Coral loss slowed, reversed by marine protected areas

From a news release issued by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill:

A new worldwide study shows marine protected areas (MPAs), underwater parks where fishing and other potentially harmful activities are regulated, provide an added bonus – helping coral reef ecosystems ward off and recover from threats to their health.

Researchers also found the protective effects of MPAs generally strengthen over time.

The findings, published in the Feb. 17, 2010, issue of the journal PLoS One, are the first comprehensive global study to gauge the impact of marine protected areas on the health of corals.

Such havens have proved successful in protecting fish, leading to optimism among researchers that they may also indirectly help corals by restoring reef-based food webs. Previous studies also suggested such conservation zones can directly protect reefs from problems such as overfishing, anchor damage and sediment and nutrient runoff pollution from adjacent land.

Marine scientists Elizabeth Selig, Ph.D., and John Bruno, Ph.D., from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, analyzed a global database of 8,534 live coral cover surveys conducted between 1969 and 2006.

They compared changes in coral cover in 310 marine protected areas to those in nearby unprotected areas, looking at 4,456 reefs in 83 countries. Coral cover, or the percentage of the ocean floor covered by living coral tissue, is a key measure of the health of coral ecosystems.

“We found that, on average, coral cover in protected areas remained constant, but declined on unprotected reefs,” said Selig, the study’s lead author, who completed the work for her doctoral dissertation at UNC. She is now a researcher with Conservation International.

Bruno, associate professor of marine sciences in the UNC College of Arts and Sciences, said the results also suggest the protective benefits of such areas increase with time. Initially, coral cover continued to decrease after protections were put in place. However, several years later, rates of decline slowed and then stopped.

For example, in the Caribbean, coral cover declined for about 14 years after protection began – possibly due to the time it took for fisheries to rebound – but then stopped falling and began to increase. In the Indo-Pacific, cover kept declining for the first five years after protections were established, then began to improve, eventually reaching growth rates of two percent yearly after two decades.

“Given the time it takes to maximize these benefits, it makes sense to establish more marine protected areas. Authorities also need to strengthen efforts to enforce the rules in existing areas,” Bruno said.

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US agency to review threats to 82 coral species

From an Associated Press article by David McFadden in The Washinton Post:

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- U.S. officials said Wednesday they have begun a review to determine if dozens of coral species off Florida, Hawaii and island territories of the Caribbean and Pacific should be listed as "threatened" or "endangered."

Currently, only reef-building staghorn and elkhorn corals are listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act, the first corals ever to receive such protection based on dramatic declines.

In the federal register Wednesday, the National Marine Fisheries Service said an Oct. 20 petition filed by a U.S. conservation group "presents substantial scientific or commercial information" indicating protection may be warranted for 82 additional species.

Among the list of 82 to be considered for protection is the mountainous star coral, once considered the dominant reef-building coral in the Atlantic. The majority of coral species included in the review belong to either the wider Caribbean or Indo-Pacific regions.

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Florida Keys coral takes lethal hit from cold

From an article on UnderwaterTimes.com:

SUMMERLAND KEY, Florida -- Sustained cold water temperatures in South Florida and the Florida Keys triggered severe coral bleaching and even coral death, alerting resource managers and prompting a coordinated assessment response from the science community. Temperatures in some nearshore areas of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary dropped to 52 degrees Fahrenheit for several days - well below average for this time of year — with fatal results for some corals.

A cold-water bleaching and die-off hasn't occurred in Florida since the late 1970s.

"The Keys have not seen a cold-water bleaching event like this since the winter of 1977-78, when acres of staghorn coral perished," said Dr. Billy Causey, southeast regional director of NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. "But today we are better prepared to document and assess the impacts of stress thanks to numerous partners." Causey has lived and worked in the Keys since 1971.

Over the next two weeks, teams of science divers from federal and state agencies and non-governmental and academic organizations will be surveying sites from the Dry Tortugas through Martin County to assess and monitor mortality and changes in coral health. The site locations and survey protocol were developed by The Nature Conservancy and other members of the Florida Reef Resilience Program for monitoring impacts to corals following a major disturbance, such as a mass-bleaching event.

Coral bleaching occurs when a coral animal undergoes stress and loses its symbiotic algae (called zoxanthellae). Prolonged stress can result in coral death. Coral bleaching is most frequently associated with elevated water temperatures, but stress also occurs when water temperatures dip below the preferred 60-degree threshold.

"If there is any ‘good news' it's that reef managers and scientists are able to quickly respond to this event and are in a good position to learn more about how reefs will rebound following such a rare occurrence," said Chris Bergh, director of The Nature Conservancy's Coastal and Marine Resilience Program.

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Group sues to force US protection of coral

From an Associated Press article by David McFadden published in the Omaha World-Herald:

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - A U.S. conservation group announced Wednesday it would sue the federal government to force a decision on whether to protect 83 coral species it says are threatened by global warming and more acidic waters.

The Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity has sent notification of its intention to sue the National Marine Fisheries Service because the U.S. agency missed a deadline for an endangered species listing decision for dozens of coral species. A 60-day notification letter is required before a suit can be field.

Miyoko Sakashita, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said the corals, found in Florida, Hawaii and island territories in the Caribbean and Pacific, face a growing threat of extinction from rising ocean temperatures.

"Timing is of the essence to reverse the tragic decline of these vitally important reefs," Sakashita said. "We can't afford any delays in protecting corals under the Endangered Species Act."

Connie Barclay, a spokeswoman for the National Marine Fisheries Service, said Wednesday that agency scientists are working on the conservation group's petition to put 83 coral species on the endangered species list. They hope to publish their findings in the next two weeks.

Among the group's list of 83 species is the mountainous star coral, once considered the dominant reef building coral in the Atlantic, and the ivory tree coral, a branching coral found in the Caribbean whose delicate limbs provide shelter for numerous reef fish.

Sakashita said protection under the Endangered Species Act would create new conservation opportunities and provide for greater scrutiny of fishing, dredging and offshore oil development.

Reef-building coral is a fragile organism, a tiny polyp-like animal that builds a calcium-carbonate shell around itself and survives in a symbiotic relationship with types of algae - each providing sustenance to the other. Even a 1 degree Celsius (1.7 degree Fahrenheit) rise in normal maximum sea temperatures can disrupt that relationship.

Unusually warm waters in recent years has caused the animals that make up coral to expel the colorful algae they live with, creating a bleached color. If the problem persists, the coral itself dies - killing the environment where many fish and other marine organisms live.

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Scientists work to protect Cuba's unspoiled reefs

From a story on NPR by Nick Miroff:

Cuba has some the most extensive coral reefs in the hemisphere, but political strains between Washington and Havana largely have kept American scientists away.

A new partnership for marine research is trying to change that at one of Cuba's most remote places, far from people and pollution.

Off of central Cuba's southern coast, hundreds of tiny islands stretch into the Caribbean. They are ringed with narrow beaches and thick stands of red mangrove.

When Christopher Columbus arrived here, he named the area Los Jardines de la Reina — The Queen's Gardens. Five centuries later, there isn't a single town or road or permanent human presence.

The underwater gardens of pristine coral are still here. The Cuban government banned fishing over a 386-square-mile section of the islands in 1997, creating what scientists say is the Caribbean's largest marine reserve.

Only a few hundred divers visit each year. Dropping below the surface into underwater canyons of black coral and giant sea fans, U.S. scientist David Guggenheim of The Ocean Foundation encountered species he had only seen in photographs, like the nearly extinct Nassau grouper.

He looked stunned after he came up from his first dive in the islands and took off his mask.

"It's amazing. It's sort of like 'Jurassic Park.' Scientists are seeing these species they never expected to see in their life, because they're extinct. Well, these fish aren't extinct, but they might as well be for most of us. So I feel very lucky to see them," he says.

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Mexico's 'giant underwater museum'

From a story by Dhruti Shah on BBC News:

Visitors to a national park in Cancun could soon come face-to-face with life-sized sculptures in human form fixed in the seabed, as plans to create what could be the world's largest underwater museum start to become a reality.

On 19 November, four sculptures are due to be submerged in the Caribbean waters, off the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico's south-eastern state of Quintana Roo.

They will be the first of many hundreds of figures, which will be dotted around an area of the region's national park.

The sculptures will be made of PH-neutral concrete, which, it is hoped, will attract algae and marine life and give the local ecosystem a boost.

According to the park's director Jaime Gonzalez, one of the aims is to reduce the pressure on the natural habitat in other areas of the park by luring tourists away from existing coral reef, which has suffered damage from hurricanes and human activity.

Some 750,000 people visit the park a year, said Mr Gonzalez, with about 450,000 of them visiting Punta Nizuc, an area of just four hectares.

Link to another post with more on the sculptures.

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Caribbean, Gulf spared widespread coral damage

From an article by David McFadden of the Associated Press:

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Lower-than-feared sea temperatures this summer gave a break to fragile coral reefs across the Caribbean and the central Gulf of Mexico that were damaged in recent years, scientists said Thursday [November 5, 2009].

Unusually warm water in recent years has caused the animals that make up coral to expel the colorful algae they live with, creating a bleached color. If the problem persists, the coral itself dies — killing the environment where many fish and other marine organisms live.

"We dodged a bullet this year. The good news is that temperatures didn't get quite warm enough for there to be a large-scale bleaching problem," said C. Mark Eakin, coordinator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Coral Reef Watch network. He was among scientists gathered in Puerto Rico's capital for a meeting of the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force.

The worst coral bleaching in the region's recorded history occurred in 2005, when hot seas caused bleaching of as much as 90 percent of corals in the eastern Caribbean, with more than half of that dying.

In July, the Coral Reef Watch network warned that high temperatures this year might lead to severe coral problems because sea surface temperatures in parts of the Caribbean were unusually hot.

Eaken said the threat had passed for 2009, since temperatures are now cooling, but the problem could return.

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Coral highlights complexity of climate change

From an article by Lucy-Claire Saunders on China View:

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Eli Fuller traverses the waters of Antigua's south shore like it was his backyard pool. He cuts left and right on his 45-foot speedboat the Xtreme, confidently dodging crosscurrents and coral reefs, saltwater spraying behind his silhouette.

The third generation Antiguan has been exploring this area for over two decades. Fuller's grandfather, who came to Antigua in 1941 as a United States vice-consul and opened the country's first hotel, making Fuller take his guests on day tours.

Now Fuller runs an eco-tour business and charges per person.

As he pulls back on Xtreme's throttle, the boat glides to a standstill over Cades Reef, a two-mile long wall of coral. But most of the reef is now a white skeleton of its former glory.

"It happened so quickly that you went from having what looked like an underwater jungle, like something you'd see in the Amazon forest, to being complete wreckage, like what you'd see at Ground Zero in New York," he said. "Just carnage."

In 2005, as much as 90 percent of the coral reefs in the Eastern Caribbean were destroyed bringing the worst year of coral bleaching and disease in Caribbean history. The reason could be a mixture of factors like warming waters and pollution, but more scientists are looking at Africa. But that shall be explained later. . . .

John Maginley, the minister of tourism, is in charge of the primary source of income for Antigua and Barbuda. He told Xinhua that tourism generates around 200 to 300 million U.S. dollars a year, roughly 65 percent of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP).

With fewer reefs to protect Antigua's valuable beaches from powerful storms, Maginley worries about his country's main source of income.

"Our motto in tourism is, 'The beach is just the beginning,'" he said. "And if we have a situation where beaches are being eroded, and the shoreline will be affected, things we have to offer to our tourism visitors are affected."

On Antigua's southwest coast on Crabb Hill beach, for example, OJ's Beach Bar has been dubbed by locals as OJ's Rock Bar because they had to put rocks along the shoreline just to stop the bar from falling into the sea.

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NOAA launches new site for Coral Reef Conservation Program

From the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA):

The redesigned site is focused first and foremost on coral ecosystems..
You'll find greatly expanded content areas dedicated to bringing to life the value of coral ecosystems (and conserving them) to humans and the global environment. New resources and products (such as expanded information on coral biology, values, threats, and conservation techniques; a deep-sea coral section; more current news about coral conservation; and new resources for students and teachers) have been added to the site. . . .

The site will be updated often with fresh, multimedia-rich content and expanded information on existing topics. We also have plans in the short-term to add even more videos, additional photos and graphics, and social media.

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Freeze coral to save it?

From an article by Joe Kelly in The Australian (Sydney):

Should the Great Barrier Reef perish as a result of rising ocean temperatures and acidity levels, it appears scientists will have, at least, a small consolation prize.

The Zoological Society of London is planning the world's first coral "cryobank", which would preserve hundreds of samples of each species in liquid nitrogen.

Samples taken from the Great Barrier Reef would be included in the radical preservation effort, although none has so far been removed for this purpose.

For some marine scientists, however, the concept is deeply flawed since it fails to tackle the root of the problem -- the feared obliteration of coral reefs by mid-century.

Charlie Veron, former chief scientist of the Australian Institute of Marine Science, said he supported the effort but warned it was no consolation for the eradication of reefs.

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Bleached corals ruin fish camouflage

From an article by Matt Kaplan posted on Nature News:

No hiding place from ecosystem collapse on the reef

Fish that usually camouflage themselves among colourful coral reefs are losing their ability to hide from predators as corals are bleached by Earth's acidifying oceans.

Bleaching often leads to coral death, and is a stress response to two key factors: increasing ocean acidity, caused by uptake of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and a rise in ocean temperature. It's all too apparent that ecosystems near bleached corals tend to collapse, but the reasons why are not fully understood.

Some ecologists speculate that fish in bleached reefs simply move to areas where corals are still healthy, whereas others suggest that they succumb to increased predation as the corals provide less cover. To test these ideas, graduate student Darren Coker, of Australia's Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University in Townsville, Queensland, and his colleagues have done laboratory experiments to test the effect of coral bleaching on predator evasion in reef fish.

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Protection sought for 83 coral species worldwide

From a news release issued by the Center for Biological Diverstiy:

SAN FRANCISCO— The Center for Biological Diversity today filed a formal petition seeking to protect 83 imperiled coral species under the Endangered Species Act. These corals, all of which occur in U.S. waters ranging from Florida and Hawaii to U.S. territories in the Caribbean and Pacific, face a growing threat of extinction due to rising ocean temperatures caused by global warming, and the related threat of ocean acidification.

Scientists have warned that coral reefs are likely to be the first worldwide ecosystem to collapse due to global warming; all the world’s reefs could be destroyed by 2050.

“Coral reefs are the world’s most endangered ecosystems and provide an early warning of impacts to come from our thirst for fossil fuels,” said Miyoko Sakashita oceans director of the Center for Biological Diversity. “Within a few decades, global warming and ocean acidification threaten to completely unravel magnificent coral reefs that took millions of years to build.”

Corals are among the species most imperiled by climate change. When corals are stressed by warm ocean temperatures, they experience bleaching — which means they expel the colorful algae upon which they rely for energy and growth. Many corals die or succumb to disease after bleaching. Mass bleaching events have become much more frequent and severe as ocean temperatures have risen in recent decades. Scientists predict that most of the world’s corals will be subjected to mass bleaching events at deadly frequencies within 20 years on our current emissions path.

Not only is greenhouse gas pollution causing corals to bleach and die, but it also makes it difficult for corals to grow and rebuild their colonies. Ocean acidification, caused by the ocean’s absorption of carbon dioxide, is already impairing the ability of corals to build their protective skeletons. At CO2 levels of 450 ppm, scientists predict that reef erosion will eclipse the ability of corals to grow. Moreover, ocean acidification and global warming render corals even more susceptible to other threats that have led to the present degraded state of our reefs, including destructive fishing, agriculture runoff, storms, sea-level rise, pollution, abrasion, predation, and disease.

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What are coral reef services worth? $130,000 to $1.2 million per hectare, per year

From a news release issued by Diversitas, which means diversity in Latin:

Economists, assigning values to 'ecosystem services,' report staggering totals and rates of return on investment

Experts concluding the global DIVERSITAS biodiversity conference today in Cape Town described preliminary research revealing jaw-dropping dollar values of the “ecosystem services” of biomes like forests and coral reefs – including food, pollution treatment and climate regulation.

Undertaken to help societies make better-informed choices, the economic research shows a single hectare of coral reef, for example, provides annual services to humans valued at US $130,000 on average, rising to as much as $1.2 million.

The work provides insights into the worth of ecosystems in human economic terms, says economist Pavan Sukhdev of UNEP, head of a Cambridge, England-based project called The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB).

Based on analysis of more than 80 coral reef valuation studies, the worth of services per hectare of coral reef breaks down as follows:

•Food, raw materials, ornamental resources: average $1,100 (up to $6,000);
•Climate regulation, moderation of extreme events, waste treatment / water purification, biological control: average $26,000 (up to $35,000);
•Cultural services (eg. recreation / tourism): average $88,700 (up to $1.1 million)
•Maintenance of genetic diversity: average $13,500 (up to $57,000)

Taken together, coral reef services worldwide have an average annual value estimated at $172 billion, says Mr. Sukhdev.

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Humans Are Destroying Earth's Coral Reefs

From an article on CO2 Science:

In a major review of the status of earth's coral reefs and their prospects for the future, Riegl et al. (2009) write that "20% of the world's coral reefs are already lost, 24% under imminent risk of collapse, and another 26% in grave danger of irreparable damage," based on the results of the survey report of Wilkinson (2006). And, of course, they pay politically-correct homage to the role that the ongoing rise in the air's CO2 concentration may be playing in this regard. But is it really the case that the burning of fossil fuels is responsible for the dire straits in which the world's coral reefs currently find themselves?

The five U.S. researchers begin their analysis of the subject by noting that "coral reefs, similar to those we know today, have existed for approximately 215 million years (and, in another taxonomic guise, for about 500 million years)," even surviving the turmoil that brought about "the extinction of the dinosaurs and the climate changes of the ice ages," which known facts would seem to suggest, in their words, that earth's corals possess a "remarkable evolutionary resilience," which "would certainly suggest," as they describe it, that "there is scope for ecological resilience as well." So why are earth's coral reefs in so much trouble today?

Clearly, all forms of life on earth are subject to various environmental challenges that periodically threaten their existence on a large spatial scale; and corals are no exception. Tectonic upheavals, asteroid impacts, natural climate changes, disease pandemics and predator outbreaks: all of these challenges and many others confront earth's biosphere on a variety of different time scales and to a greater or lesser degree. So what is the cause of the current coral crisis?

The problem, as we and many others see it, is a whole set of what Riegl et al. describe as "smaller-scale, localized, and entirely man-made threats," among which they list "runoff, sedimentation, and nutrient enrichment; coastal construction leading to smothering of habitat and creation of high turbidity around coasts; overfishing and destructive fishing." In a study designed to reconstruct multi-century histories of fourteen coral reefs from various places around the world, for example, Pandolfi et al. (2003) found that "all reefs were substantially degraded long before outbreaks of coral disease and bleaching." In fact, they determined that the "degradation of coral reef ecosystems began centuries ago," when the world was in the midst of the Little Ice Age and the air's CO2 concentration was a hundred parts per million less than it is today. It is our belief, therefore, that this long-term degradation has severely weakened the ability of many of earth's corals to adequately cope with the challenges of temperature-induced bleaching and potential ocean acidification.

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Cayman coral reefs bleached

From an article on the Caymanian Compass:

The Cayman Islands Department of Environment has confirmed significant amounts of coral bleaching on local reefs.

Following up on reports from the diving community as well as a ‘bleaching potential’ alert from the recently installed ICON weather monitoring station in Little Cayman, DoE staff conducted a rapid assessment of reefs on the north, west and south coasts of Grand Cayman.

The scientific diving team found that nearly all corals in the shallow reefs to about 30 ft showed signs of moderate to severe bleaching, while approximately 80% of corals in the deeper reefs to 120 ft exhibited the early signs of coral bleaching.

Bleaching appeared more intense on the north coast although the reasons for this are not fully understood at this stage.

Coral bleaching is a stress related reaction whereby the coral colonies lose their colour and ‘bleach’ white either due to the loss of pigments by microscopic algae living in symbiosis with their coral hosts, or because the algae have been totally expelled. Bleaching is closely associated with sustained elevated water temperatures and UV light and has been linked to global climate change as the world’s oceans heat up.

Corals can recover from less severe bleaching episodes although recovery is variable and in some instances entire reefs have been lost to single bleaching events. The last major bout of bleaching to impact the Cayman’s reefs occurred in 1998 with significant mortality following. Minor bleaching events have been recorded in the warmer summer months with increasing frequency during the last decade.

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Underwater museum to attract tourists away from reefs

From an article by Verónica Díaz Favela of IPS/IFEJ on Tierramérica:

MEXICO CITY, Sep 28 (Tierramérica).- Four sculptures in human forms, made of concrete, will be submerged in November in the depths of the Mexican Caribbean. They are the first of 400 figures that will comprise the world's largest underwater museum.

The Subaquatic Sculpture Museum will be situated in the West Coast National Park in the southeastern state of Quintana Roo, on the Yucatán Peninsula. The park receives nearly 300,000 visitors each year. The museum's mission is to attract some of those tourists, reducing the pressures on important natural habitat.

The watery museum will become even more attractive when the sculpture area fills with thousands of colorful fish. The concrete of the sculptures is pH neutral, which allows rapid growth of algae and incrustation of marine invertebrates.

"With the underwater museum we ensure a diversion of tourists, which permits us to give a rest to the natural reefs. It's as if it were a restoration process," explained national park director Jaime González to this reporter.

"In becoming healthier, the coral reefs will be more resistant to hurricane damage," he added.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (PCC) has warned that extreme weather phenomena, like hurricanes, will become more intense and frequent as a result of global warming. The panel also predicts higher acidity of ocean waters and consequent bleaching of coral - which can kill it. . . .

In the West Coast National Park of Isla Mujeres, Punta Cancún and Punta Nizuc, the challenge is to draw tourists away from natural habitats without losing the 36 million dollars they bring into the area each year.

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Intense bleaching along the Mexican Caribbean

A post from NOAA's coral listserve:

An intense bleaching event is also occurring along the Mexican Caribbean
Coast. Our first observations of pale corals was done in May in Akumal reef, with 7% of the colonies showing pale coloration at a depth of 10-15m. By June, 9% of the colonies were bleached-pale in Mahahual Reef at the same depth. By July, 32% of the colonies were bleached-pale in Punta Allen reef.

At present, (August-September) surveys at Puerto Morelos reef show that 41% of the colonies were bleached and 31% of them were completely white. Surveys were done at a depth of 4-8m.

The number of colonies sampled at each site was over 2000. Almost all
scleractinian species showed bleaching signs, as well as some gorgonians, Milleporas and zoanthids.

We will continue monitoring this event and possible disease outbreaks.

Best regards,
MC. Rosa Rodr?guez-Mart?nez
Lab. Sistemas Arrecifales
Unidad Acad?mica de Sistemas Arrecifales
ICMyL, UNAM
Puerto Morelos, Q. Roo, M?xico
Tel. 52 (998) 87 102 19 xt. 128
Fax. 52 (998) 87 101 38

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Elkhorn coral spotted in Key West after years of die-off

From a news release issued by the Key West Vacation Guide and posted on Online PR News:

Finally some good news after almost thirty years of die-offs of the Elkhorn coral population in Key West! After almost 95 percent of the Elkhorn coral was obliterated by hurricanes and disease, we now have evidence that things are looking brighter. One clue is the large specimen spotted just a few miles offshore from Key West.

Online PR News – 23-September-2009 – KEY WEST, FL - In a much-welcomed new direction for the health of coral reefs in Key West and the Florida Keys, there's finally a sign of hope. One lone island of Elkhorn Coral stands proudly anchored to the ocean's floor, just a few miles south of Key West. It's a welcome sign, since this species, (acropora palmata) has been slowly disappearing from Keys waters and the Caribbean in general, for almost thirty years now.

Finding this beauty of a colony, plus the latest great news released this year that farm-raised Elkhorn coral was spawning and growing, is among the first in good news for the battered coral reefs in this area. Hurricanes and disease, some brought on by humans, have devestated Elkhorn and Staghorn colonies for decades.

Some of the bacteria that has been killing off the Elkhorn coral off Key West is bacteria that's found in the intestines of humans and animals. Until recently, Key West's plans for waste treatment of sewage have consisted of septic fields. That means, waste is simply released underground with hopes that it gets absorbed into the ground before it hits the ocean or Gulf. Not even a septic tank...just a field.

"Key West is working on a more up to date sewer system. Hopefully it's not too late." says Mandy Rothko, head of a citizen's watch group based in Key West. His group keeps a close eye on reef conditions, public utility policies, and of course waste treatment in Key West. "There's been a lot of resistance from locals who don't want to pay for a sewer system, or for hooking up to one once it's built" says Mr. Rothko. "But if they understood what's happening to the coral reef right offshore, they'd be more willing".

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Hoping for a hurricane? Coral reefs are

From a post by Stephanie Wear on The Nature Conservancy's Cool Green Science blog:

It may surprise you to know that, given the warming trends in the ocean and the fact that El Niño seems to be setting up for this winter, a hurricane is just what coral reefs need to avoid a mass bleaching event.

Don’t get me wrong: Big hurricanes can cause serious damage to coral reefs. But generally, storms are something they have adapted to and as long as they are in good health, will be able to recover from.

But why are hurricanes good for coral reefs?
The combination of still hot water and radiation stress from cloud-free summer days is a deadly duo for corals. But with hurricanes, you get lots and lots of wind, and the ocean gets all stirred up. The clouds come in and darken the sky and cool things off with lots of rainfall. This is just what a reef needs to keep from bleaching when they have been cooking in the sun, getting stressed from the heat.

Here’s why: When corals are stressed, they expel the tiny algae cells that live in their tissues, turning the corals white. This bleaching (the appearance of “whitened” coral where there was once-colorful coral) is a symptom of stress in corals and other reef animals with symbiotic algae. These tiny algae are known as zooxanthellae and are present in most healthy reef-building corals. Zooxanthellae provide nutrients and oxygen to the coral through photosynthetic activities, allowing their host to direct more energy toward growth and constructing its calcium carbonate skeleton.

The host coral polyp in return provides zooxanthellae with a protected environment and a constant supply of carbon dioxide needed for photosynthesis. When sea temperatures become too warm (above 28 C), the photosythetic system of the zooxanthellae can not effectively process incoming light. This results in production of “superoxides,” such as hydrogen peroxide, toxic by-products of this process. These toxins contribute to coral stress reactions, which lead to bleaching. In extreme cases of bleaching, corals die.

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Support the Caribbean Challenge

An appeal from The Nature Conservancy:

In May of 2008, The Bahamas’ government, alongside leaders from Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines launched the Caribbean Challenge, a region-wide campaign to protect the health of the Caribbean’s lands and waters. Today, eight Caribbean nations have committed to protecting nearly 20 percent of their marine and coastal habitat by 2020.

The Caribbean Challenge will result in a wholesale transformation of countries’ national park systems and will nearly triple the amount of marine and coastal habitat currently under protection, setting aside almost 21 million acres of coral reefs, mangroves, sea grass beds and other important habitat for sea turtles, whales, sharks and other wildlife. The three core components of the Challenge include:

•creating networks of marine protected areas expanding across 21 million acres of territorial coasts and waters

•establishing protected area trust funds to generate permanent, dedicated and sustainable funding sources for the effective management, expansion and scientific monitoring of all parks and protected areas

•developing national level demonstrations projects for climate change adaptation
Modeled on other large-scale conservation financing efforts, including the Micronesia Challenge and the Great Bear Rainforest in British Columbia, the Caribbean Challenge goes far beyond piecemeal, incremental conservation. The campaign to meet the Caribbean Challenge is a campaign to end paper parks in the Caribbean forever.

To support the Challenge, the Conservancy has pledged $20 million in cash and in-kind resources to endow national protected area trusts and provide technical support. . . .

Happily, the Challenge offers an opportunity to profoundly change that projected future of loss into a realized future of abundance. Please join us as we work to fulfill our $20 million pledge to help protect 21 million acres of the Caribbean and all of the plants, animals and people who depend upon those clear waters for survival.

With your help, the Caribbean Challenge can make an immediate and material difference to the future of the plants, animals and people of the Caribbean. Please join us. Your contribution matters.

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