Project Location
A team of reef ecologists will examine the Southern Line Islands' pristine coral reefs.
About the Project
Follow Enric Sala and the expedition team on the Ocean Now Web site—read daily posts on the Ship's Blog, track the path of the ship on interactive expedition maps, and sign up to receive dispatches from the crew.
Threatened by overfishing, pollution, climate change, and disease, coral reefs are among the most endangered ecosystems on Earth. Participants in the Southern Line Islands Expedition hope that by studying the ecology of healthy reefs, they will learn valuable clues about how to preserve these vibrant ocean treasures.
In March and April of 2009, the Southern Line Islands Expedition will travel to the remote central-Pacific islands of Flint, Vostok, Millennium, Starbuck, Malden, and Jarvis to continue reef studies done in the Northern Line Islands in 2005 and 2007. The Line Islands archipelago, which includes territories of the Republic of Kiribati and the United States, is home to pristine reefs largely untouched by human influences.
For the project, National Geographic Emerging Explorer Enric Sala, National Geographic Grantee Stuart Sandin, National Geographic contributing photographer Brian Skerry, and a team of reef ecologists will study the intricate structures of healthy reef ecosystems and cataloguing the wide array of species it takes to sustain a reef.
The expedition is the first study of its kind, and researchers are optimistic about its outcomes. The team hopes to use the data to establish a baseline model for healthy coral reefs, to quantify the effects of human activity on these ecosystems, and to devise a blueprint for the conservation of degraded reefs.
Enric Sala, the Southern Line Islands expedition leader, was recently featured in the New York Times article "Coral Reefs and What Ruins Them."
