Short Attention Span Science Theater Stanford University

Genetic techniques suggest that historical populations of Gray whales were much higher than the numbers everybody has always believed, based on whaling records. 

The corals in a lagoon off of Ofu Island are being subjected to the same temperature changes as other corals around the world as a result of global warming.  In other places the warming is causing coral bleaching, but the corals here seem to be resistant to the rising temperatures.

Research is being conducted in the Bahamas to determine how far larvae disperse from within protected areas.  This work will help to determine how far away a marine park conservation benefits will extend.

What is a coral? The basic ideas from the birth of some of the simplest creatures on earth to the development of living structures so large they are visible from space.

Coral bleaching occurs when their symbiotic algae are stressed to the point where they stop photosynthesizing and producing the food they give the coral for “rent.”  This causes the coral to “evict” the algae, which turns the coral white.

We hear about global warming. We hear about coral bleaching. What does this global phenomenon have to do with these simple marine life forms?