Disk cover art
BIOLOGY OF THE CARIBBEAN CORAL REEFS (BCCR) is a DVD-ROM learning adventure that gives you a personalised coral-reef tour guided by a marine biologist.
   

You know the names of fishes and invertebrates from your ID guides, but now you want more:

  • what do these strange and wonderful organisms do?
  • how do they get to the reef? 
  • what do they eat? 
  • who eats them? 
  • how do they defend themselves? 
  • why do they have such bright colours? 

 

BCCR's virtual dive leader waving to show you something interesting on the reef

BCCR answers these questions and MORE by taking you on a 3-part VIRTUAL DIVE:

Part 1:  LIFE ON A REEF

  • types of Caribbean reefs, their biodiversity, threats to survival
  • recruitment:
    • spawning, larval development & dispersal
    • settlement & metamorphosis
    • risks of early life
  • asexual reproduction
  • competition for resources
  • symbioses & cleaning stations.

Part 2:  NUTRITION

  • photosynthesis
  • detritivory & bacterivory
  • herbivory
  • carnivory

Part 3:  DEFENSES

  • how seaweeds, invertebrates, and fishes defend themselves
  • how colours are created and perceived
  • role of colour in social and defensive
    behaviours.

 

 

BCCR can be appreciated at many different levels:

  • by students, teachers, and non-biologists
  • at home, on dive trips, during field-study courses

BCCR is essential for anyone who wants to know about Caribbean coral reefs, and reefs in general
System Requirements
List of Topics About the authorPurchase Info
 

BCCR is colourful, informative, and richly illustrated:

  • 1600 photos
  • 300 video clips
  • 300 quizzes, experiments, animations, cartoon strips
  • clear, easy-to-understand text
  • click-on definitions for special terms
  • up-to-date and topical with hundreds of references to published scientific papers

Note: video quality is perfect in BCCR.

The author, Dr. Thomas Carefoot, is professor emeritus in marine biology at the Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Canada.  He has SCUBA-dived and photographed Caribbean coral reefs for 40 years, has researched and published extensively on tropical and temperate marine organisms, and is knowledgeable about marine life the world over. [more]