Central Campus Students selected for NOAA Ocean Guardian Youth Ambassadors Program

Nine Students in the Marine Biology program at Des Moines Central Campus High School have been selected to become part of a national program through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The students were selected to participate in NOAA’s…

World’s Largest Deep-sea Coral Reef Discovered off the Southeast United States

A deep-sea coral reef covering 6.4 million acres has been discovered off the southeast United States. Researchers working for NOAA and its partners mapped an underwater seascape of coldwater coral mounds the size of Vermont, deeming it the largest deep-sea…

NOAA Educational Poster can Help Reef Aquarium Newbies too

We came across this poster recently on Coral Housekeepers, and how fish help to maintain healthy coral reefs in the wild. It has been produced by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and explains in simple, easy-to-understand language how…

NOAA designates 6,500 square miles of Critical Habitat to protect Caribbean Corals

NOAA Fisheries has published a final rule to designate critical habitat for five species of Caribbean coral under the US Endangered Species Act. Effective from September 8, 2023, 28 mostly overlapping areas in US waters will be designated Critical Habitat,…

CoralCure Ointment Base2B is a topical treatment for Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease

An antibiotic treatment has been developed to help cure dying corals on the Florida Reef Tract. Amoxycillin is a medication used to treat a wide variety of bacterial infections in humans, and by mixing it with a base ointment, researchers…

Friday Smorgasbord: “Where has April Gone?” edition

Where has April gone and why is it still snowing in places with May right on our doorstep? *Sigh* Anywho, we have another edition of our Friday Smorgasbord with some interesting posts about our oceans and what lies beneath….enjoy! SloMo…

Cold East Coast weather making sharkcicles, Atlantic White Shark Conservancy responds

The cold weather that hit the U.S. last week is making an impact on creatures sharks as well. In a Facebook post, the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy shared some images of a pair of thresher sharks that were stranded on shore and…

Giant isopod captured swimming deep in the Gulf of Mexico

It has been a few years since we’ve brought you any “Monster Isopod” stories, but when we saw this video, we knew we had to share. You’ll feel this is either strangely beautiful or downright creepy, but either way its…

Friday Smorgasbord: Drones, maps, and carp tacos oh my!

Happy New Year! Here’s our first edition of the Friday Smorgi for 2017 and we’re hoping you enjoy reading along. We have a few interesting stories including an underwater drone for fishing, a cool new 3D ocean map, a unique…

Prognathodes basabei, or orange margin butterfly, now officially described

Although known to exist for over 20 years and even referenced quite a few times here at Reef Builders, a new species of deep-water butterflyfish from the mesophotic reefs of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument was finally described today by…