Changing Seas

Once a common sight in the Caribbean and Florida, Elkhorn and Staghorn corals are now listed as threatened on the U.S. Endangered Species list. But while these corals have declined in recent years, their hybrid appears to be increasing in parts of the region.

The oceans are a graveyard of man’s seafaring adventures. Today, underwater archaeologists are scouring the seafloor for clues to our maritime past.

In the cold, deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, little-known animals spend their entire lives in near darkness, far removed from our human world. Until now, little research has been conducted on these creatures of the deep, keeping much of their lives a mystery.

Scientists with the Global Reef Expedition are on a six-year mission to study remote coral reefs around the world. Organized by the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation, the expedition kicked off in 2011, with plans to conduct research in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. A coproduction with the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation.