Corals Can Sense What's Coming

From CORAL.org posted on November 22, 2011 12:44

Source: Science Codex
November 18, 2011

"Australian scientists have thrown new light on the mechanism behind the mass death of corals worldwide as the Earth's climate warms.

Coral bleaching, one of the most devastating events affecting coral reefs around the planet, is triggered by rising water temperatures. It occurs when the corals and their symbiotic algae become heat-stressed, and the algae which feed the corals either die or are expelled by the coral.

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22

Florida Approves Shark Protections

From CORAL.org posted on November 22, 2011 12:41

Curtis Morgan
Source: The Miami Herald
November 16, 2011

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22

Massages Relax Fish Too

From CORAL.org posted on November 22, 2011 12:38

Wynne Parry
Source: Live Science
November 15, 2011

"Massages don't just relax people; fish may also enjoy the stress-relieving benefits of a rubdown, a new study shows.

In the wild, coral reef-dwelling surgeonfish get a massage from the cleaner fish that usually picks parasites off their skin. Now, scientists have shown that surgeonfish that receive these massages actually have lower levels of a stress-related hormone, cortisol, in their blood.

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17

Rare Red Sea Species Face Extinction

From CORAL.org posted on November 17, 2011 12:37

Muhammad Humaidan
Source: Arab News
November 15, 2011

"JEDDAH: Saudi environmentalists have expressed their fear of imminent extinction of several rare marine species and a resulting ecological imbalance caused by unsupervised fishing in the Red Sea.

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17

Less Than 1% of Sharks Caught in the Atlantic are Protected

From CORAL.org posted on November 17, 2011 12:34

Suzanne Goldenberg
Source: The Guardian
November 15, 2011

"Only a tiny fraction of sharks caught in the Atlantic - less than 1% - are under protection, even though most shark species are heading towards extinction, a report warns on Tuesday.

Officials from 48 Atlantic fishing countries are meeting in Istanbul this week to try to protect bluefin tuna, swordfish and other large fish.

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17

Twelve New Species of Fish Found Near Bali

From CORAL.org posted on November 17, 2011 12:28

Made Arya Kencana
Source: Jakarta Globe
November 14, 2011

"Denpasar. Scientists from the US-based Conservation International said they may have discovered 12 new fish species in the waters off of Bali.

"Right now the fish are being identified and classified. Hopefully by December, or at the latest by January, the names can be listed and formalized [as new species]," the group's coral fish researcher Mark van Nydeck said on Sunday.

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14

'Fishy lawnmowers' Help Save Coral Reefs

From CORAL.org posted on November 14, 2011 20:13

Olivia Solon
Source: Wired
November 14, 2011

"Researchers from the University of California Santa Barbara have found that certain fish may help coral reefs recover from cyclones and predators.

Coral reefs around the world are under threat from rising sea temperatures and over fishing. However, researchers have discovered one location in the South Pacific Island of Moorea where the coral seems to be protected by parrotfish and surgeonfish.