When the Mississippi River flows into the Gulf of Mexico, its odyssey doesn’t end. It enters an underwater valley called the Mississippi Canyon, a world where nutrients from the river nourish some fantastical forms of life. One part of this canyon looks like this: The graceful white sculptures sprouting from carbonate outcrops are Lophelia coral. [...]

Pygmy elephants, Asiatic lions and Siamese crocodiles are among the endangered species in the news this week. Pygmy elephant update: Remember the 14 pygmy elephants (Elephas maximus borneensis) that were poisoned in Borneo back in February? There’s both good and bad news about the case. The good news is that Baby Joe, the youngster that [...]

Invasive seaweed is putting a deadly choke hold on Hawaii’s coral reefs. In an effort to save them and the fish that rely on coral as a habitat, scientists have started breeding native sea urchins to eat the offending seaweed. The culprits are two seaweed algae called Kappaphycus alvarezii and K. striatum. First brought to [...]

A massive coral bleaching event in Southeast Asian reefs in the Indian and Pacific oceans is the worst coral die-off since 1998, and possibly the worst science has ever observed, says Andrew Baird of the ARC Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University. Bleaching occurs when environmental factors stress the living [...]

Coral, the reef-building organisms responsible for some of the oceans’ most vital ecosystems, are in trouble around the world because of climate change, ocean acidification and human interference. But lots of people are also trying to save coral reefs before it’s too late. Here’s a roundup of some of the latest research into this important [...]

Coral reefs are dying off at record rates, thanks to pollution, disease and global warming. Scientists worldwide are trying to come up with new ideas to conserve and protect not just the coral reefs, but also the biodiversity and human economies that depend upon  them for their survival. Last month,  a group of 155 scientists [...]

Coral ecosystems are worth an amazing $172 billion a year to the world economy, according to research presented last week at the DIVERSITAS biodiversity conference in Cape Town, South Africa. The value of coral reefs comes from a variety of "services," including food and raw materials, moderation of extreme ocean events, water purification, recreation, tourism [...]