One of our former interns, Heather Hillard, is in Mo’orea! She’s doing her graduate degree work on corals there. Check out some photos (and how clear the water is!).
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Tag Archives: coral
Invert of the Week: Blue Octocoral
August 13, 2011 
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Blue Octocoral (Sarcothelia edmondsoni) is only found in Hawai’i! It is a type of soft coral, and if you look real closely it resembles snowflakes. Octocoral polyps have eight rays, hence the name. It can be a radiant blue or a dull purple-brown. A great place to see lots of blue octocoral is in the […]
Continue readingMokule’ia
August 8, 2011 0 Comments
Have you ever wondered what snorkeling is like at Mokule’ia? I was camping in the area and decided to dive in. The current is really strong, so I wouldn’t suggest snorkeling there unless you are a strong swimmer. There are numerous rice corals, cauliflower corals, saddle wrasses, brown surgeonfishes, damselfishes, and rosette halimeda.
Continue readingHow Do Corals Reproduce?
April 18, 2011 0 Comments
Have you ever wondered how corals make more corals? They can’t move, so how do they reproduce? To understand coral reproduction, you must first understand asexual reproduction and sexual reproduction. Asexual reproduction involves only one parent and the offspring produced are genetically identical to the parent. Two parents are needed for sexual reproduction. Corals can […]
Continue readingMarine Invertebrate of the Week: Rubbery Zoanthid
February 24, 2011 0 Comments
This past weekend I went snorkeling on the east side and found a peculiar creature that I’ve never seen before. Turns out it’s actually a type of zoanthid, Palythoa caesia. Zoanthids are cnidarians and consist of colonies of individual polyps. The polyps in this picture were closed, which they usually are in areas of high […]
Continue readingBenthic Survey and Beach Table
February 9, 2011 0 Comments
Today we unloaded our gear at the beach near Queen’s Beach and set up our beach table. We had 25 visitors today! It’s exciting to be able to educate people right on the beach! Heather and I also conducted a benthic survey on the Diamond Head side of the MLCD. The random point that we […]
Continue readingCoral and Limu Study Cards
January 13, 2011 3 Comments
New study materials for corals and limu have been added to the Coral and Limu Watch page. Check them out! Coral Cards Algae Cards If you are planning to volunteer with us for the benthic surveys, we highly recommend looking over these study guides before you volunteer with us. It’s not mandatory, but it will help you […]
Continue readingWarm sunny weather makes for a good survey day
January 11, 2011 4 Comments
I want to give a big “Mahalo” to Cassidy, Devon and Rachel for helping me complete two benthic habitat surveys. The visibility was not the best, but the water temperature and weather were much nicer this time. In addition, the coral size and frequency survey was completed so quickly, that I think it is time […]
Continue readingTest your coral identification skills
December 9, 2010 3 Comments
Click the link below to see if you can identify a few common coral species found in Waikīkī
Continue readingMore Benthic Surveys!
December 9, 2010 0 Comments
This week, we have been trying to complete as many benthic survey’s as possible. But due to the weather, we had to cancel today’s survey….However, we completed two yesterday! Beth, Heather and I did one on the Diamond Head side and one on the Ewa side. It was shallow and visibility was less than 10 […]
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