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

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

“In 2004, visual estimates of mortality and algal overgrowth of Montipora capi¬tata and M. cf. turgescens at back reef sites at the three northern atolls conservatively exceeded 50%, with nearly complete mortality of surface-facing portions of colonies at numerous sites. The shallow crest of a large central patch reef system at Kure Atoll, previously referred to as “the coral gardens” due to its luxuriant growth of montiporids and pocilloporids, was heavily bleached in 2002. In 2004, only a few branches of Porites com¬pressa remained alive and the dead coral skeletons were thickly covered in turf and macroalgae.”

Reference:

Friedlander, A., K. Keller, L. Wedding, A. Clarke, M. Monaco (eds.). 2009. A Marine Biogeographic Assessment of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. NOAA Technical Memorandum NOS NCCOS 84. Prepared by NCCOS’s Biogeography Branch in cooperation with the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. Silver Spring, MD. 363 pp.

Photos: J. Kenyon.