Marine biology. Geomorphology of the Solomon Islands coral reefs

The opportunity to study the coral reefs of the Solomon Islands was valuable for two reasons. First, the Melanesian region has been remarkably neglected by reef workers. To the south-west, the Great Barrier Reef Expedition of 1928-9 provided a basis for understanding Australian reefs; the Snellius Expedition explored those of Indonesia; the Japanese and more recently the Americans have studied the high islands of Micronesia, especially Guam and Saipan; and much recent work has been carried out on the atolls of the Carolines and Marshalls. Within Melanesia itself, the Gatala Aquarium in Noumea and the Singer-Polignac Expedition have begun work on the New Caledonian reefs; the Noona Dan Expedition visited the Bismarck Archipelago and Rennell Island; and some prewar studies were made in Fiji and the New Hebrides. Almost no work at all had been done in the Solomon Islands before 1965, with one notable exception.