Craig is temporarily a post-doctoral fellow at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute who is looking for a permanent position. He spends most of his time balancing his overwhelming geekdom with normalcy so he can function in the real world. Luckily his wife likes his geekiness.
Peter Etnoyer is a Graduate Research Associate at the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. He studies deep corals and ocean fronts, and he loves to be on the water.
Kevin Zelnio is a Graduate Student Researcher at Penn State studying the ecology of hydrothermal vent and methane seep communities. He raises awareness of the plight of the spineless through folk music.
Since the first day of Coral Week we've been joking that a proper invertebrate carnival should include recipes, especially if its Scallop Week or Oyster Week.* Alas, nobody eats coral, even as a snack. Yes, people eat sea anemones and jellyfish, but they would have to be seriously, deliriously, Castaway hungry to eat a coral. Or else corals would have been gone long ago... But, this does NOT mean coral is without natural enemies.
If you scuba dive on West Atlantic coral reefs, you probably know that Hawksbill turtles frequent the habitat, and eat sponges, but did you know that sea turtles eat octocorals? Turtle hugger J Nichols posts a National Geographic Critter-Cam video with a unique hitchhiker's view of a Green Turtle foraging for sea pens. Stranded sea turtle stomachs can contain sea pens in large numbers. I think it serves them right for eating corals. They shouldn't do that.
Even worse is Chris Mah's Echinoblog, which actually pays tribute to asteroids like the Crown of Thorns seastars that wreak havoc on the shallow water corals of the Great Barrier Reef. It's sad really. Asteroids are a terrible menace and a threat, by far the worst of the Echinoderms. I mean, they're practically cannibals. Chris revels in half a dozen cold killers in his post "Echinoderms Eating Corals! Mmmmmm..." It makes me want to cry. Don't they know corals are endangered?
*Further evidence in support of "Gorton's Law"
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