Video Collections

Academy researcher Luiz Rocha is hunting invasive lionfish.

Spirobranchus giganteus "Christmas Tree Worms" are often found in association with Porites spp. hard corals. The brightly colored worms quickly retract into the coral when they sense movement in the water around them.

The Academy's expedition to the Philippines discovered unusual treasures at great depths.

Academy scientists spent this past spring in the Philippines, documenting the country's rich biodiversity with local scientists. Their results hope to bolster conservation efforts in the area.

Steinhart Aquarium biologists are shown collecting small cuttings of coral fragments on the California Academy of Sciences 2011 Philippine Biodiversity Expedition. These fragments were legally exported from the Philippines and brought into cultivation as part of the Academy's efforts at sustainable collection-building. 

These small cuttings will be grown into larger colonies, which can then be fragmented to produce corals for display, in-house research projects and exchange with other zoos and aquaria. Exchanging captive-propagated corals is one way that we are able to reduce collection pressures on wild reefs.