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Coral research in Chagos
The Chagos archipelago are home to some of the most pristine coral reefs in the world, however a huge bleaching event in 1998 wiped out almost 90% of the coral population.
Located 500km south of the Maldives, the reefs and islands of the Chagos archipelago cover an area of approx. 19,000km2 of tropical sea called the British Indian Ocean Territory and remain largely unpopulated.
The largest and most southerly of the islands, Diego Garcia, contains a joint UK-US naval support facility, whilst all of the remaining islands are uninhabited, save a handful of long haul yachts that occasionally stop at the Salomon atoll in the north.
However, in 1998 a huge bleaching event took place throughout the entire Indo Pacific, in some locations resulting in the bleaching and death of almost all corals up to 20-25 meters in depth – 90% of the Chagos coral population was wiped out.
ZSL has long been active in the conservation of the Chagos Archipelago through the UK Overseas Territories Forum and the Chagos Conservation Trust and in 2006, Rachel Jones, deputy team lead of the aquarium, joined other UK coral and reef fish experts in a three-week expedition to the islands.
The main aim of our survey was to assess and compare the occurrence of coral disease around Diego Garcia and the Northern atolls respectively using video transects, and to take tissue samples for further disease analysis at ZSL laboratories.
Visiting pristine reefs such as these also provid an excellent example on which to model the main exhibit featuring in the prospective Indo Pacific biome at Biota! allowing ZSL to actually experience first hand the species, ecology, look, feel and colour of this amazing environment.
