Biologists dive for secrets of coral reef that survives hot Gulf waters
Coral reefs are sensitive ecosystems that rarely survive sea temperatures above 32 degrees Celsius, yet coral reef fauna thrives in the Persian Gulf, where scientists hope to find clues about climate change survival.
A thunderstorm is growling in the distance while marine biologists Matt Mitchell and Noura al-Mansoori help Dain McParland, the captain, to load a boat with diving gear. December is around the corner and Abu Dhabi is experiencing one of its rare rainy days. The crew knows that it will have to complete its mission quickly. Mansoori, one of the few female Emiratis in the discipline, carries with her a hammer to retrieve cubes of dead coral that she had placed underwater months before. Mitchell, a jovial British citizen, wants to place sensors to collect information on marine sediments.
The 10-meter Arabian Craft soon leaves its mooring in a small harbor nestled between the presidential palace and the seven-star hotel Emirates Palace. The boat speeds to its destination. Al-Dhabiya, west of the UAE capital, is one of the biologists’ main research sites. The patchy coral reef is close to the shore in a protected marine area where fishing is not allowed. While the reef has a lower biodiversity and less coral cover than other iconic spots in Indonesia or Australia, its ability to endure extreme weather conditions makes it exceptional.
In the Persian Gulf, a semi-enclosed sea between the Arabian Peninsula and the Iranian plateau, the coral reefs are able to handle temperatures up to 36 degrees Celsius. Elsewhere in the world, these sensitive ecosystems cannot survive beyond 32 degrees. The Gulf corals' remarkable resilience to warmer temperatures is a mystery that the marine biology laboratory at New York University Abu Dhabi, where Mansoori and Mitchell work as researchers, has been trying to uncover for the past 10 years.
Founded by John Burt, a Canadian biologist who fled the freezing waters of his home country, the lab is one of the few academic research centers in the region. Its main focus is on coral reef ecology. By combining different approaches — genomic, molecular, physiological and ecological — the biologists explore how reef fauna is able to cope with extreme temperatures. They hope their findings may help assess the impacts of climate change on these precious marine habitats.
