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Wally Rich

@reefwally.bsky.social

Wisconsinite 🧀 in Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦 Postdoc at KAUST studying coral reefs of the Red Sea

36 Posts677 Follower655 Folgt
Wally Rich@reefwally.bsky.social · 3w ago

I'm here in Auckland and excited to present on our lastest project at #ICRS2026! Using repeated coral population surveys and 8+ years of in situ temperature data, we find an unexpected trigger of catastrophic mortality in a heat-tolerant species. Check out my talk on Thursday at 2:45, room 505 🌊🧪🪸

An underwater view of a shallow Red Sea reef flat showing an abundant yellow branching coral, Stylophora pistillata. The presentation title appears in the top of the image: "No respite at night: record -high nighttime thermal stress drives mass mortality in a reef flat coral population adapted to extreme daytime temperatures"
Mongabay@mongabay.com · last yr.

Coral reefs around the world have been subjected to unprecedented heat stress since early 2023. A new report finds heat-related coral bleaching has damaged corals in more than 80 countries, making it the most extensive bleaching event ever recorded, with no clear end in sight.

Ongoing global coral bleaching event affects 84% of world’s reefs

Coral reefs around the world have been subjected to unprecedented heat stress since early 2023. A new report finds heat-related coral bleaching has damaged corals in more than 80 countries, making it…

news.mongabay.com

Wally Rich@reefwally.bsky.social · last yr.

What happens when an entomologist-turned-marine biologist skims the latest articles in Coral Reefs: I read this as "the impact of NEONICOTINOIDS on the geomorphology of the northern Great Barrier Reef" and thought surely there can be no connection 😅

Screenshot of an article title that says "the impact of neotectonics on the geomorphology of the northern Great Barrier Reef"
Ecological Oceanography Lab@eco-oce-lab.bsky.social · last yr.

Just in case you haven’t seen the most recent paper from our group, @reefwally.bsky.social investigated solar bias in commonly used temperature loggers. Long story short, the accuracy of your in situ measurements depends on your deployment method and you should always shade your loggers! 🧪🌊

Wally Rich@reefwally.bsky.social · 2y ago

🚨New paper alert! Do you deploy loggers to monitor temperature in coral reefs, or any shallow aquatic environments? Do you shade them from direct sunlight? You should! 🌊🦑 journals.plos.org/climate/arti...

Daniel Swain@weatherwest.bsky.social · last yr.

The U.S. NWS is a truly world-class meteorological predictive service, perhaps singularly so. Its cost of operation is only ~$3-4/yr per taxpayer—equivalent to a single cup of coffee—and yields a truly remarkable return on investment (at least 10 to 1, and perhaps 100 to 1). 3/11

PLOS Climate@plosclimate.org · 2y ago

Is the coral reef community comparing “apples to apples” when measuring in-water temperatures? Learn more about recent research published in PLOS Climate by @reefwally.bsky.social and colleagues in the latest Latitude blog post 👇 latitude.plos.org/2025/01/behi...

Behind the paper: investigating potential biases in coral reef temperature data - Latitude

We speak to Wally Rich and colleagues about their recent PLOS Climate publication, “Widespread inconsistency in logger deployment methods in coral reef…

latitude.plos.org

Wally Rich@reefwally.bsky.social · 2y ago

I had the privilege of visiting Palmyra Atoll in 2023 and learned about these plans for releasing the Guam kingfisher. Exciting to see that the birds have arrived!

“Let them eat shit”@grrlscientist.bsky.social · 2y ago

Extinct-In-The-Wild Birds Released Into Wild For First Time In 40 Years "Global conservation partnership releases the first captive-bred population of Guam kingfishers into the wilds of Palmyra Atoll." by @GrrlScientist via Medium #conservation #Guam🇬🇺 #birds🦉#SciComm🧪 medium.com/grrlscientis...

Wally Rich@reefwally.bsky.social · 2y ago

🚨New paper alert! Do you deploy loggers to monitor temperature in coral reefs, or any shallow aquatic environments? Do you shade them from direct sunlight? You should! 🌊🦑 journals.plos.org/climate/arti...

Widespread inconsistency in logger deployment methods in coral reef studies may bias perceptions of thermal regimes

Ocean warming is the greatest threat to coral reefs, prompting a need to accurately monitor in situ temperatures. Advancements in sensing technologies have led to a proliferation of temperature logger...

journals.plos.org

Wally Rich@reefwally.bsky.social · 2y ago

I started surveying the shallow reef flats in front of KAUST for my PhD in 2020. I was impressed that corals could live in such extreme conditions - the water hits 38ºC in the summer! However, heatwaves in '23 and '24 were too much even for these corals. Today's survey had nearly 100% mortality 😞 🌊🦑

A shallow reef flat in August 2023 covered with branching corals. About half of them are live and yellow, while the rest are dead from natural mortality over the years.A few bright white coral colonies in the reef flat that are undergoing bleaching in August 2024.The same reef flat after the bleaching event. Photo taken December 2024. All colonies are grey and dead.
Wally Rich@reefwally.bsky.social · 2y ago

Last week we spent a few days in the northern Red Sea to deploy more temperature logger arrays. It was cold (for those of us used to southern Red Sea temperatures 😅) but the reefs are beautiful! We'll swap out the loggers periodically to see how temperatures change across depths over the year 🦑🌊

A temperature logger fixed to a stake in the reef framework at 30 meters depthColorful reef fish swimming around a steep reef wall in shallow watersA colorful, healthy coral community with yellow and purple colonies of several different species.A shallow reef wall covered in healthy coral. In the distance, a diver deploys a surface marker buoy, and the underside of the dive boat is visible.
Megan Nolan@megannolan.bsky.social · 2y ago

🎊 Published: deep, warm-water coral frameworks of the Red Sea 🎊 We used habitat suitability models to show just how extensive these important biodiversity hotspots are! 🪸🌊

Wally Rich@reefwally.bsky.social · 2y ago

Home for the next week! We're off to the Farasan Banks of the south-central Red Sea to repeat some coral reef surveys. We visited in early June to gather benthic data and deploy temperature loggers. This data will shed light on how the unique oceanography of this region influences reef communities 🌊

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