Lionfish are native to the Indo-Pacific but are now established on the southeast coast of the U.S., in the Caribbean,  and in the Gulf of Mexico. Lionfish have few predators in this area. They are carnivores that feed on crustaceans and small fish.   Read the brief by the National Ocean Service.

http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/lionfish.html

A journalist dives in Cuba’s beautiful coral reefs – Alert Diver

http://www.alertdiver.com/Cubas-Coral-Reefs

http://traveltips.usatoday.com/top-ten-largest-coral-reefs-100603.html

The Great Barrier Reef, Australia, The Florida Keys Reef System, and more…

http://www.theguardian.com/world/blog/2016/may/30/malaysia-just-established-a-one-million-hectare-marine-park

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/coral-reefs

http://ocean.si.edu/corals-and-coral-reefs

Coral Reefs teem with life, possibly one quarter of all ocean species depending on reefs for food and shelter… (Click above for website)

CBS Sunday Morning produced a video report on shipwrecks lying on a segment of the Florida reef in Biscayne National Park in southern Florida.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/on-the-trail-biscayne-national-park/

The US army corps of engineers plans to deepen and widen shipping channels to allow more ships to access Port Everglades, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The $374m plan, which has been sent to Congress for approval, would mean vast tracts of seabed will be dug up and deposited out at sea starting next year. Philippe Cousteau, grandson of famed ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau, says the plan is “lunacy.”

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/mar/24/florida-coral-reef-new-port-philippe-cousteau-fort-lauderdale

BLUE is dedicated to finding solutions to change the course of the degradation of our oceans. The film festival and conservation summit are in St. Petersburg, Florida,  November 10 – 13, 2016.

http://www.blueoceanfilmfestival.org/

The largest bleaching has been at Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.