Student Divers Document Coral Reproduction
Posted on August 26th, 2009 by jxh
Tampa Bay area students worked closely with scientists from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) this summer to help scientists document and better understand the reproduction of staghorn coral in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
Classified as federally threatened, staghorn coral reproduce only once a year, and the activity is difficult to observe because it lasts for only about 15 minutes in one evening. Scientists had never documented the event in the Florida Keys before.
Filed under: e-News, Environmental, Ocean | Comments Off on Student Divers Document Coral Reproduction
Tags: Environment, Ocean
Earth’s last great frontier is its oceans, which cover 70 percent of the globe, yet are largely unexplored and only marginally understood. Ocean engineers are helping to open up, protect and put this mystery world to use. They combine civil, mechanical and electrical engineering with oceanography, mathematics, physics and materials science.
