Image

Multi-Pronged Coral Reef Research

May 31, 2018

WHOI scientist Amy Apprill led an first-of-its kind joint expedition with Cuban and American scientists in November 2017 to study the Gardens of the Queens in Cuba, one of the most untouched and unknown coral reefs in the Caribbean. This illustration outlines the breadth of their research. While scuba-diving, the scientists examined the coral and ocean-bottom reef community and the health and the abundance and diversity of reef fish and sharks. They also studied (clockwise, from top left), the microorganisms in the reef water; the small molecules called metabolites used and produced by reef life as part of their life-sustaining chemical processes; the small invertebrates within reef sediments; and the reef soundscape, or the sounds made by fish and other invertebrates. (Illustration by Natalie Renier, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)