Coring Corals

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution scientist Anne Cohen (left) and Nathan Mollica, a graduate student in the MIT-WHOI Joint Program, extract core samples from a giant Porites coral in Risong Bay, Palau. They and WHOI scientist Weifu Guo were co-authors of a study that identified a detailed mechanism showing how ocean acidification affects the growth of coral skeletons. It gives scientists a way to predict more precisely where corals will be more vulnerable. The study was published Jan. 29, 2018, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (Photo by Richard Brooks, Lightening Strike Media Productions)