In May, the new Service d’Observation (SO CORAIL) website was launched. The SO CORAIL is a multi-faceted scientific monitoring program established by the Centre de Recherches Insulaires et Observatoire de l’Environnement (CRIOBE) more than 40 years ago to detect the temporal fluctuations on the coral reefs of South Pacific. Today, the SO CORAIL database is an incredible resource for researchers at the CRIOBE, and for our collaborators around the world.
A User-friendly Interface
The new website, created by a team of technicians at the CRIOBE, boasts a user-friendly interface, stronger search capabilities allowing for better access to specific dataset, and the ability for data to be sorted by geography. In addition, the new site provides interactive maps which allow for another means of accessing datasets.
Three different means to access the datasets:
1/ by geography: more than ten French Polynesian islands and five in the South Pacific neighbourg island States.
2/ by monitoring programs: six current programs in the South Pacific area.
3/ by monitored parameters: five biological and nine physico-chimical parameters
Strong Partnerships
The observation Service CORAIL developed strong partnerships through the South Pacific,with for instance gouvernment services, NGO, universities or institutes and it is part of the international networks Long Term Ecological Research Network(NSF) and Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (Réseau Polynesia Mana). It is our hope that in current or futures partnerships, this service and the tools developed in association with this resource will help to advance the field of coral reef ecology, specifically with respect to how reefs change through time.
The Observation Service CORAIL is part of the national observation services of the Institut National des Sciences de l’Univers(INSU) of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS).For this, all datasets are available to the scientific community and the civil society.

To access the raw data please contact Joachim Claudet (joachim.claudet@gmail.com)
The english version of the website will be soon available

With the financial support of the Fonds Pacifique, IRCP/CRIOBE and the Pacific Community organize, with the help of the University of South Pacific and the Ministry of Fisheries and Forest of Fiji, an international workshop in Suva 13-15 June 2016.
The proposed workshop will provide an update on the knowledge of tropical eel species in the South Pacific area and on the requirements in fundamental and applied research needed in the various territories to sustainably manage populations.
No registration fee (registration required for organization). Coffee break and lunch provided to registred people.
Click here to access the program.
For any information please contact : pierre.sasal@criobe.pf


After Andra Whiteside and Rohan Brooker, Aurélie Moya come for several days at the CRIOBE at Moorea, to study our coral reefs, thanks to an IRCP – SNH – SPDD grant.
 Aurélie Moya, research fellow at the ARC Coral Reef Studies – Australia
« I propose to apply parallel transcriptomic approaches based on developmental and tissue-specific features of calcification, to identify the genes involved in coral calcification and to characterize their pattern of expression during development. The proposed research will provide an essential baseline as well as new perspectives on the
potential impact of changing environmental conditions on coral reefs.
I will focus on the coral Pocillopora damicornis, which recently joined the handful of coral species for which extensive sequence data are publicly available (Traylor-Knowles et al. 2011). This species is an ideal candidate for the proposed work because it is one of the pioneer colonizers of reefs in the Indo-Pacific; it is abundant in French Polynesia, and it releases brooded larvae every lunar cycle throughout the year. An adult colony provides on average 500 larvae per month.
The proposed research addresses fundamental questions in coral biology – most obviously the mechanism of calcification – and will provide baseline and new perspectives on the potential impact of changing environmental conditions on coral reefs. »


Andra Whiteside (Fidjian Phd Student) obtained an IRCP grant. She came at the CRIOBE two weeks in February 2016 to work on coral bleaching. She want to survey the response of coral face to climate change and especially the bleaching reaction. Andra already has results from Fiji and wants to compare both location.
More information in the article of La Dépêche de Tahiti (in French)
Director of the IRCP, Serge Planes and Communication & Marketing director of the Air Tahiti Nui airline, Torea Colas signed an agreement to assist scientific Research.
 Serge Planes and Torea Colas signing the agreement
With its workshop organised each year in Polynesia (Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands, French Polynesia) attracting participants from the Pacific, United States of America and Europe, the IRCP requested support from the Air Tahiti Nui compagny for travels of the scientist (students or researchers).
© Copyright 2019 IRCP. Photos : header/Tane Sinclair-Taylor, Thomas Vignaud or mention
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