Chagos (formerly the British Indian Ocean Territory [BIOT]): the planet's most remote, "pristine" reef, yet still regularly succumbing to bleaching.

That said, it's still one of the nicest places I've ever been diving, and I hope the photos below do it justice. The Living Oceans Foundation surveyed ~115 reefs of BIOT between March and May of 2015; click here for details of the mission, and the field report can be downloaded here (or here for GPS coordinates of sites). I have RNA, DNA, and protein samples (click here for protocol.) from both pocilloporid and seriatoporid coral samples. The DNAs were analyzed via RFLP by Ben Wainwright in order to elucidate host species. Of the 166 Pocillopora spp. colonies sampled, 115, 34, and 17 were P. acuta (77% of those analyzed), P. damicornis (23%), or not analyzed (of which nine were never extracted), respectively. Such DNAs will later be used for microbial profiling.

High-resolution habitat maps of all sites surveyed will eventually be posted here. By the way, I did NOT make this map.

High-resolution habitat maps of all sites surveyed will eventually be posted here. By the way, I did NOT make this map.

Unlike for samples of the prior LOF Global Reef Expedition cruises, I will not assess gene expression given my findings (Mayfield et al. 2016 & 2018) that there is no congruency between gene expression and respective protein levels in reef corals or their in hospite Symbiodiniaceae populations. Instead, I will use label-based mass spectrometry approaches to profile the proteins synthesized, as proteins, and not mRNAs, actually undertake cellular work and are therefore better predictors of cell biology and therefore animal physiology. If anyone is interested in collaborating on this, I would be more than happy to share samples! I have samples from the SAME REEF (Peros Banhos) both before and during bleaching. Unfortunately, I did not tag colonies so that I have before and during-bleaching from the same colony (we did not plan to return to any one site.); the resulting sample set may nevertheless be telling, especially since some of the corals (Pocillopora acuta & Seriatopora hystrix) resisted bleaching, whereas those nearby (<5 m) did not. This may allow us to explore the molecular basis of thermotolerance (or lack thereof).  

Best of Chagos: mantas, whale sharks, and, alas, coral bleaching (oh my).