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NOAA shares 25-year effort to map coral reef health throughout the Pacific

Hawaiʻi Public Radio | By DW Gibson
Published July 14, 2025 at 2:35 PM HST
A diver collects photoquadrat imagery by using a monopod stick to measure 1 meter above the sea floor during the 2025 mission. The organisms in the photos, like different types of coral and algae, will be later identified to better understand the coral reef habitat.
NOAA Fisheries/Corinne Amir
A diver collects photoquadrat imagery by using a monopod stick to measure 1 meter above the sea floor during the 2025 mission. The organisms in the photos, like different types of coral and algae, will be later identified to better understand the coral reef habitat. 

A massive annual survey of coral reefs throughout the Pacific Ocean just wrapped up.

Scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have returned from a four-month voyage where they charted the growth and decline of coral reefs, one millimeter at a time.

Tom Oliver took part in the annual survey and stopped by our studios to talk about the trove of data collected this year, beginning with the NOAA initiative to map our ocean's reefs.

HPR's DW Gibson with Tom Oliver.
HPR
HPR's DW Gibson with Tom Oliver.

View the National Coral Reef Monitoring Program Data Visualization Tool here. Learn more about the Archipelagic Research Program or view the gallery from the National Coral Reef Monitoring Program 2025 mission.

This story aired on The Conversation on July 14, 2025. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m.
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The Conversation NOAAEnvironmentScience
DW Gibson
DW Gibson is a producer of The Conversation. Contact him at dgibson@hawaiipublicradio.org.
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