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Large-scale coral restoration begins in Florida Keys sanctuary

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habitat restoration

Diver transplants nursery-grown staghorn coral to reef in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary as part of NOAA’s recovery effort — Mission: Iconic Reefs.

Scientists successfully halt tissue loss disease in pillar coral

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Pillar coral (Dendrogyra cylindrus) is rare in the Florida Keys.

Podcast: Protecting Culebra's coral reefs

February 3, 2021

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A beautiful beach on Culebra Island, Puerto Rico. Undated image.

NOAA researchers and partners find new record-sized coral colony in American Samoa

January 22, 2021

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Pictured: Big Momma, a large coral head, in the National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa. NOAA-funded researchers have recently identified a NEW, record-sized coral colony at Ta’u Island in American Samoa, even larger than the island’s Big Momma colony, one of the largest in the world.

Celebrating veterans serving in habitat conservation

November 12, 2020

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Divers perform coral restoration in Puerto Rico at the end of February 2018. In just one day of the mission, 110 corals were reattached — mostly Orbicella annularis and some brain corals, ranging from 20-50 centimeters in size.

U.S. coral reefs’ health assessed for the first time on a national scale

November 10, 2020

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A brain coral among a group of staghorn corals in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

New Hawaii marine monument report: 'An unrivaled reef ecosystem'

October 20, 2020

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marine protected areas

The island of Nihoa in Hawaii's Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument as seen from aboard a Polynesian canoe. Photo: Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

NOAA grants to advance coral reef conservation science and management

October 7, 2020

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A large steephead parrotfish or laggua near Tumon Bay, Guam.

New research finds deep sea corals could face ‘osteoporosis of the sea’

September 17, 2020

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Deep-sea scleractinian coral Lophelia pertusa with a bubblegum octocoral (in red, Paragorgia sp.) at 300 meters depth on Piggy Bank in Southern California’s Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary.

Podcast: From diving to data, get a close-up look at coral research

September 2, 2020

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NOAA Research Ecologist and scuba diver Shay Viehman finishes up a survey of corals in the deep blue waters of Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary. In the foreground is a huge mound of corals.

Coral reef health reports issued for Atlantic, Gulf and Caribbean

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Fish swim around a coral reef in Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary. Undated image.

Coral fellows take on local issues

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The 2020-2022 fellowship class at orientation. From left, Valentine Vaeoso (American Samoa), Ilan Bubb (CNMI), Victoria Barker (Florida), Matthew Davies (USVI), Justin Cruz (Puerto Rico), Bert Weeks (Hawaii), and Cara Lin (Guam).

Mission: Iconic Reefs aims to save Florida Keys corals

December 10, 2019

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Corals in Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary

NOAA, partners launch groundbreaking Florida Keys coral reef restoration effort

December 9, 2019

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A thicket of elkhorn coral, most of it dead, at Looe Key Reef, shows the need for this restoration effort.

Shipwreck or natural reef? Video documents survey of fish habitats off NC coast

December 6, 2019

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A NOAA dive team surveys the wreck of the USS Schurz, a U.S. Navy gunboat that sunk in 1918 off the coast of Cape Lookout, North Carolina, after colliding with another ship.

Infographic: What is coral bleaching? See how it happens

December 4, 2019

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Coral bleaching infographic - high resolution

'Storehouses of biodiversity': A weeklong look at the importance of coral reefs

November 29, 2019

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The 2016 coral reef grants and cooperative agreements issued by the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program include work to monitor the condition of reefs, promote reef resilience in the face of a changing climate, and enhance sustainable fisheries.

NOAA, partners to announce major Florida Keys coral reef restoration effort

November 25, 2019

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Coral Restoration Foundation divers transplant nursery-grown staghorn coral to Carysfort Reef in 2018. On Dec. 9, NOAA will announce a major coral reef restoration strategy targeting seven reefs in the Florida Keys.

NOAA awards more than $9.3 million to advance coral reef conservation science and management

October 4, 2019

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Corals thrive and support a wide diversity of reef fish in the sunny, shallow water at Baker reef in the Pacific Remote Islands.

Scientists have developed a new type of coral nursery to restore damaged reefs

August 23, 2019

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habitat restoration

NOAA's new type of coral nursery uses fully formed coral colonies rather than small fragments.

Expedition reveals coral devastation in remote Pacific marine monument

August 16, 2019

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During a July 2019 expedition, divers observed devastating damage to coral reef sites at Rapture Reef in French Frigate Shoals.

An update on the ongoing coral disease outbreak in Florida

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A NOAA diver surveys the progression of stony coral tissue loss disease in Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, July 2019.

Sunscreen chemicals, marine life and you: A handy visual guide

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Two free divers gaze at a large grouping of corals.

New buoy in American Samoa opens a window into a changing ocean

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NOAA, the National Park Service and other partners launched a new buoy to measure ocean carbon dioxide concentrations and other data in Fagatele Bay in the National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa.

Scientists embark on new field season to study coral reef ecosystems

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Blue trevally (Caranx melampygus), ornate butterflyfish (Chaetodon ornatissimus), and starry-eyed parrotfish (Calotomus carolinus) over a coral reef off Maui.

U.S. Coral Reef Task Force to meet in Washington, DC

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National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa is home to the only true tropical reef in the National Marine Sanctuary System! Here in the reefs surrounding Aunu'u Island, a few pink anemonefish nestle into an anemone.

Remote coral reefs in better condition than those near human populations in U.S. Pacific

December 13, 2018

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Corals at Pagan Island, an uninhabited volcanic island in the Mariana Islands archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, seem to have fared much better than other areas. Here is a close-up of an Acropora coral, typically more susceptible to bleaching events, which appears to be doing just fine.

It's #CoralsWeek at NOAA

December 3, 2018

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View of a coral reef just below the waterline in Midway Atoll, Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument.

No safe haven for coral from the combined impacts of warming and ocean acidification

November 16, 2018

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Before and after images of heat-stress related coral bleaching in American Samoa, in the tropical Pacific.

NOAA awards over $8.3 million to advance coral reef conservation science and management

November 8, 2018

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Pillar coral (Dendrogyra cylindrus) is rare in the Florida Keys.

Infographic: How does climate change affect coral reefs?

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Coral bleaching at Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef, March 2016.

These veterans have a mission: This time, it’s fighting for coral

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Divers perform coral restoration in Puerto Rico at the end of February 2018. In just one day of the mission, 110 corals were reattached — mostly Orbicella annularis and some brain corals, ranging from 20-50 centimeters in size.

International Year of the Reef shines spotlight on value, health of planet's coral ecosystems

February 22, 2018

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Coral reef colonies near Jarvis Island.

Teachers: Highlight corals in your classroom during this International Year of the Reef

February 22, 2018

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The forereef benthic community at Swains Island in American Samoa is dominated by an assemblage of plating Montipora and branching cauliflower coral (Pocillopora meandrina).

Why are some coral reefs dying?

December 7, 2017

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A NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program diver attempts to record audio and visual data on a rare aggregation of the Green Bumphead Parrotfish (Bolbometapon muricatum) at Wake Atoll in the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument.