Florida’s Oculina Reef with John Reed, FAU Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute.
The cost for the Marine Science in the Morning Lecture Series is $4 for adults and $3 for seniors and includes admission into the Aquarium. For details call 772-465-3271 or visit: www.sms.si.edu.
The deep-water Oculina coral reefs off Fort Pierce and eastern Florida are unique and occur nowhere else on earth. They are made entirely by a single species of coral, the Ivory Tree Coral, Oculina varicosa. HBOI scientists first discovered the coral reefs with the Johnson Sea-Link submersibles in 1975. John Reed’s research on the Oculina reefs since 1976 has resulted in the establishment of the 600-square-mile Oculina Habitat Area of Particular Concern (HAPC) which extends from Fort Pierce to St. Augustine, and is the first marine protected area in the world to protect deep water coral. John Reed of FAU Harbor Branch will be giving an update on the current state of the Oculina coral reef bank including regulations.