How the Research Works

We're measuring density of coral, which has been declining over the last 20 or so years. We do this with two different methods. The picture is of me taking point-intercept data. Basically you randomly drop a grid in different places on the reef and then you count and record what's under the ribbons: hard coral, soft coral, algae, sponge, sand, or rock.

If you do this over and over you can get good measurements for coverages. If you do it year after year you can see if the coral coverage is going down.

We also use transects. These are specific lines that we swim and count the various coral and look for bleaching. I'll tell you more about this tomorrow after I actually do it.