In January of 2015, the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation surveyed a plethora of reefs throughout the Palauan archipelago as part of their Global Reef Expedition (GRE). Details can be found here. A proper field report can be downloaded here. I have analyzed my pocilloporid coral samples using my standardized protocol and am now (mid-2023) finally getting to making sense of them.

Here is the RNA/DNA/protein extraction protocol I used with ~180 or so pocilloporid coral samples; 108 of the genotyped colonies were Pocillopora acuta, rather than P. damicornis. What I can say is that, like all other coral colonies sampled as part of the Global Reef Expedition, stress gene expression levels were incredibly high in both the coral hosts and their endosymbiotic Symbiodiniaceae populations. Sadly, we never encountered a pristine reef in all our surveys between 2013 and 2016, even to some of the most far-flung islands and atolls in the world.

Here are the pictures from the January and February dives (linked to my OneDrive account). Also, check out the Palau section of my Adobe Portfolio.