In the country's first underwater military museum, tanks, a helicopter, and an armored vehicle are just some items that divers can swim around and see resting on the seabed near the Jordanian city of Aqaba. The vehicles, imitating a battle formation, have been stationed at a coral reef in the Red Sea. Inaugurated in 2019, the museum was created with the hope that the underwater structures will enhance the environment for marine life, encouraging more diving enthusiasts. The museum also hopes to relieve the pressure on natural reefs by drawing visitors away from those sites. Fish swim next to a submerged military vehicle at the Underwater Military Museum in Aqaba, Jordan, May 7. REUTERS/Stelios Misinas The war machines were sunk in a depth range of 15 to 28 meters, stationed al...
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After two years of extensive research and studies, Anantara Kihavah Maldives Villas is launching the ‘Wonders of Kihavah,’ - a ground-breaking research-based publication unveiling the breath-taking beauty and rich biodiversity of the island’s renowned house reef. This is the first time a resort in the Maldives has undertaken such an extensive reef assessment and scientific research-based study. The publication, combining a scientific approach, compelling narrative, and stunning visuals, showcases the enchanting underwater world of Anantara Kihavah's pristine marine ecosystem which was recently crowned as the Best House Reef in the Maldives in the 2023 Travel + Leisure Luxury Awards Southeast Asia. The study, led by Australian Marine Conservation Society’s Director, Dr. Selina Wa...
Read MoreRepairing coral reefs after boats run aground. Shielding native forest trees from a killer fungus outbreak. Patrolling waters for swimmers harassing dolphins and turtles. Taking care of Hawaii’s unique natural environment takes time, people and money. Now Hawaii wants tourists to help pay for it, especially because growing numbers are traveling to the islands to enjoy the beauty of its outdoors — including some lured by dramatic vistas they have seen on social media. “All I want to do, honestly, is to make travelers accountable and have the capacity to help pay for the impact that they have,” Democratic Gov. Josh Green said earlier this year. “We get between nine and 10 million visitors a year, (but) we only have 1.4 million people living here. Those 10 million travelers should be h...
Read MoreThe beachfront accommodation at Outrigger Resort has Waikiki’s largest oceanfront balcony with 4,000 square feet of living space Outrigger Reef Waikiki Beach Resort, the flagship of Outrigger’s global beachfront portfolio, recently completed the latest phase of its US$80 million transformation with an unveiling of the Coral Reef Penthouse Suite in the all-new Diamond Head Tower. Emulating a quintessential beach house, the Coral Reef Penthouse Suite is a two-bedroom pied-à-terre within the resort which is rooted in Hawaiian culture and encapsulates the elegance of oceanfront living. Designed with calming coastal hues and premium finishes, the penthouse suite epitomises barefoot luxury through a sleek and functional indoor/outdoor design – providing nearly 4,000 square feet (372 sqm...
Read MoreA small group of Cuban dive instructors, working on a shoe-string budget and with flotsam salvaged from the beach, have launched a small-scale project to grow corals and replant them, in hopes of restoring a patch of Cuba's barrier reef. Luis Muiño, 44, one of the project's leaders, grew up as a fisherman nearby, and said he saw his beloved reefs outside the mouth of Matanzas Harbor, on Cuba's north coast, slowly decline and fish grow scarce over nearly three decades. Professional diver and coral reef conservationist Luis Muino cleans the coral nursery from algae in Playa Coral beach, Cuba April 29, 2022. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini "It's incredible the loss of coral in the past 30 years," Muiño told Reuters. "Our dream is to repopulate again the parts of the barrier reef that ha...
Read MoreAn international team of researchers, including several from the University of Hawai‘i (UH) at Mānoa, has quantified five critical ecological processes on more than 500 coral reefs worldwide to understand how these processes relate to each other, what may distinguish the most functional reefs, and what that means for our management of reef functioning. Their work, published in Nature Ecology and Evolution, demonstrates that five key functions performed by fish communities–the removal of algae, predation, biomass production, and the cycling of nitrogen and phosphorus– are inherently interconnected. As such, while the performance of these processes is influenced by the community structure of reef fishes on any given reef, no reef can maximize each of the five processes simultaneously. ...
Read MoreData also reveals increase in amount and length of reef-disrupting abnormal heatwave events A new analysis outlines 150 years of sea-surface temperature history throughout the Greater Caribbean region, highlighting significant warming trends that have disrupted coral reef ecosystems. Colleen Bove of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS Climate on March 9. In addition to heating the atmosphere, climate change caused by human activity heats the world’s oceans, disrupting marine ecosystems. Previous research has documented dramatic warming-induced changes to coral reef ecosystems worldwide—and in the Caribbean in particular—identifying such effects as mass coral mortality through coral bleaching and loss o...
Read MoreAustralian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday promised a further A$1 billion ($703 million) to protect the Great Barrier Reef to support thousands of tourism jobs, just months out from a federal election. The reef, one of Australia's best-known natural attractions but under threat from global warming, has been a lightning rod for criticism of the ruling conservative coalition's support for fossil fuels. Morrison, already under pressure over his handling of the country's worst COVID-19 outbreak fuelled by the Omicron variant, said the investment will help protect about 64,000 jobs in Queensland that depend on the reef. The northeastern state will be a major battleground when Morrison goes to the polls by May, seeking a fourth consecutive term for his party. His conservati...
Read MoreA new study found warming temperatures to be the main driver Coral reefs in the western Indian Ocean are at risk of extinction by 2070 due to warming temperatures and overfishing, according to a new study. A roughly 12,000 sq km expanse of coral reefs stretching down the eastern coastline of Africa and around Madagascar is facing ecosystem collapse, threatening a range of species and the livelihoods of over a million people who work in the fishing and tourism industries. These reefs make up around 5% of the planet's total coral reef area. "When an ecosystem collapses, we might still see individual fish or corals but the whole system is no longer effective in supporting either marine biodiversity or communities who are dependent on it," said David Obura, a Kenyan marine ecolog...
Read MoreCoral reef ecosystems are severely threatened by climate change. The urgent need to address the issue is driving a new era of innovation in reef science, shown by a global multidisciplinary exploration of different approaches to enhance coral resilience. An international team including KAUST professors Manuel Aranda and Raquel Peixoto, with adjunct professor Chris Voolstra, have proposed an adaptive framework to increase the resilience of corals in the face of climate change. The team proposes integrating current approaches that center around restoring reef cover with emerging approaches, such as selective sexual propagation, coral probiotics and environmental hardening, to enhance coral’s stress resilience and allow reefs to regrow under changed environmental conditions. The...
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