Thriving Oceans

Out of sight out of protection?  Not any longer as technology is enabling scientists to study deep sea coral reef ecosystems and provide protection before commercial bottom trawling, crab pots and energy exploration activities mar the reefs. 

“The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council is pushing the proposal to protect the region, about the size of West Virginia, in depths down to 2,500 feet and below, creating the largest deep water coral protected area off the Atlantic Coast.” AP

In a world of overfishing, bycatch, and declining ocean health, I know this is hard to believe but this is one of those rare cases where protections are being instituted prior to the development of a potential problem. Go figure!

According to the USGS:

The Atlantic cruises will examine deep coral ecosystems off Florida and North Carolina. The Gulf cruise will involve returning to deep coral sites visited in previous years as well as exploring new target locations on the West Florida Slope and a deep ship wreck. The primary research objectives are to examine and classify deep coral reef habitats and their associated fauna and compare them with non-reef environments.

The program has integrated a diverse group of collaborators, including scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNC-W), UNC Chapel Hill, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), and the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS).

Read more:  Protection plan deep-sea coral reefs considered

An eternity, perhaps not quite, but that’s my perception of time when thinking back to my Hawaiian excursion in mid-June.  And finishing up a home movie chronicling our adventure, complete with contemporary Island music from the likes IZ for instance, just gets me in the mood for some white sandy beaches and clear salty waters.  So why not share a few things I came across while swimming over the reefs of Maui.

Obviously such a post lends itself infinity as the amount of pictures and video I have is substantial… notice I did not mention anything about quality.  But with that said, using a digital underwater camera is  a goldmine for someone who needs to cull through the blurs to find a few gems. 

Of course I need to start the ball rolling with a Hawaiian green sea turtle.  It is by far my wife’s favorite marine creature and I am always left in awe at the range of colors found on their carapace.  By the way, did you see our Hawaiian green sea turtle video footage?  And even in today’s world of rampant conservation information,  I was left in shock to discover people clamoring to touch and harass this amazing species (And yes members of our party spoke up immediately to inform the culprits and end their activities). I guess that’s why we need to continue spreading the word.

Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle

A juvenile yellowtail coris (Coris gaimard), which is the first one I have run across in Hawaii

A raccoon butterflyfish (Chaetodon lunula)

A Slate or Red pencil urchin (Heterocentrotus mammillatus) and a black sea urchin (Echinothrix diadema)

A cushion seastar (Culcita novaeguineae)

Whitemouth moray eel (Gymnothorax meleagris)

An Arc-eye hawkfish (Paracirrhites arcatus)

The Hawaiian Day Octopus (Octopus cyanea) and a female bird wrasse (Gomphosus varius)

Coral bleaching is again making headlines as NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch Program has detected conditions in the Caribbean that may spark a rash of coral disease and bleaching.  Of particular concern to NOAA scientists is an expected increase in ocean temperatures through October 2009 that can lead to the discharging of the symbiotic zooxanthella algae residing in coral tissues.  Keeping things simple, zooxanthellae are vital to coral survival as they, through photosynthesis, provide much needed energy and nutrients.  In return, the coral provides the zooxanthellae with shelter and a constant supply of carbon dioxide for its photosynthetic processes.

According to the Coral Reef Watch Program:

Scientists are concerned that bleaching may reach the same levels or exceed those recorded in 2005, the worst coral bleaching and disease year in Caribbean history. In parts of the eastern Caribbean, as much as 90 percent of corals bleached and over half of those died during that event.” 

“Just like any climate forecast, local conditions and weather events can influence actual temperatures. However, we are quite concerned that high temperatures may threaten the health of coral reefs in the Caribbean this year,” said C. Mark Eakin, Ph.D., coordinator of NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch.

Prolonged coral bleaching of more than a week can lead to coral death and the subsequent loss of coral reef habitats for a range of marine life. It also affects local economies and tourism.

Other factors that can lead to coral bleaching include: ocean temperature, solar irradiation, inorganic nutrients, freshwater dilution, sedimentation, pollutants/chemicals, and diseases.

Credit: NOAA

Coinciding with a 4.0 magnitude earthquake centered approximately 20 miles offshore on Saturday, July 11, was a mass stranding of Humboldt squid. According to news reports dozens of squid averaging 3-4 feet in length and up to 40 pounds beached themselves in La Jolla.

However, Scripps Institute is indicating the mass stranding was not caused by the earthquake, but was perhaps triggered by rapidly changing ocean temperatures, or a contaminated diet. Check out the CBS news report and some raw video footage from NBC…