The Whitsunday Islands are a collection of some 74 islands sandwiched between the Australian mainland and the outer atolls of the Great Barrier Reef.
Published Jan 2, 2010
The Sudanese coast of the Red Sea is a well-known destination for diving due to clear water and abundance of coral reefs (or shia’ab in Arabic). Reefs are formed primarily from precipitation of calcium carbonate by corals. (In addition to its commonly used meaning, precipitation can also describe how something dissolved in a solution becomes “undissolved” through chemical or biological processes.) Massive reef structures are built over thousands of years of succeeding generations of coral. In the Red Sea, fringing reefs form on shallow shelves of less than 50 meters depth along the coastline. This astronaut photograph illustrates the intricate morphology of the reef system located along the coast between Port Sudan to the northwest and the Tokar River delta to the southeast.
Published Mar 14, 2005
An unusually cloud-free day provided this spectacular view of Cakaulevu Reef, Fiji, the world’s third largest reef system.
Published Aug 13, 2011
Arrecife Alacranes, Spanish for "Scorpion Reef," is the largest reef in the southern Gulf of Mexico.
Published Jan 31, 2015
Rowley Shoals, a series of atolls off northwestern Australia, are popular with divers and fisherman interested in the hundreds of marine species.
Published Nov 7, 2011
The Great Barrier Reef is the largest reef system on Earth, with more than 3,000 separate reefs and coral cays. It is also one of the most complex natural ecosystems.
Published May 31, 2016
Studying corals from above could help scientists understand how these critical ecosystems will weather a changing climate.
Published Jan 31, 2016
In one frame International Space Station astronauts were able to capture the evolution of fringing reefs to atolls. As with the Hawaiian Islands, these volcanic hot spot islands become progressively older to the northwest. As these islands move away from their magma sources they erode and subside.
Published Feb 16, 2003
In February 2017, the Great Barrier Reef continued to be exposed to warm ocean water—the main stressor on this coral system and the reason for its bleaching.
Published Mar 16, 2017
