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Andrew Bruckner Read Dr. Andy Bruckner's Daily Updates archive to get a sense of how this exciting expedition unfolded!

Andy conducted benthic reef assessments to assess the size structure and health of reef building corals. One aspect of his work involved the collection of tissue samples from diseased corals to better understand the potential causes and impacts of disease.

Andy is a coral reef ecologist conducting field research in the Caribbean, IndoPacific and Red Sea that is applied towards the development of management and conservation actions. He received his B.Sc. from University of Oregon, a M.Sc, from Northeastern University in Boston and his Ph.D. from the University of Puerto Rico. His research interests include understanding the extent and impacts of human and natural threats on reef building corals, with emphasis on coral diseases and bleaching, hurricane impacts, and coral predators.

A field of flowers

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This morning we headed to Shib Ammar, a submerged patch reef at the outer edge of the Fareasan Banks, some 40 miles offshore. Twenty knot winds from the northwest, and a 1.5 meter swell made for a wet and bumpy ride and prevented a dive at the exposed northwestern tip. As an alternative, we first dove on the outer, more protected southern side.

Satelitte image of Shib Amar

Sharks and rays today

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Our fifth day of research was an epic day. Once again, we had blue skies, calm seas and clear water. One of the local experts warned us of strong winds and a change in conditions, but so far the seas have been like glass. The Golden Shadow relocated to a third anchorage, deep into the Farasan Banks. As the Golden Shadow picked up anchorage, the second officer Andy spotted a massive whale shark which gracefully and slowly swam under the vessel, just below the water’s surface Captain Nick carefully navigated around several treacherous shoals and small patch reefs that don’t quite break the surface, and fortunately the sun was at the right angle.

Heading south at about 15 knots, the Shadow approached what first looked like an unmarked reef off the port side. When it moved, turning abruptly towards the vessel, the Captain realized it was another whale shark – this one at estimated to be 5-6 m long. The whale shark narrowly missed the bow of the Shadow, as it dove to the depths. Interestingly, the whale shark is the largest living fish, yet this pelagic animal is a filter feeder that prefers zooplankton, crustaceans, fish and squid. They may be particularly fond of the Farasan Banks because of the deepwater channels that separate the shoals and patch reefs, especially in areas of upwelling.

Recent reef disturbance

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Dive locations

Today's dive locations

Our team continued reef assessments along middle shelf locations to better characterize the spatial extent of the disturbance. We first examined two locations along the unnamed submerged reef platform described yesterday, first at the northwestern tip, about 6.4 km west of yesterday’s dive, followed by a site about 6.8 km south, at the extreme southern end of the platform. Our afternoon dive was on another submerged reef (Shi’b Murabba), located 7 km east of this platform and separated by a deep (500+ meter) channel.

Rebirth of a coral reef

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For our third dive of the day we surveyed a submerged mid shelf reef, adjacent and west of a deep water channel that bisects the Farasan Banks. As I descended to the bottom, something seemed amiss. Unlike the crystal clear, aquamarine waters of other reefs we examined today, visibility was poor and the water had a greenish tint. Approaching the reef, evidence of mortality was disconcerting.

Farasan Banks dive sites

The star in the lower right shows the location of the recovering reef

Above the waterline

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Jabal Al Lith

The highest point on Al Lith Island, known locally as Jabal Al Lith

Today we continued exploring the reefs in the northern portion of the Farasan Banks and several team members surveyed the mountainous Abu Latt (Al Lith Island) Island. The islands sandy beaches are important hawksbill nesting grounds, with twelve tracks observed in one area.

The uplifted limestone terraces that make up much of the island were laden with fossil corals, mollusks and other organisms derived from a relict pliocene-pleistocene carbonate platform, which grew on ancient salt deposits.

The island has a rich and diverse bird life on the island, including several endangered and threatened or near threatened species. Highlights included the endemic Red Sea white–eyed gull (Larus leucophthalmus, classified as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List 2004), boobies, and osprey. One of the most interesting birds, Eleonora’s falcon (Falco eleonorae) is an endangered species found in Europe, most commonly in Greece, with small populations wintering in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, especially around Madagascar. It breeds in late July, primarily on unpopulated islands in the Mediterranean, the young hatch in August, followed by a migration south, with the birds hunting insects (especially migratory butterflies) around islands and over the sea.

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