NOWRAMP Expedition Initial Results HEALTHY, ABUNDANT CORAL: Coral scientists found the coral reefs to be in excellent condition across the chain. The corals were healthier and more vigorous than expected. Kure and Maro were the most surprising and interesting because they had higher abundance and double the number of stony coral species than researchers had been led to believe from previous literature. At Midway and Kure, large, single coral colonies were found of very great age, indicating long term stability of the ecosystem. These large coral heads are equivalent to large trees found in old growth forests on land. Researchers also found at least 5 new species of coral, never known to science before. Overall, the researchers aboard the vessel Rapture recorded at total of 55 species of coral in the northern chain, including 47 stony coral species, numbers comparable to what was known from all of Hawaii before the expedition. (*Note: Scientists aboard the different research vessels haven't been able to compare notes yet.) On average, at each island or atoll, the scientists found twice as many species than was recorded by scientists in the 1980's. Scientists also noted a wide variety of unique growth forms which are uncommon in the main Hawaiian Islands. Some rare corals in the main islands achieve abundance in the northwest chain. Now there are 7 species of the rare table corals known from the northwestern chain, compared to 3 reported in the 1980's. Scientists also found at least 15 first reports of existing coral species.