Mysterious Rings Around Reefs Have No Simple Explanation
These strange, barren halos are thought to be the work of fearful fish—but the reality is far more complicated.
The last decade of Elizabeth Madin’s work began with one day of terrible weather.
In 2010 she and her husband, Joshua, both ecologists, flew to Heron Island in Australia to study how fishing influences the creatures of the Great Barrier Reef. But they arrived to find strong winds and rough seas that constrained them to the beach. While trying to work out how to spend her time while the elements calmed down, Madin happened across a large satellite image of the island and its surrounding lagoon. That’s when she noticed the rings.
