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Coral Reef Research Program on Board
Sailing Vessel Infinity
As part of the scientific team of the Planetary Coral Reef Foundation,
the crew of the Research Vessel Infinity gather data during intensive
underwater studies as they continue to assess the health and vitality
of coral reefs around the world. Observations are collected to add
to the PCRF databank of impressions from reefs around the world.
A soft coral garden in Rinja Island, Malaysia
Over
100,000 coral colonies have been analyzed around the world, each probed
individually with the Vitareef methodology for their current state of
health. These studies have been carried out since 1995 in Egypt,
Oman, the
Maldives, the Seychelles, Kenya, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Solomon Islands,
Papua
New Guinea, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Polynesia, Fiji, and
the Great Barrier Reef. Three sites
have been
returned to in order to monitor their change over time.
The
study of each reef comprises four major data gathering missions:
On-line data from the study sites can be viewed at:
http://science.pcrf.org/
The crew of PCRF's research
vessel is made up of a team of voluntary
officers and students taking part in a nine month seamanship training
program. A great part of the training program is devoted to learning
to dive and gaining sufficient understanding in coral reef ecology and
biology in order to take full part in a PCRF reef study. Students
learn how to identify corals and fish, how a coral feeds, grows and reproduces
and how to ascertain the health of a coral colony specifically and a reef
in general. By their own observations and interactions, they learn
how the local community affects or protects its aquatic treasures.
Divers
prepare for an investigative dive in the
Trobriand
Islands, Papua
New Guinea
Results
from these studies are sent to PCRF head office in Los Angeles, CA plus the
College of Charleston. These data sets are available for analysis to
graduate students - please contact PCRF for more information.
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