Category Archives: Industry

Isolating fallout remnants in coral from nuclear testing during the 1950’s and 1960’s scientists from Austria and Australia are identifying current patterns throughout the ocean. During the fifties and sixties massive efforts to test nuclear devices released radioisotopes like uranium-236 all throughout the globe, and because this element is water-soluble it can be caught in ocean currents and carried to reefs where it can be metabolized by coral. Just like trees some coral species deposit yearly banding rings in their skeletons and the measure of radioisotopes can be analyzed through core samples. Photo courtesy of iaea.org Tracing the chronology of nuclear testing while noting concentrations throughout time enables the study of inter-hemispheric water channels and the exchange of elements throughout reefs. The core sample chosen for the study was taken from the Turneffe Atoll in the Caribbean as current waters from the Southern Atlantic meat the Northern hemisphere; an ideal location. These findings will help us better understand the effects of 50+ years of nuclear and atmospheric testing and hopefully prevent further deposit of nuclear chemicals. Read more here!… More:

Researchers from Australia and Saudi Arabia have launched a sequencing study focused on mapping genomes from 10 species of calcifying coral.  This study is aimed at the ever-present affects of climate change bearing down on reefs world-wide. Using comparitive data from the Great barrier Reef and the Red Sea the team plans to ”provide five times the data currently available and identify which genes help corals adapt to climate change, and which species contain these genes.” Photo Courtesy of natgeo “Climate change places coral reefs at risk through warmer water temperatures and more acidic oceans,” said Great Barrier Reef Foundation chairman John Schubert, and his sentiments add to the studies validity. The director of the Red Sea Research Center at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia (Xabier Irigoyen) will be managing efforts in the Red Sea and thinks the study “will enhance our understanding of how and why some corals are more resilient.” Read more here!… More:

The phenomenon known as “El Nino” has been labeled as a culprit for massive chronic impacts that cause huge coral bleaching events. But a new finding has stated most of the coral losses attributed to El Nino have resurged to numbers greater than what they were before the storm. Set up by the International conservation organization Biosphere Expeditions, Scientists from the UK-based Marine Conservation Society (MCS) and the Maldives Marine Research Centre (MRC) researched the areas before and after the massive storm hit the coast causing long term water temperature increases and killing off massive amounts of coral reef.  The lead scientist of the project Dr. Jean-Luc Solandt posits: “Although our surveys aren’t as comprehensive in scale and number as those from the Great Barrier Reef, we have witnessed a promising recovery in the reefs we’ve visited. The number of chronic impacts to the reefs of the Maldives are fewer than those to the Great Barrier Reef, and that has probably resulted in this more positive response to the initial bleaching event die-off in the sites we visited in Ari Atoll.” These findings also resurge the hopes with scientists and hobbyists alike, that Mother Nature will bounce back from even the most extreme of circumstances. Read more here!… More:

In 2009 a petition constructed by the Center for Biological Diversity was presented to NOAA and proposed 83 species of reef-building coral be classified under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). In reaction NOAA released their list of 66 coral species on November 30th 2012. 59 species living in Pacific waters and 7 in the Carribean. Their listings are thankfully not all going to be endangered. 52 of the Pacific water corals will be listed as “threatened” and 7 will be listed as endangered. The Carribean species will have two listed as “threatened” and 5 endangered. Photo courtesy of noaa.gov NOAA’s findings have been through the gamete of peer review as well as public review but they are again asking for public input: Before making a final decision on this proposal, we are asking for comments from all interested parties. The public has 90 days to provide additional comments, which will be considered before NOAA issues its final decision. There are several ways to participate including:

• Submit a public comment online. Go to www.regulations.gov and enter NOAA-NMFS-2010-0036 into the keyword search.
• Attend one of the public hearings in the Pacific islands or Southeast regions to be held in January and February 2013. Details for these hearings are listed in the Federal Register Notice and in this table.
• Join the national stakeholder webinar on December 19, 2012, at 4:00PM EST. We will post details here when available.
• Join one of several webinars, which will be announced on this web page when available.

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