Coral Triangle: Follow Along on the Halmahera Expedition

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Coral Triangle

Expedition Halmahera

Journey to an unexplored heart of coral biodiversity in Southeast Asia

Alison Green counting fish in Halmahera © A. Muljadi

Nature Conservancy marine scientists Alison Green and Rod Salm went on an expedition to the Coral Triangle — and found one of Earth's richest treasure troves of marine life.

What did they find that made these scientists "yahoo" with excitement? Unprecedented numbers of fish species, more corals at each site than anywhere else in the world, endangered turtles and species new to science!

Read about the expedition through the scientists' blog about their journey to an unexplored heart of coral biodiversity in Southeast Asia!

Features
Photos

The benthic cover team hard at work recording the cover on this high cover reef © Rod Salm

Expedition to Halmera: Week One

Read about the first week of the Halmahera expedition and what the team has found. So far they have seen record numbers of fish and coral species, endangered turtles, humphead parrotfish and a coral colony almost 1,000 years old!

Young bluetangs or Dory in “Finding Nemo” © Gerry Allen

Expedition to Halmahera: Week Two

The team rescues a turtle and gets a renewed sense of optimism about the survival of coral reefs. See why what they found — including 600 species of coral — confirms Halmahera as the "heart of the heart" of the Coral Triangle.

A mantis shrimp showing his raptorial appendages. © Gerry Allen

Expedition to Halmahera: Week Three

Week three started off with a bang! The team discovered a new species and encountered an "oddball" anemonefish. All this, and more, is making the team wonder, "what other discoveries will they make on this expedition?"

Saying goodbye to the Halmahera Expedition. © TNC

Expedition to Halmahera: Final Reflections

Rod Salm, the Conservancy's Director of Marine Conservation programs in the Asia Pacific, reflects on the discoveries made on the Halmahera Expedition and how Halmahera's reefs hold a missing piece of the puzzle for learning about coral reef resilience around the world.