Coral Cay Conservation

🐠Today is World Manta Day 🐠

Manta and Devil rays are threatened globally, and numbers are dropping in many regions.

Both Manta and Devil rays are targeted for their gill plates, which are used in pseudo-remedies in China and East Asia.

Manta and Devil rays, like many other large marine animals, get easily tangled in fishing nets and ghost nets.

Climate change is changing the availability of phytoplankton in the ocean, and unregulated tourism can push Manta rays away from critical cleaning and feeding habitats.



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📸 Ocean Image Bank: Lewis Burnett/Simon Hilbourne/ Toby Mathews/ Umeed Mistery

Coral reefs first appeared 485 million years ago, at the dawn of the Early Ordovician.

Throughout their 485 million year existence they have adapted to natural changes in our environment, and have thrived in the ocean.

Global coral bleaching events were first recorded in the 1990's, and the occurrences of bleaching events have increased in prevalence since.



📸Ocean Image Bank

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Did you see our announcement last week? We are offering 20% of all 2023 expeditions between now and December 1st 🐠

Visit our website for more information, or drop us a DM

www.coralcay,com

🪸 EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT🪸

For a limited time only we are offering a 20% discount on all expeditions booked between now and December 1st 2022!

We've also added 4 new 2023 dates to our website 👀

www.coralcay.org

📸 Original photo by Matt Curnock /OIB

Volunteer opportunities for the conservation of coral reefs Coral Cay Conservation is a marine conservation organisation which works to protect the health of coral reefs in the developing world. Learn more about our work and how you can volunteer on our expeditions.

Anemone fish and their hosts are synonymous with coral reefs🪸

Anemone fish have evolved to live symbiotically with anemones, meaning that they both benefit mutually from the relationship.

Clownfish are protected from predators by the stinging tentacles of the anemone, and in return, they keep the anemone clean and tidy!

Join our coral reef monitoring team in Egypt and help us protect coral reefs 🐠

www.coralcay.org

Volunteer opportunities for the conservation of coral reefs Coral Cay Conservation is a marine conservation organisation which works to protect the health of coral reefs in the developing world. Learn more about our work and how you can volunteer on our expeditions.

Every space in a coral reef is a potential habitat or refuge for organisms 🦀⁠
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Cryptic species such as this Trapezia crab are hard to spot on the reef. Survey divers looking for invertebrates or cryptic species spend most of their time head down, scanning the reef for smaller species that hide amongst coral 🪸⁠
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Join us in Egypt and learn to dive, survey coral reefs and contribute to their conservation 🤿⁠
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🐠www.coralcay.org 🐠
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Sea turtles, like whales, migrate thousands of kilometres between foraging and nesting habitats 🐢

The high seas are full of migrating animals, but they're also full of longlines and abandoned ghost nets, both of which threaten migratory animals 🐋🦈

Longline methods are indiscriminate and attract animals with baited hooks, whilst ghost nets capture and entangle marine animals as they travel through the ocean.

learn to dive. Travel the world. Conserve coral reefs 🪸 www.coralcay.org

📸 Gaby Barathieu / Ocean Image Bank

Whales migrate thousands of kilometres every year across the high seas, travelling through 'whale superhighways' to get to critical feeding and breeding habitats 🐋

Whales may be protected for certain parts of their migration, but a 2018 study highlighted that 50% of a migratory whale's life is spent in areas of the high seas beyond national jurisdiction.

Only 1% of the high seas are protected, leaving whales and other migratory animals unprotected and vulnerable.

learn to dive. Travel the world. Conserve coral reefs 🪸 www.coralcay.org

📸 François Baelen / Ocean Image Bank

The high seas make up 63% of the ocean, but less than 1% is protected🌊

High seas will be hugely impacted if deep sea mining plans go ahead. Dredging the ocean floor and moving minerals to the surface disturbs and displaces sediment, as well as destroying habitats and creating noise and toxic chemical pollution.

The deep sea is often portrayed as a desolate abyss, but this is far from the truth. The deep is sea is teaming with life, and intrinsically linked to the high seas and health of our ocean.

If we take from the deep sea, we take from the whole ocean.

learn to dive. Travel the world. Conserve coral reefs 🪸 www.coralcay.org

A group of squid is called a squad 🦑

There is an estimated 300 species of squid and a huge size difference between the smallest and largest.

The biggest species of squid is the Colossal squid, which is also the largest invertebrate species on the planet, reaching up to 14m in length! 🦑🦑

The smallest species of squid is the Southern pygmy squid, with males reaching a maximum length of 1.6cm! 🤏🏽

Join us on an expedition and help conserve coral reefs🪸
www.coralcay.org/expedition-costs

📸Jeff Hester / Ocean Image Bank

Is there anything more beautiful than a healthy coral reef?

Help us keep reefs healthy and join our monitoring team in November, survey coral reefs and collect baseline data 🐟

🐠 www.coralcay.org/expedition-costs 🐠



📸 Jasmine Corbett

Volunteer opportunities for the conservation of coral reefs Coral Cay Conservation is a marine conservation organisation which works to protect the health of coral reefs in the developing world. Learn more about our work and how you can volunteer on our expeditions.

Are you free in November, or have some annual leave days to take before the year is up?

Join us for 2 or 3 weeks in Sinai and survey our beautiful house reef in Ras Abu Galoum! 🐠

Visit our website for dates and prices

💦 www.coralcay.org/expedition-costs💦

📸 Ocean Image Bank / Umeed Mistery

In March we were fortunate enough to see dolphins on our final dive in Ras Abu Galoum 🐬

Dolphins in the Red Sea have been observed queuing in groups to rub their bodies on the reef. Why?

A recently published paper has found that dolphins in the Red Sea are using coral and medicating their skin, with specific species of coral used for different parts of the body 🤯

Join us on an expedition and see these incredible animals for yourself!

www.coralcay.org

Coral reefs are home to 25% of ocean biodiversity, but take up just 0.1% of the ocean floor.

Coral reefs are an integral part of our ocean, but they are heavily impacted by climate change, overfishing, ocean acidification and habitat loss.

Join us on an expedition, learn to dive and help us collect data that will protect coral reefs 🪸

✨www.coralcay.org✨

📸 Ocean Image Bank / Alex Mustard

Volunteer opportunities for the conservation of coral reefs Coral Cay Conservation is a marine conservation organisation which works to protect the health of coral reefs in the developing world. Learn more about our work and how you can volunteer on our expeditions.

Eagle Rays are active swimmers and unlike sting rays, do not rest on the ocean floor 💤

Other than the distinctive spots and countershading, eagle rays can also be distinguished by their diamond shape and long tail.

Eagle rays feed on the ocean floor and use their large 'snout' to dig up crustaceans, molluscs and small fish 🦀

Join us on an expedition and help conserve coral reefs, visit our website www.coralcay.org



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📸 Ocean Image Bank/ Toby Mathews

James Lovelock was a climate scientist and the creator of the Gaia hypothesis, a theory that the Earth is a self-regulating community of organisms 🌎

He was an independent scientist and one of the greatest minds in Britain. RIP.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jul/27/james-lovelock-creator-of-gaia-hypothesis-dies-on-103rd-birthday?fbclid=IwAR2LbmMK-lZBv1wD2H7sL-lTojBVxUbkiMzESm9OYOiZDJ8UpOTcL_S4CDw

James Lovelock, creator of Gaia hypothesis, dies on 103rd birthday The scientist was best known for his theory that the Earth is a self-regulating community of organisms

🦈SHARK WEEK🦈

An ocean without sharks is not an ocean we can survive with.

www.coralcay.org



📸 Ocean Image Bank

Coral reefs are an integral part of ocean health. If we lose coral reefs, we threaten 25% of our oceans' biodiversity 🪸

We cannot afford to lose coral reefs.

Help us monitor coral reef health and have the adventure of a lifetime 🐠

Visit us at www.coralcay.org

📸 Ocean Image Bank / Jordan Robbins

Volunteer opportunities for the conservation of coral reefs Coral Cay Conservation is a marine conservation organisation which works to protect the health of coral reefs in the developing world. Learn more about our work and how you can volunteer on our expeditions.