Aquarium on Track to Help Spark Coney Island Comeback from Hurricane Sandy Coney Island, Brooklyn, April 5, 2013 -- The Wildlife Conservation Society will partially reopen the New York Aquarium on Saturday, May 25.This partial reopening will come about 7 months after Hurricane Sandy devastated the 14-acre aquarium campus, severely damaging its buildings, exhibits, and the facility’s aquatic life support systems.The partial reopening will include: Glover’s Reef (featuring the sea life ...

Coney Island, Brooklyn, February 25, 2013 -- The Wildlife Conservation Society plans to partially reopen the hurricane-damaged New York Aquarium in late spring of this year. The partial reopening will include Glover’s Reef; exhibits in Conservation Hall (Coral Triangle of Fiji, Great Lakes of East Africa, and the Flooded Forests of the Amazon); outdoor spaces of Sea Cliffs (walrus, sea lions, harbor seals, sea otters and penguins); and a fully re-modeled Aquatheater with a new sea lion demonstr...

New study documents critical role Fijian communities play in helping achieve global biodiversity  Study is by Global Change Institute at the University of Queensland, the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University, and the Wildlife Conservation Society NEW YORK (August 20, 2012)—A new study by researchers from the Global Change Institute at the University of Queensland, the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at Ja...

New Book from the Wildlife Conservation Society illustrates how conservation-planning is evolving to prepare for climate change BOZEMAN, MT (June 14, 2012) –A landmark book released by the Wildlife Conservation Society through Island Press shows that people in diverse environments around the world are moving from climate science to conservation action to ensure their natural systems, wildlife and livelihoods can withstand the pressures of global warming. Climate and Conservation offers a...

Study shows modifying gear size allows smaller fish to escape resulting in more profitable catches for poverty-stricken fisheries Path towards fisheries success found in coastal Kenya NEW YORK (May 7, 2012) – A new study by marine scientists from the Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University, Australia and the Wildlife Conservation Society says that modifying the size of certain fishing gear results in more profitable fisheries by minimizing the harvest of juvenile fi...

When local fishers in Kia Island opened a protected coral reef to fishing for a short-term community fundraising effort, the effects of the harvest bore long-term consequences for the reef's health.

NEW YORK (March 23, 2012)—A protected coral reef in Fiji briefly opened for an intensive five-week fishing season was largely depleted of its fish populations and has been slow to recover, according to a study by the Wildlife Conservation Society.In the first study of its kind, conservationists with WCS’s Marine Program examined the environmental impact of an intensive fishing event—conducted by three villages in 2008 to pay for both school and church fees and provincial levies—on a formerly pro...

Researchers find that fishery closures in Belize’s Glover’s Reef help barracudas, groupers, and other predatory fish recover while the parrotfish and other herbivores essential for reef recovery still need more protection.

But Herbivorous Fish Needed for Reef Recovery Still Lagging14-year study finds need for increased protections for parrotfish and other herbivores in marine reserves NEW YORK (December 21, 2011) —A 14-year study by the Wildlife Conservation Society in an atoll reef lagoon in Glover’s Reef, Belize has found that fishing closures there produce encouraging increases in populations of predatory fish species. However, such closures have resulted in only minimal increases in herbivorous fi...

Coral propagation lab allows aquarium staff to grow various species on site, eliminating the need to disrupt fragile reefs in the wild Brooklyn, N.Y. – Dec. 1, 2011 – The Wildlife Conservation Society’s New York Aquarium is now growing corals on site in an effort to educate the public about the need to preserve fragile reef systems in the wild. Coral reefs are vital to the health of marine life. They provide shelter and food for countless marine species and help maintain a balanced ocea...