If you would have gone diving in the Caribbean forty years ago, you would have had to try very hard not to see a branching coral known as elkhorn, or Acropora palmata. One of the region’s most abundant species, its colonies formed jungles on the crests of nearly all Caribbean reefs. From the […]
URGENT: We need a gene bank in Tela Continue reading
Last June, I received a note from the co-administrator of Tela’s Marine Protected Area, Antal Borcsok, saying something horrible was happening to Tela’s reef. “The reef is dying,” he wrote. My heart collapsed because this reef, one so rare and beautiful and poorly understood, had seemed resilient to so much that we’ve
A Tragedy, a Mystery, and an Opportunity Continue reading
As I’ve written in previous posts, for the last year and a half, I’ve been swept up in questions surrounding the unexpected health of the coral in the bay of Tela in Honduras. In May, I returned with Heather Kuhlken and Tiffany Duong, and they were just as blown away as I
ACT: Amigos de los corales de Tela Continue reading
Plenty has been written and said about what’s happening right now on the Florida Reef Tract, and so I’ve been slow to say any more, to add to the sadness. The Florida Reef Tract is the third largest in the world, about 380 miles long, stretching from north of Miami beyond Key
Florida Simmers Continue reading
Here’s a little collab between TelaMarine and me for World Ocean Day! https://www.juliberwald.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/45dd5361-16d4-4d3c-afea-1d4c54bf8188.mp4
Happy World Ocean Day! Continue reading
The coral behind me in this photo is at least 20 feet tall and easily has a circumference of 80 feet. No joke. Although the fogging of my right goggle certainly is something to laugh at. I’m terrible at selfies on land, so it’s beyond me why I tried to take one
Tela: Still Healthy, Still Mysterious Continue reading
When I got the email from my publisher that LIFE ON THE ROCKS was a finalist for the LA Times Book Award, my heart dropped. I gasped out loud. My daughter, Isy was still waking up and she cracked her door open, “What happened?” she asked groggily. I jumped up and hugged
LA TIMES BOOK AWARD FINALIST Continue reading
It was an honor to meet Asst. Secretary Monica Medina, and offer her a copy of LIFE ON THE ROCKS. At the Society for Environmental Journalism’s Annual Meeting in 2022, I was asked to moderate a session on ocean plastic, a topic I’ve followed for about a quarter century. The issue came
OCEAN PLASTICS, Redux Continue reading
I would be lying if I didn’t say that I’ve had my share of sweaty palms about the reviews for LIFE ON THE ROCKS. This is a book about coral science, but also a deeply personal book. As I wrote this book, the world was hit by the Covid crisis, a new
“You operated on that eel?” I asked, my eyes opening wide. Nathan Marcucci, the manager of the aquarium at the San Antonio Zoo, nodded and pulled out his phone showing me a video of how, along with the Zoo’s veterinarian, he’d built a constant flow system to move water over the anesthetized
Field Trip to the Zoo Continue reading