CIOERT Explores Pulley Ridge on NOAA-Funded Research Cruise

FAU’s Cooperative Institute for Ocean Exploration, Research and Technology (CIOERT) is once again involved in a NOAA-funded project to investigate the role that healthy reefs play in replenishing ecosystems.

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The Cooperative Institute for Ocean Exploration, Research and Technology (CIOERT) at FAU Harbor Branch is once again involved in a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) funded project aimed at investigating the role that healthy mesophotic reefs off the southwest coast of Florida play in replenishing ecosystems further downstream.

For the past four years, research has been conducted on the project: "Connectivity of the Pulley Ridge-South Florida Coral Reed Ecosystem: Processes to Decision-Support Tools," which is led by the University of Miami and represents a collaboration of more than 35 scientists at 11 different universities pooling their expertise with state and federal agency scientists through NOAA's Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies at the University of Miami. The project is focused on investigating how the relatively healthy mesophotic reefs of Pulley Ridge affect the health of coral, sponges, and fish such as grouper and snapper, in the downstream reefs of the Florida Keys and Dry Tortugas. For more information, visit http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/15pulleyridge/welcome.html.

-FAU-

Tags: harbor branch | research | science