species can settle on, grow and use as a hub to expand to other habitats. Invasive cup coral has spread on World War II shipwrecks off Brazil. In Palmyra Atoll in the Pacific, a type of anemone called a corallimorph rapidly invaded a shipwreck and now threatens healthy coral reefs.The future of shipwreck explorationShipwrecks create millions of study sites that scientists can use to ask questions about marine life and habitats. One of the greatest challenges
Study: How Much of Corals’ Nutrition Comes From Hunting
when water temperatures cool off. If we can better understand when, where, or why corals are eating, we may be able to understand why they survive better in some places than others during future bleaching events.”CoralsFox and his colleagues conducted their study from samples they collected at Palmyra Atoll, a remote US national wildlife refuge in the central Pacific Ocean. After bringing them back into the lab, the researchers removed the coral polyps from their skeletons, and then separated the coral animals and their symbiotic algae in a centrifuge. The team then extracted essential amino acids
NOAA's Okeanos Explorer Journeys Into Pacific Deepwater
explorers.” The 2017 expeditions will take place in and around the National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa, the Rose Atoll Marine National Monument, the Musicians Seamounts, and the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, including the areas of Howland, Baker and Jarvis Islands, Palmyra Atoll and Kingman Reef, and Johnston Atoll. While this year’s dives will focus on waters of the United States Exclusive Economic Zone, NOAA will partner with several Pacific Island countries to explore the deep waters of Samoa, the Republic of Kiribati’s Phoenix Islands Protected Area,
Saving Coral Reefs One Shipwreck at a Time
In the summer of 1991, a 121 ft. long Taiwanese long line fishing vessel, the Hui Feng #1, ran aground on an atoll in the middle of the Pacific. With a footprint of just 4.6 sq. mi., Palmyra Atoll forms the most northern vegetated island in the Northern Line Islands, lying some 1,000 miles south of Honolulu. The atoll has a long storied past and is now a national monument and wildlife refuge, cooperatively managed by the US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) and The Nature Conservancy. Palmyra Atoll encompasses some of the last remaining near-pristine reef environments, boasting an intact
Saving Coral Reefs – One Shipwreck at a Time
In the summer of 1991, a 121 foot long Taiwanese long line fishing vessel, the HUI FENG #1, ran aground on an atoll in the middle of the Pacific. With a footprint of just 4.6 square miles Palmyra Atoll forms the most northern vegetated island in the Northern Line Islands, lying some 1,000 miles south of Honolulu. The atoll has a long storied past and is now a national monument and wildlife refuge, cooperatively managed by the US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) and The Nature Conservancy. Palmyra Atoll encompasses some of the last remaining near- pristine reef environment on earth,
February 2025
