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Coral Reefs

Researchers sort through finds recovered from trawling in the central section of the Amazon reef.

Shining Light on Brazil’s Secret Coral Reef

The massive, previously unstudied reef is unlike any other known on Earth

Trending Today

Mass Bleaching Destroys Swaths of the Great Barrier Reef

Surveys show that 55 percent of reefs surveyed were severely affected by high water temperatures, with half of those expected to die

Coral bleaching

Coral Bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef May Get a Lot Worse in the Future

Climate change could alter temperature patterns in a way that stops corals from preparing for bleaching events

Some of the coral bleaching near Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef

Age of Humans

Massive Bleaching Event Hits the Great Barrier Reef

Warm ocean temperatures have impacted large swaths of the Great Barrier Reef in the last month, part of a worldwide coral die-off

The Pearl of Dubai is half adventure park, half marine sanctuary.

Can Underwater Resorts Actually Help Coral Reef Ecosystems?

A Los Angeles company is designing artificial reefs to boost local economies and marine habitat

Our Changing Seas III, 2014

Art Meets Science

Does This Sculpture Depict a Coral Reef Collapsing or Recovering?

Artist Courtney Mattison’s spiral-shaped piece explores the uncertain future for coral reefs

Bleached coral pokes through the water's surface off the coast of New Ireland, Papua New Guinea.

New Research

Sunscreen May Be Destroying Coral Reefs

Just a tiny amount of a common chemical in sunscreen can bleach and break delicate coral

New Research

A Popular Coral for Home Aquariums Can Release Deadly Toxin

The coral produces a toxic mist that can cause serious health problems

New Research

This Starfish-Killing Robot Could Help Save The Great Barrier Reef

Reef-eating starfish beware

Acropora species, like those pictured above in Malaysia, seem to be targeted by a disease that destroys coral tissue.

New Research

A Mysterious Disease Is Killing Corals

Researchers still haven’t cracked the mystery of “white syndrome”

In a new video released by the WWF, viewers can glide through the Great Barrier Reef on the back of a sea turtle.

Cool Finds

Researchers Strapped a Go-Pro to a Sea Turtle, and Here’s What They Got

See the Great Barrier Reef from a turtle’s view

Researchers witnessed this coral slowly slurp up a sea slug back in December of 2014.

Cool Finds

That Time a Mushroom Coral Ate a Sea Slug

Researchers observed the rare event off the coast of Thailand

A type of coral trout called the leopard trout (Plectropomus leopardus) swims on the Great Barrier Reef.

Anthropocene

Fishing Bans Create a Glimmer of Hope on the Great Barrier Reef

No-take reserves have helped commercially important species bounce back, but the reef still faces some serious threats

New Research

Tiny Bits of Plastic May Be Clogging Up Corals

Researchers find that microplastic pollution has become a new threat to the health of ocean reefs

New Research

The Great Barrier Reef Is Doing So Badly, Scientist Are Testing Genetic Modification to Help It Survive

As the health of the Great Barrier Reef declines, scientists are hoping “assisted evolution” might keep its coral alive

Arachnophobia, coral reefs, artificial cells and strange amphibians starred in some of this year's science finds you might have missed.

Ten Cool Science Stories You May Have Missed in 2014

ICYMI, there’s a newfound coral reef in Iraq, the smallest force has been detected and more in this year’s surprising science

Windswept trees seem to loom over a beach on the remote island of Tarawa in Kiribati. Scientists have found that coral reefs near Tarawa record changes in Pacific trade winds.

Corals Show How Pacific Trade Winds Guide Global Temperatures

The world has been in a global warming hiatus, but that will change when the winds once again weaken

Guadalupe Peak and El Capitan: a landscape “lonely as a dream,” wrote Edward Abbey.

Evotourism ®

When Texas Was at the Bottom of the Sea

A hike to the “top of Texas,” the world’s most famous fossil reef, leads to a new sense of the sublime

Singer and plastic-clothing designer Pharrell Williams at the "Raw For The Oceans" event at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

The Top 12 Ocean Stories That Made Waves in 2014

The seas served up some compelling headlines this year, from celebrity fashion to solving the mystery of the melting starfish

A bleached coral reef

New Research

Listen to the Sounds of a Dying Coral Reef

Healthy coral reefs produce a medley of sounds that ocean creatures use as homing beacons

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