Coral Brief
With Rising water temperatures being the major contributor to Coral Bleaching events, Coral Watch is a global program where the input from everyday users of the Reef can help Scientists from the University of Queensland monitor and protect Reefs around the globe. Coral Bleaching is the whitening of coral due to the loss of the symbiotic algae that lives in the corals tissue. In healthy coral algae supplies energy and provides colour. During bleaching events due to high water temperature the coral animal expels the algae from their tissue which leads to a the change in colour. As the coral expel more algae the lighter the coral becomes in colour.
Participants are briefed on the basics of corals science, as well as how to use the tools they have been given for the activity, before being broken into working groups. Each group/team is given the tools they need to conduct their research, including a coral health chart, underwater slate, and underwater camera. Depending on the location of the their reef trip, participants can conduct their research whilst diving, snorkeling or walking in the shallows. The survey can be run a few different ways (random, transect or by species) depending on the choice of the team. Once the observations have been collected and given back to the facilitators, the results are entered online and graphs will be immediately generated to show how healthy the reef is and which of the corals seem to be more susceptible to bleaching in that area. This information is stored in a global data base and will be used for the ongoing monitoring of reef systems globally.