New paper on response diversity among cryptic coral species around Moorea (Burgess et. al., Ecology)

Response diversity in corals: hidden differences in bleaching mortality among cryptic Pocillopora species Scott C. Burgess1, Erika C. Johnston1, Alex S.J. Wyatt2, James J. Leichter3, Peter J. Edmunds4 1Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA. 2Department of Ocean Science and Hong Kong Branch of | Click for More →

Congratulations to our three postgrad scholarship winners!

Three members of the Ocean Ecol Lab have won prestigious scholarships to support their postgraduate studies at HKUST: Joseph HEARD, Ph.D. student Scholarship: Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme (HKPFS), Research Grants Council (RGC) of Hong Kong Project: Drivers of mesophotic reef fish diversity within the | Click for More →

Grant success: RGC Early Career Scheme

Dr Wyatt has been awarded an Early Career Scheme (ECS) grant by the Research Grants Council (RGC) of Hong Kong to continue his exploration of internal waves over coral reefs, focusing on how internal-wave exposure influences the ecological structure and function of several of the | Click for More →

New paper on island mass effects around Moorea (James et. al., Front. Mar. Sci.)

An Island Mass Effect Resolved Near Moorea, French Polynesia Anna K. James1, Libe Washburn1, Chris Gotschalk1, Stéphane Maritorena2, Alice Alldredge1, Craig E. Nelson3, James L. Hench4, James J. Leichter5, Alex S. Wyatt6 and Craig A. Carlson1 1Department of Ecology Evolution and Marine Biology, University of | Click for More →

Internal-wave cooling – hope for coral reefs

Global heating threats to coral reefs have received significant attention in the literature and media. In a new study across the Pacific Ocean, we show widespread cooling of reefs by internal waves – a ubiquitous process reducing heating accumulation in potential refuge habitats. Adapted from | Click for More →

New paper on internal-wave cooling of coral reefs (Wyatt et. al., Nat. Geosci.)

Heat accumulation on coral reefs mitigated by internal waves Alex S.J. Wyatt1,2*, James J. Leichter3, Lauren T. Toth4, Toshihiro Miyajima2, Richard B. Aronson5, Toshi Nagata2 1Department of Ocean Science, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong. 2Atmosphere and | Click for More →

Grant success: KAKENHI Early-Career Scientist grant to Dr Wyatt

Dr Wyatt has been awarded an Early-Career Scientist (KAKENHI) grant by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) to clarify several mysteries surrounding the critically threatened whale shark. The research aims to quantify the global prevalence of foraging specialisation, fasting and herbivory, and | Click for More →

Chemically unravelling mysteries surrounding the world’s largest fish

Foraging, starvation and herbivory in the globally threatened whale shark Whale sharks, filter feeding sharks that travel tropical oceans in search of their microscopic prey, are globally threatened. Despite being the world’s largest fish, reaching over 12 m in length and 21 tonnes, many facets | Click for More →