More Online Resources
In this online resource section, we've collected links to some of the best coral reef and conservation resources on the web. If you would like to add or update resource information, please contact us.
• Maps
• Research, Data, Assessments, and Reports
Education
• The ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies lists educational resources, webinars, and educational booklets in their educational resources section.
• The Bridge is a collection of online marine education resources featuring a number of ocean science lesson plans, including Coral Bleaching (grades 9 - 12) and Coral Snapshots (grades 8-12), as well as marine education resources for professional development, student guidance, and more.
• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Coral Reef Conservation Program's Education and Outreach section has a wealth of background information, lesson plans, materials, and activities for educators. For additional educational resources hosted by NOAA, see the NOAA Ocean Service Education site's Corals Roadmap to Resources.
• Reef ED has a collection of interactive student resources about the Great Barrier Reef, including a visual library with over 1500 color images and videos that can be used for educational purposes.
• The Sea Turtle Conservancy includes extensive information on sea turtles, profiles of individual sea turtles that are being tracked, and an educator's corner with an educator's guide, sea turtle activities, and an "Adopt-a-Sea Turtle" program.
Maps
• Google Earth now features an ocean tool that allows users to explore underwater terrain in 3D. Google Ocean includes numerous layers of information contributed by ocean explorers, researchers, and scientists. Learn more »
• NOAA's Office of Satellite Data Processing and Distribution (OSDPD) provides recent and historical satellite data and maps relating to coral bleaching and sea surface temperatures.
• ReefBase's online geographic information system, ReefGIS, allows users to display coral reef-related data and information on interactive maps, which include zoom, search, and datalayer query functions. ReefBase also provides a searchable digital map gallery and other map resources.
Multimedia
• ARKive is a multimedia guide to the world's endangered species, including videos, photos, and facts about coral reef organisms.
• The Coral Reef Multimedia Project provides a collection of short educational documentaries and videos on coral reef topics.
• The National Marine Sanctuaries Marine Life collection has a searchable media library of high-quality downloadable photos and videos.
• The NOAA Photo Library has a collection of high-quality downloadable coral reef photographs.
• ReefBase has an extensive searchable photo gallery of images that can be downloaded with a free subscription.
Research, Data, Assessments, and Reports
• FishBase is a comprehensive searchable online database of marine life. It includes over 30,000 species with alternate names in different languages, pictures, and references to scientific literature.
• NOAA's Coral Reef Information System (CoRIS), provides extensive regionally-based data, reports, and publications on coral reefs within U.S. states and territories. The website also includes an academic glossary.
• NOAA's Coral Reef Watch Program utilizes remote sensing and in situ tools for near-real-time and long-term monitoring, modeling, and reporting of physical environmental conditions of coral reef ecosystems. The site provides easily-accessible maps showing current and historical data for bleaching alerts, degree heating weeks, hotspots, sea surface temperatures, and more. You can also subscribe to the Coral Reef Watch Satellite Bleaching Alert System to receive automated e-mail updates for a particular reef site.
• NOAA's Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center has a data section that includes remote sensing data products from NOAA's Central Pacific OceanWatch program, near-real-time meteorological and oceanographic data, the TurtleWatch data mapping product, and Western Pacific Fisheries Information Network. Their Coral Reef Ecosystem Research Division has research information and numerous downloadable publications.
• ReefBase provides a global database with country-level data and information about coral reef resources, status, threats, and management. The site also includes a publications section with an extensive online library of coral reef publications, coral reef status reports, a fisheries publications database, and papers and proceedings from coral reef symposia.
Management Information, Tools, and Publications
• The Coral Reef Targeted Research & Capacity Building for Management Program is an international coral reef research initiative that provides excellent resources for coral reef researchers, managers, and policy makers. The tools section of the website includes guides, toolkits, and assessment tools for a variety of reef management subjects, including marine remote sensing and reef rehabilitation. Additional reports, research updates, and articles can be found in the publications section.
• The IUCN Global Marine Programme has extensive resources about marine conservation. Of particular interest are the publications about marine protected areas and the Climate Change and Coral Reefs Marine Working Group pages, which include publications, projects, news, and a bibliography.
• The National Marine Sanctuaries website has an entire management section with resources for managing marine protected areas.
• ReefBase has an extensive coral reef management section with information on monitoring, MPAs, capacity, legislation, gaps, and recommendations. The site also includes downloadable reports on lessons learned and good practices in the management of coral reefs and marine protected areas.
• The Reef Resilience website, maintained by the Nature Conservancy, is devoted to providing coral reef managers with information about building coral reef resilience through marine protected area design and management. It includes training module toolkits, case studies, a resilience training course, and a listing of publications and further resources.
Sustainable Living
How Biodegradable Is Your Trash?
Sustainable Seafood Guides
• Environmental Defense Seafood Selector
• Marine Conservation Society FISHONLINE website
• Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Guide
• Seafood Choices Alliance Buyer's Guide
Carbon Footprint Calculators