Great Barrier Reef

The Mother of all Cynarina lacrymalis found on the Great Barrier Reef

Ania Nerowski, our own Australian-based coral nerd, has reported to us a fantastic coral that showed up in Australia. Cynarina lacrymalis, the Button Coral, is normally a solitary, monocentric, one polyp, one mouth coral. Double or triple heads sometimes show…

Chameleon Pachies are Packed with Color

Acanthastrea pachysepta is one of the most recognizable and hardy LPS corals even if they are still commonly confused with Lobophyllia. Ever since this coral was imported, we knew it couldn’t be mixed with any Lobophyllia without a risk of being…

Acid Trip Cyphastrea Just Melted My Brain

Ultra Coral Australia, the famous Australian coral business owned by master coral collector and farmer Nic Dos Santos, just showed us some pictures of a Cyphastrea coral that blew our mind! Multicolored Cyphastrea are quite a common sight. But this…

Oceanographic Museum of Monaco Unveils Virtual Great Barrier Reef Exhibit

The Oceanographic Museum of Monaco unveiled a new virtual aquarium exhibition offering guests the opportunity to step inside the Great Barrier Reef without getting wet. The interactive exhibit named ‘IMMERSION’ is an attempt to raise awareness for ocean conservation and…

William Saville-Kent Was A Coral Loving Naturalist From The 1800s

William Saville-Kent As you do when you’re stuck at home, you fall down a rabbit hole on the internet. The story of William Saville-Kent is one such divot we stumbled upon, and oh boy are we happy we did. We…

Is Acropora convexa the Next Holy Grail Acro?

It’s been a while since we wrote about Australian corals but with all this down time, we finally can find the time to write about things that inspired us in our previous journeys.During our Ultra Coral Australia trips on the…

Corals are Migrating to Cooler Water, Shifting Towards the Poles

A recent publication from Yale university is highlighting the response of certain coral species to climate change. Observations are done on a daily basis in Japan, Australia, US east Coast, Hawaii… that an ‘unheralded ecological regeneration may be underway’ in…

Coral Reefs are Changing in Substantial Ways

A new publication in Nature brings a very interesting insight into the current evolution of coral reefs. In this new publication, scientists describe teturning to a location on the Great Barrier Reef, where, 91 years earlier, the pioneering GBR expedition…

Paraclavarina triangularis, Another Underrated Coral Beauty

Several weeks ago, we went on an expedition through the Great Barrier Reef, with Ultra Coral Australia. We spent a week on the reef and on multiple occasions came across a fascinating coral called ‘Paraclavarina triangularis. All of us ‘Coral…

Acropora sukarnoi is Australia’s Own Elkhorn Coral

Russel Kelley, Jake Adams, Nic DosSantos and I just came back from a very productive  expedition to the Great Barrier Reef, in a collaboration between Reef Builders and Ultra Corals Australia. Using a large ocean worthy cruise vessel and four…