Collection(s) : Parthénope collection
Paru le 01/12/2010 | Broché
Professionnels
Between the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, dotting the northern coast of the Gulf of Aden, the coral reefs of the south Yemeni coast deserve the full attention and interest of scientists, naturalists, ecologists, amateur and professional divers and indeed of the public at large. Although by no means comparable in sheer size to the major coral reef systems of the world, they nevertheless are real little gems, offering to the underwater adventurer, explorer or curious diver, reefscapes of unparalleled beauty amidst the whirlpool of an exuberant fish life rarely seen elsewhere.
Written by experts in the field and beautifully illustrated by a talented underwater photographer, this field guide introduces us to the mysteries and to the science of the world of reef corals and coral reefs and makes us become familiar with nearly eighty of the most common or striking reef coral species to be found in the area. It will undoubtedly be the indispensable companion of all diving enthusiasts and nature lovers who want to experience the magic of reef corals away from the beaten track.
Michel Pichon, Biological Oceanographer, University Professor, Officer in the Order of "Palmes Académiques", is an expert on coral reefs, which he has studied over the last 50 years. He was research leader of several coral reefs research teams, operating in most major reef areas in the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean (Mascarenes, Comoros, Madagascar, Maldives and the seas around Arabia), and the Pacific Ocean. He has been based for more than 22 years in Australia, first at James Cook University. Townsville, then as Deputy Director, Australian Institute of Marine Science. He then did work principally on the Great Barrier Reef, with his students and Australian colleagues, but also elsewhere in the Pacific in cooperation with American, Japanese and French teams. He has published more than one hundred scientific papers in international scientific journals, mostly on coral reefs, and co-authored four books on the reef corals of Australia's Great Barrier Reef. He is a member of the scientific board of the "Fondation Albert 1er Prince de Monaco", Council member of the International Society for Reef Studies and scientific expert with the Global Marine program, International Union for Conservation of Nature. He now lives in Australia, where he is a Tropical Marine Consultant and Honorary Research Associate at the Museum of Tropical Queensland, in Townsville.
Francesca Benzoni holds a PhD from the École Pratique des Hautes Études. Francesca is a marine biologist specialised in the integrated systematics of reef-dwelling scleractinian corals. Since her master's degree in the Gulf of Aden, Yemen, 12 years ago she has been diving and studying corals throughout the Indo-Pacific and has become increasingly interested in the problem of boundaries between species of reef corals. She is currently involved in different projects addressing the study of the biodiversity and biogeography of scleractinian corals through a multidisciplinary approach including traditional and innovative tools.
Claude-Henri Chaîneau is an engineer with a PhD in Environment. As a specialist in environmental issues, he has published significant scientific papers on hydrocarbon biodegradation. He joined Total E&P in 2001, spent three years in Indonesia and is currently in charge of environmental matters for projects in the Middle East. He has led environmental baseline studies, environmental impact assessment studies and also audits. In addition, since 2005 he has been working on biodiversity matters with Total and in particular he joined the scientific team in charge of coral monitoring for the Yemen LNG project. As a qualified and experienced diver, he took the opportunity of this project to launch a three-year scientific assessment of the corals biodiversity in Yemen.
Éric Dutrieux holds a PhD in marine ecology from the French University of Montpellier and is also an engineer in agronomy. His experience in international consulting brought him to develop several projects in various countries and especially in the Middle-East. While developing the commercial activities of Creocean in these countries, he has also been the project manager of large marine monitoring projects, particularly in Yemen. His experience in this country dates back to 1997. Commercial diver and photographer, he is the author of over a hundred technical reports and publications in relation to marine ecology, evaluating water pollution and management of coastal areas. Furthermore, he has also written four books related to marine ecology and scuba diving including a dozen non technical publications on underwater exploration and the world of scuba diving. For more information on Creocean visit www.creocean.fr
