Caribbean King crab could help save threatened coral reefs by keeping excessive seaweed growth under control, a promising new study claims. Experiments on the Florida Keys showed the Caribbean king crab is better than other species at removing overgrown seaweeds that threaten the reefs, by eating it. When introduced to experimental plots on coral reefs, the greedy … Read more
Emily Hower, a research assistant at Nova Southeastern University doing field work on coral off Key West in Florida, bobs up out of the water and removes her diving mask. The news is not good. Most of the pillar coral that her team have been monitoring for years are dead.Hower and her colleagues are on … Read more
Wondering how you can help in the fight against the decline of corals? With a new smartphone app called OkCoral, the Coral Restoration Foundation is hoping it can answer that question by turning underwater photographers into a citizen scientists. Florida Reefs The idea behind the app is getting recreational divers to help monitor the health of coral clusters that the foundation … Read more
On Monday, June 13 scientists at Mote Marine Laboratory launched a coral restoration project at Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park in Key West, Florida with a goal of creating a publicly accessible coral restoration site at the State Park while demonstrating the techniques of current restoration strategies happening at Mote. Throughout the day, scientists … Read more
As you can see by the picture, there are many causes to Coral Bleaching. One of the problems that is adding to the problem is Sunscreens worn by swimmers and divers on and around reefs. This article explains some of the reasons and results of these Sunscreen ingredients as well as alternatives that are Coral … Read more
By Don Rhodes KeysInfoNet.com While drifting along on a shallow ledge on Conch Reef, I spot a group of colorful parrot fish chomping away at algae and other growth on the coral. A bit farther I see a massive plume of white debris blast from the tail end of a large parrot fish. “What goes … Read more
By Adam Linhardt Citizen Staff The operator of a large Miami-based marine life export business and a general manager at the same businesswere sentenced to prison Tuesday for falsifying documents to cover up delivery of live rock used in saltwater aquariums.Robert Kelton, operator of D.R. Imports, Inc., and general manager Bruce Brande were charged in … Read more
Two Broward County men pleaded guilty Friday to selling rainbow-colored coral taken from protected waters in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and peddling it as legally imported from Haiti and the Dominican Republic. U.S. Attorney Wifredo Ferrer said Robert V. Kelton, 60, of Hollywood, and Bruce Brande, 59, of Cooper City, bought and sold … Read more