Something Fishy: Ay Caribbean!

Warmer waters, disease causing major reef die-off

Posted by Sarah van Schagen at 5:12 PM on 03 May 2006

Read more about: oceans

Ahoy there, buccaneers. 'Tis I, returned from the briny depths for another fishy update. And this one's a sad tale, me hearties, for anyone who's ever appreciated the beauty of a coral reef. Even ye landlubbers out there may know what I mean, what with all your fancy "snorkel gear" -- me, I wouldn't be caught dead in a get-up involving the word snork, but you lot seem to enjoy it. And I enjoy the pointin' and laughin' from atop me crow's nest. Arrrr!

But I digress. Today, I share news of what some researchers are calling an "underwater Holocaust." They say record hot water temperatures followed by disease have caused the biggest loss of Caribbean reefs in history.

"It's an unprecedented die-off," said National Park Service fisheries biologist Jeff Miller, who last week checked 40 stations in the Virgin Islands. "The mortality that we're seeing now is of the extremely slow-growing reef-building corals. These are corals that are the foundation of the reef ... We're talking colonies that were here when Columbus came by have died in the past three to four months."

Calling the corals "the goose with the golden eggs," one researcher notes that these reefs are essential to the survival of small-island economies, providing many billions of dollars in tourism and commercial fishing monies. They're home to many key fish species, limit the damage from hurricanes and tsunamis, and could even be sources for undiscovered medicines. For the first time, scientists are seeing entire colonies die off, including an 800-year-old, 13-foot-high star coral colony found dead in the waters off Puerto Rico recently.

Many scientists, like the aptly named prof M. James Crabbe, believe global warming is to blame for the warmer water temps. Crabbe asserts that the corals won't be able to adapt quickly enough to the changing climate. The warmer waters can cause the corals to "bleach," or reject the algae giving the coral its color -- and its nutrients. If temperatures return to normal, bleached coral can recover, once again accepting the algae. But last year, the Caribbean corals were struck by disease -- some caused by human sewage in the waters -- and have died off as a result.

Unfortunately, coral reefs -- and ocean issues in general -- fall victim to the "out-of-sight-out-of-mind" way of thinking. "If 40 percent of the trees in one of our national parks died," says biologist Caroline Rogers, "people would take notice."

Arrrgh. 'Tis true, mateys, and that's the major reason for this column. I've me spyglass trained on the most pressing ocean issues of the day. And I aim to weigh anchor and spout about them any chance I get. 'Ave you any fishy stories to tell? Leave 'em in comments.

For story: Something Fishy: Ay Caribbean!
3 Comments | Post a Comment

Just great

One step closer to a planet covered with ten billion people, their pets and monocrops.

In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world

by biodiversivist at 11:31 PM on 03 May 2006

"40% of our trees are dead"

We know too little about ocean life and ecology to understand what is going on. It seems that rising water temperatures are stressing and killing many corals, and leaving others weakened and susceptible to infection from pollution from sewage and other sources.

Coral reefs are among the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet, up there with tidal marshlands, for example, on the US Atlantic coast. Little Nemo and his father (whose relationship would have been rather less family-friendly in real life -- well, let's see, the daddy would have turned into the mommy, and Nemo would have -- , but never mind) are only the most famous of the countless critters that can only live in coral reefs.

It is seemingly unusual, though, that so many species should depend on the health and vigor of one species, or several closely related species, the corals, for their survival.

I wish I knew more about artificial reefs, and how successful they are. I.e., dumping something man-made (and Rosy had a hand in it too, let's not forget her) into a shallow section of a sea:
"Dunk it, and they will come." But do they? And if so, how many?

Those of us who live by coasts, and who are parents of junior-highschool kids who take a schoolbus to school, should by all means encourage our children to rise up, rebel, hijack their bus (remembering to treat the driver with extraordinary politeness), and throw it into the ocean. After carefully removing the gas-tank, of course. A mightily well-earned suspension for one and all, indeed! Bravi!, bravissimi! They really didn't want to go on that field trip to the Museum of Plumbing History, after all, did they. (Or did they ... ?)

(Some senior-high kids might want to do something similar, but of course it depends on how they think it will look on their applications to Brown, Penn, Duke, Stanford, etc.) ("Duke!: No; no no; no; [muffled microphone]; no comment.")

Here are two large-scale studies that I hope you environmental-studies majors will sink your teeth into before long, if such studies have not already been done:

1). What has been the ecological effect of regular large-ship traffic in the Caribbean? (a). After the construction of the Panama Canal, shipping lanes have been established. With what effect? Is our famously conservationist president Theodore Roosevelt now (wherever he is) regretting doing one of the things that is considered a much valued part of his legacy? But then, (b). in the past couple of decades, there has been much more cruise-line traffic in the Caribbean, to many more ports, and otherwise off the shipping lanes. And there are reliable reports of dumping of garbage and sewage. Do we know what is happening, actually, quantifiably? Do we have a sense of its effect?

2). What environmentally destructive activities is poverty driving people to undertake? This is a huge topic, of course, and there is relevant data from all sorts of places around the world, from the Atlantic provinces of Canada to just about anywhere in sub-Saharan Africa. In connexion with the coral reefs, I am interested in the coral-destroying fishing practices, involving dropped explosives, in the waters between Asia and Australia, done by fishers from that region, including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines.

Sarah van Schagen, with your Dutch heritage, a word like "snork" should be nothing to be ashamed of. Dutch has given English a number of good maritime words, e.g. "skipper," "schooner." I live in what used to be called New Amsterdam, a stone's throw or two from Amsterdam Avenue, and consider our New Yorker Dutch past thrilling.

Just remember, though, if you are doing the pirate thing, to keep the eye patch consistently over the same eye. False pirates have been detected by being careless there. And get rid of the parrot, if it learns "too much." No no, don't drown it or strangle it; but pass it along to someone harmless, and trustworthy, who will take good care of it.

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

by caniscandida at 1:39 AM on 04 May 2006

Artificial reefs could work,

providing substrate for invertebrates like sponges, barnacles, and tunicates (sea squirts, etc.), and hiding places for fish species. But if the natural coral is having a hard time surviving, I don't know that an artificial reef would be able to sustain coral species any better. However, there are some scientists working with groups like the Global Coral Reef Alliance to develop artificial reef building methods that actually stimulate coral growth at a rate three to five times faster than normal. If we can -- at the very least -- get rid of the sewage (and other) problems causing disease among the corals, perhaps the artificially grown corals would have a better chance at surviving the other major problem they're facing -- global warming.

Are YOU on The List?

by Sarah van Schagen at 9:31 AM on 04 May 2006
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