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Ally Swan

@ally.swan

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Ally Swan Defended her Thesis Research this week! 🌡️ 🪸

Ally’s thesis explored how shallow and mesophotic populations of Orbicella franksi responded to varying levels of heat stress. Her research found that mesophotic corals were more vulnerable to elevated temperatures, showing significant bleaching and declines in physiological performance. In contrast, shallow corals maintained their condition and did not bleach under the same heat stress.

The takeaway? These findings suggest that deeper coral populations may be acclimatized to cooler conditions and, unfortunately, may not provide the thermal refuge from ocean warming that we once hoped.

Any good news? Yes! After returning to ambient temperatures, mesophotic corals showed substantial physiological recovery, along with shifts in their symbiont communities. This suggests that although mesophotic corals may be particularly vulnerable to heat stress, they also have the capacity to recover when temperatures return to favorable conditions.

Big congrats to Ally! 🎉 🥳 👏

#CoralResearch #CoralReefs #MesophoticReefs #CoralBleaching OceanWarming

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Welcome to the island bih

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the absolute best evening celebrating @helenmholt & @will_van_houten 🥂✨

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✨Huge congratulations to our divers for successfully earning their TDI Decompression Diver and Advanced Nitrox (Advanced Enriched Air) certifications! ✨

These courses push divers beyond recreational limits and require dedication, precision, and a strong commitment to safety and skill development. This is a major accomplishment and an exciting step forward in their diving journey.

The ocean just got a little smaller… Keep exploring and dive safe!

#TechnicalDiving #TDI #DecompressionDiver #AdvancedNitrox #TechDiving DiveTraining UnderwaterExploration ScubaLife

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Big shout out to our project coordinator and coral specialist, Lindsay Dade, who has officially completed the 600 survey sites across St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix needed for the Endangered Coral Mapping Program 🙌

We planned to share footage from our final 3-day trip to St. Croix, but turns out we were a little too locked in underwater and completely forgot to film the benthic surveys! So instead, here’s a behind-the-scenes look at the topside shenanigans.. boat days, tortoises, kayaks, oh my!

While the fieldwork may be complete, the real work now begins! Time for Lindsay to start mapping the data! Looking forward to it! #nopressure

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overflowing with love ❤️

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🪸 Today, we’re wrapping up some of our final Endangered Coral Mapping Program dives!

The goal of this project is to better understand the population and distribution of ESA-listed and highly disease-susceptible corals living in the shallow waters (depth < 10 m) surrounding the U.S. Virgin Islands.

With nearly all 600 site surveys now complete, we’d like to give a huge shoutout to our coral reef ecologist, Lindsay Dade, for successfully organizing and leading her incredible field team through countless dives, long days, and a whole lot of coral data! 🪸

1️⃣ Master’s students conducting coral survey
2️⃣ Dendrogyra cylindrus (Pillar coral)
3️⃣ Coral reef ecologist Lindsay Dade
4️⃣ Dead Acropora palmata “haystack” (Elkhorn coral)
5️⃣ Assessment of A. palmata
6️⃣ Eusmilia fastigiata ❤️ (Smooth flower coral)
7️⃣ Oricella annularis colony (Boulder star coral)
8️⃣ Living vs. old mortality on A. palmata
9️⃣ Coral survey in progress
🔟 Meandrina meandrites (Maze coral)

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Tour de South

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so thankful for 2025!! Moved to the city I’ve always wanted to live in, started law school, made new friends, and connected with old ones. Truly the best year of my life!! So ready for you 2026!!

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NYE in NYC🥂

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average fall day 🤎

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all of life’s most recent events

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