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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Coral Reef Alliance celebrates 15th anniversary

The Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL) celebrated its 15th anniversary with a festive party which highlighted CORAL's work, including projects in Mexico:

CORAL's two current program sites in Mexico are located in the major tourism destinations of Playa del Carmen and Cozumel, both of which are well known for offering incredible diving experiences. As increasing popularity and lack of education about sustainable tourism began to take its toll, CORAL chose Playa del Carmen as a pilot workshop location to implement local stakeholder conservation projects now underway. Cozumel had a national marine park but needed assistance in connecting its goals to the community to make it more effective as a protected area for coral reefs. CORAL used its innovative checklist as a means of forging connections and building a vision of cooperation to expand local capacity for conservation. In addition, the CORAL Reef Leadership Network is now active in Mexico, offering an expanded reach for environmental and best practices education in the country.

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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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Global warming may dent El Niño's protective shield from Atlantic hurricanes, increase droughts

ScienceDaily (Sep. 24, 2009) — El Niño, the periodic eastern Pacific phenomenon credited with shielding the United States and Caribbean from severe hurricane seasons, may be overshadowed by its brother in the central Pacific due to global warming, according to an article in the September 24 issue of the journal Nature.

"There are two El Niños, or flavors of El Niño," said Ben Kirtman, co-author of the study and professor of meteorology and physical oceanography at the University of Miami's Rosentstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. "In addition to the eastern Pacific El Niño which we know and love, a second El Niño in the central Pacific is on the increase."

El Niño is a recurring warm water current along the equator in the Pacific Ocean that affects weather circulation patterns in the tropics. The eastern El Niño increases wind sheer in the Atlantic that may hamper the development of major hurricanes there. The central Pacific El Niño, near the International Dateline, has been blamed for worsening drought conditions in Australia and India as well as minimizing the effects of its beneficial brother to the east.

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U.S. scientists net giant squid in Gulf of Mexico

From a Reuters article by Jasmin Melvin posted on Morther Nature Network:

U.S. scientists in the Gulf of Mexico unexpectedly netted a 19.5-foot (5.9-meter) giant squid off the coast of Louisiana, the Interior Department said on Monday, showing how little is known about life in the deep waters of the Gulf.

Not since 1954, when a giant squid was found floating dead off the Mississippi Delta, has the rare species been spotted in the Gulf of Mexico.

The squid, weighing in at 103 pounds (46.7 kg), was caught July 30 in a trawl net more than 1,500 feet underwater as it was pulled by a research vessel.

The giant squid, which did not survive the rapid change in water depth when brought to the surface, was preserved and sent to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History for further study.

Scientists aboard -- from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service -- were participating in a pilot study on the diets of sperm whales.

"As the trawl net rose out of the water, I could see that we had something big in there ... really big," Anthony Martinez, a marine mammal scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the chief scientist on the research cruise, said in a statement.

Remnants of giant squid have been found in the stomachs of its predators in the waters of the Gulf, Caribbean and Florida Keys so scientists were aware of their presence in the Gulf.

The squid discovered by the researchers is significant because the species are difficult to catch, leaving much to be learned about them.

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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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