Acropora palmata, the Elkhorn Coral, is the king of all Caribbean Coral Reef species. Acropora palmata grows into thick robust branches and is the most important reef-building species in the Caribbean. Acropora palmata was once a dominant species in the Caribbean but unfortunately, there has…
Corals
Reef Walls, Sharks, Tarpons, and More! Los Mogotes Dive Site, Cuba
Los Mogotes Dive Site If I had to pick a favorite dive site in Cuba’s Gardens of the Queen, Los Mogotes would definitely make it into the top three. As I edit my way through my Cuban photo collection, Los…
Scolymia Coral Spotting in the Gardens of the Queen, Cuba
Scolymia Coral Spotting Scolymia is a large polyp coral species that lives a solitary life. There are two species of Caribbean Scolymia, the larger Scolymia lacera, and smaller Scolymia cubensis and you can learn to identify both by clicking the links above. While…
Scuba Diving With Silky Sharks In Cuba
Silky Sharks – Gardens of the Queen Picture this, your dive boat approaches a buoy where shallow turquoise reef drops off to meet deep dark azure blue. The captain turns off the engine and ties up. Within seconds, sleek gray shadows…
Porites cylindrica Habitat Found Around The Island of Rao
Porites cylindrica Porites, porites, porites, this is a common coral genus found in all the worlds oceans. Porites is a hardy coral growing in a number of forms, and to identify this coral genus you just have to repeat the…
50 Reefs Around The World That Could Survive Climate Change
Coral reef ecosystems around the world are facing serious threats from the impacts of rapid climate change. Rising ocean temperatures are causing corals to bleach and die at an alarming rate and it is estimated that 70–90% of the world’s…
Spot a Coral, Spot a Critter! : Bubble Coral Shrimp
After few weeks of absence… And following our blog series: spot a coral, spot a critter, we will check the cute little coral bubble shrimp… It’s a fav of UW photographer and it’s pretty easy to spot, if you know…
Extreme Low Tide At Bangka Island Exposes Corals To Air, And They Survive!
Low Tide Corals Extreme tidal variations happen each month during what is known as a spring tide. This tidal phase happens twice each lunar month and the big swing in tidal heights occurs closes to the new moon. The second…
What Is A Corallite?
Corallite Looking through my pictures I realized I am started to get quite the collection of macro shots of Acropora corals. One thing that is really incredible about these close up images is we are able to see the corallite,…
Gorango Reef – Coral Spotting in Weda, Halmahera
Gorango Reef Gorango reef is a long underwater ridge running parallel to the northern coastline of Weda Bay. The reef is divided into three dive sites following the contours of the ridge and sloping pinnacles. The dive sites are Gorango Obesar,…