Wild Tobago

Dr Anjani Ganase, coral reef ecologist, urges everyone to visit the reefs of Tobago. Photos of Tobago reefs courtesy the Maritime Ocean Collection. The Reef is calling. Will You answer?   Visit ten coral reefs in 2026. This is the challenge to know your marine backyard and help drive its protection. Exploration can take different forms: swimming, snorkelling and diving. There’s also virtual exploration through Google StreetView, or via the Maritime Ocean Collection (maritimeoceancollection.com). All images are available in 360-degrees and can be uploaded to a VR headset for the immersive vibe.   See to save the Reef Our coral reefs need you to visit them now more than ever! Coral reefs are important to living on islands and should be regarded as precious assets. At this time, their health is critically compromised, and we must actively support their management and protection. Having eyes on them and knowing what to look for when they are not doing so...

Dr Anjani Ganase, coral reef ecologist, compares coral ecosystems of the Red Sea and the Caribbean. Coral scientists around the world are monitoring their native reefs as well as those that have adapted to higher temperature, looking at coral refuges. In the Old Testament, the passage through the Red Sea is a miracle created by God, to allow the Israelites to leave Egypt, led by Moses. The Red Sea was first explored by the Egyptians and Greeks looking for routes for trade between Africa and Asia. It is not a large body of water, in fact, it is one sixth the size of the Caribbean Sea, but it is long (2,250 km) and narrow (355 km wide – distance between Trinidad and St Lucia) stretching from the Gulf of Suez, where the Suez Canal connects to Mediterranean Sea. To the south, the Red Sea flows into the Indian Ocean. Geologically, the Red Sea is part of an extensive rift system that runs north–south all the way down the African East Coast to Mozambique, and is part of t...

Dr Anjani Ganase, coral reef ecologist presents some of the residents of coral reefs. Our view of the world is limited to what we can see, what we have learned to see. Let us expand that view to some of the creatures in the marine world. Here, many colours, patterns, projections and textures of the tiniest of creatures have evolved for an ecological purpose and for survival. This Christmas, I present the beautiful and colourful marine mini creatures of our coral reefs. They may be invisible to us and occupy tiny spaces but they contribute to the marvellous marine web and the life of the whole planet. And yes, to our existence. Many are named for things that we see on land because these creatures bear some slight resemblance to something familiar.   Christmas tree worms on brain coral. Credit: Nico Marin / Ocean Image Bank Christmas tree worms They look like tiny Christmas trees with an ornate display of colourful branches covered in cilia for feeding on debris that drift by...

In the last frontier on Earth, Dr Anjani Ganase discusses some anomalies and discoveries in a warming ocean. Storm-chasing petrels In tracking the Desertas petrels, scientists were amazed to find them following hurricanes for thousands of miles across the Atlantic Ocean. Desertas petrels nest on Bugio Island, Portugal off the west coast of Africa where hurricanes are born. Scientists found a strong correlation between the storm winds and the foraging behaviour of these birds. Petrels typically forage for fauna that occur hundreds of metres below the ocean surface. How do they do this? They wait for the creatures to surface at night and feed in the nutrient rich waters. However, researchers have found them foraging in areas where winds generated large wave action (up to 8m in height) resulting in the mixing of the water column and the upward movement of the deeper cooler and richer water from the deep to the surface. As a result, deeper dwelling organisms come u...

Dr Anjani Ganase, coral reef ecologist, discusses studies that show the land and sea relationships affecting coral reefs   Mapping coral reefs Coral reef research has expanded our understanding of coral reefs, their distribution and the extent of biodiversity that utilises the reef habitats. However, the more we discover, it also reveals just how vulnerable these ecosystems are and how much more we need to do to protect them. New satellite technology is revealing more coral reefs to us than ever before.   Scientists from the University of Queensland, Australia have been able to map over 348,000 km 2 of shallow coral reefs around the world. This is an area that includes reefs that extend to depths of 30 m. This new map has also identified at least 80,000 km 2 of potential hard bottom habitats, suitable for coral establishment. This global map is an incredibly useful tool for research, management and conservation. Beyond 30 m down, understanding th...

  Human activity and the changing climate are affecting life and life cycles in the oceans. Dr Anjani Ganase discusses some of the observations made this year.   Marine plastics on deep coral reefs Scientists from the California Academy of Sciences in collaboration with scientists around the world have conducted over 1,200 surveys on coral reefs from 83 countries to quantify plastic pollution on coral reefs. This study included deeper sections of coral reefs (the mesophotic zone) that can extend to depths of 150 m in some locations and accessible only to a handful of technical divers and remotely operated vehicles. Surveyed sites varied from reefs adjacent to cities and populated areas to remote and uninhabited islands. As expected, areas closer to human populations had greater amounts of plastics. However, plastics were found even on some of the most remote sites. The coral reef with lowest density of plastic occurred around the Marshall Islands in ...

In the quest to restore damaged and degraded coral reefs, Dr Anjani Ganase and her team have undertaken an approach to research reef types and to allow, as far as possible, nature’s process to lead the way.   The first time that I observed coral spawning was in Curaçao in 2010 during my Master’s research internship. My dive buddy and I - both Master’s candidates at the CARMABI Research Station - were invited to join a team collecting sperm and eggs from Elkhorn corals. Although coral spawning had been observed since the 1980s, scientists were still figuring out the best methods for culturing coral larvae in the lab in order to study the early life history of coral species and for the purpose of coral restoration. Coral spawning refers to the release of coral gametes (sperm and eggs) of the corals into the water column where they mix and fertilize. The coral larvae form and swim down to the reef to settle and grow. This happens seasonally timed by environmenta...