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
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
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
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
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
Ningaloo Reef, along the shore of Western Australia, is Australia’s largest fringing coral reef. It is also the world’s only large reef located so close to a landmass.
Published Sep 7, 2008
Studying corals from above could help scientists understand how these critical ecosystems will weather a changing climate.
Published Jan 31, 2016
Chetumal Bay lies on the Border between Mexico and Belize. To the east of the bay, Ambergris Cay connects the Belize Barrier Reef to the Yucatan Peninsula. The north of the island is Bacalar Chico Marine Reserve. Here, the barrier reef comes very close to the east side of the island. In 1998, reefs in Belize were hit by two major events that led to heavy coral mortality: El Niño-related coral bleaching and Hurricane Mitch.
Published Oct 28, 2001
Two years of record global temperatures and a potent El Niño have led to extensive damage to coral reefs around the world, including the Great Barrier Reef.
Published May 19, 2016
Sediments flowing into the bay from the Río Cauto have built up an impressive delta and even helped bury a reef.
Published Jul 6, 2020
An image of Fiji’s coast shows how modern satellites can help study underwater corals even in the most remote regions.
Published Jul 4, 2015
In late February 2007, NASA satellite images revealed that even the outer portions of the Australia’s Great Barrier Reef can be bathed in land-based pollution carried far offshore by plumes of river water. Conventional thinking was that river plumes affected only the lagoon and the inner portions of the reef. But images from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite verify a new theory that not even the outer reefs are spared the impact of land-based pollution, which includes excess sediment, fertilizers, and pesticides.
Published Mar 29, 2007
