From J.MCMANUS at cgnet.com Wed Jul 1 19:54:00 1998 From: J.MCMANUS at cgnet.com (John McManus) Date: Wed, 01 Jul 1998 16:54:00 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Reefs at Risk Message-ID: <359A15CD@msm.cgnet.com> 1 July 1998 Dear Coral-listers: I just returned for a few days amid a series of trips. I'm pleased to see there has been some healthy debate over the "Reefs at Risk" report. It was obviously our first shot at the global situation analysis. We are already hard at work arranging for follow-up versions over the next few years. We hope that we can count on all of you to help produce an increasingly accurate picture of the state of the reefs and the changes that are occurring. Three important aspects of the analysis were the model, the consultations and the data. We will strive to improve the first by figuring out various options for weighting and incorporating the most meaningful variables. We are hoping to dig up support for future consultations to involve more regional experts, perhaps via regional meetings. Finally, we really need more data with which to adjust the model. We encourage inputs in all three aspects. The model is reasonably well-explained in the report. Please feel free to send in suggestions to any of the authors for improving the model. If we find support for regional meetings, we will call on a larger consultative body to help out. However, in the area of data availability we need help from a wide range of coral-listers and your contacts. The world still holds tens of thousands of reef reports (environmental impact studies, technical reports, etc.) which we do not have in ReefBase. We are moving increasingly into consolidating and disseminating large sets of raw survey data. More surveys need doing. We also need more reports of stresses affecting reefs, such as appear in Coral-list. Careful follow-up and formal publication will raise the confidence levels and utility of the reports. We need both "forward observers" (sport divers) and "heavy artillery" (scientists, managers, etc.) in this effort. For more information on how to help with ReefBase and related activities, please write to . Sincerely, Dr John W McManus ReefBase Project Leader Aquatic Environments Program International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management (ICLARM) MCPO Box 2631, Makati City, Philippines 0718 http://www.reefbase.org From jch at aoml.noaa.gov Wed Jul 1 07:05:56 1998 From: jch at aoml.noaa.gov (Jim Hendee) Date: Wed, 1 Jul 1998 07:05:56 -0400 (EDT) Subject: threats to tropical coastal environment Message-ID: From: "Santiago ALVAREZ RODRIGUEZ" Organization: World Maritime University To: coral-list Date: Tue, 30 Jun 1998 23:50:55 +0100 Subject: I am sorry to disturb you. We are a small group of students of the World Maritime University in Sweden, an institution established under the auspices of the International Maritime Organization, a specialized agengy of the United Nations. We are looking for information about these problems: 1- The threats that are posed to tropical coastal environments (warm waters, coral, mangroves, fisheries) by harbour development (including oil import/export) and tourist infrastructure development. 2- How do these threats differ from those relating to colder (temperate) coastal environments? 3- How can the International Conventions be applied to minimise the threats. If it is possible, I would like to request any information that you have about the subject described above. Thank you in advance. Yours sincerely --------------------- Santiago Alvarez Rodr?guez Henrik Smith Hostel (room 620) Disponentgatan 6 211 57 Malm? Sweden E-mail s99002 at wmu3.wmu.se From crmpriau at pbaru.wasantara.net.id Wed Jul 1 06:47:16 1998 From: crmpriau at pbaru.wasantara.net.id (Coremap BAPPEDA Tk.I Riau) Date: Wed, 1 Jul 1998 17:47:16 +0700 Subject: Thank's for The Artificial Reef Message-ID: <01bda4dd$9cd25680$LocalHost@default> Dear Dr, Collins I have received your Artificial Reef Litteratur at July 1, 1998. I am very happy and greatfull of your kindness and attentions. In fact there are some positives (support) and negatives (avoid) our plan to sink 1,200 tyres (39 pyramides/tetrahedron) in to the sea. But from your article and e-mail we had big motivation and confident to continue this project. We hope You will give us suggestions and guidance. For the second, from your paper refferences I need some informations about spiny lobster (Panulirus sp), please let me know where I can get it. Please help if we were wrong to decide this. Keep in touch Best regards, Fadil Nandila Coremap Bappeda Tk I Riau crmpriau at pbaru.wasantara.net.id From crmpriau at pbaru.wasantara.net.id Wed Jul 1 06:46:41 1998 From: crmpriau at pbaru.wasantara.net.id (Coremap BAPPEDA Tk.I Riau) Date: Wed, 1 Jul 1998 17:46:41 +0700 Subject: Bactery in Coral Reef Message-ID: <01bda4dd$884394e0$LocalHost@default> Dear Coral Listers, I'm a graduate of Fishery Faculty of Riau University, Riau, Indonesia. Right now I've been preparing some research proposal about "Present Bacteria at Coral Reef". I wish someone can help me to provide some information litteratures and related study. Thank you very much for your respons and help. Cheers, M. Taufik Hidayat, BSc KSL Laksana Samudera (Marine Environmental Study Club) crmpriau at pbaru.wasantara.net.id Mailing Address : Jln. Kuantan VII No. 46 E Pekanbaru (28000) Riau, INDONESIA. From coral at aoml.noaa.gov Wed Jul 1 07:30:24 1998 From: coral at aoml.noaa.gov (Coral Health and Monitoring Program) Date: Wed, 1 Jul 1998 07:30:24 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Executive Order from President Clinton Message-ID: FYI... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release June 11, 1998 EXECUTIVE ORDER CORAL REEF PROTECTION By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America and in furtherance of the purposes of the Clean Water Act of 1977, as amended (33 U.S.C. 1251, et seq.), Coastal Zone Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1451, et seq.), Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801, et seq.), National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321, et seq.), National Marine Sanctuaries Act, (16 U.S.C. 1431, et seq.), National Park Service Organic Act (16 U.S.C. 1, et seq.), National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act (16 U.S.C. 668dd-ee), and other pertinent statutes, to preserve and protect the biodiversity, health, heritage, and social and economic value of U.S. coral reef ecosystems and the marine environment, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. Definitions. (a) "U.S. coral reef ecosystems" means those species, habitats, and other natural resources associated with coral reefs in all maritime areas and zones subject to the jurisdiction or control of the United States (e.g., Federal, State, territorial, or commonwealth waters), including reef systems in the south Atlantic, Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and Pacific Ocean. (b) "U.S. Coral Reef Initiative" is an existing partnership between Federal agencies and State, territorial, commonwealth, and local governments, nongovernmental organizations, and commercial interests to design and implement additional management, education, monitoring, research, and restoration efforts to conserve coral reef ecosystems for the use and enjoyment of future generations. The existing U.S. Islands Coral Reef Initiative strategy covers approximately 95 percent of U.S. coral reef ecosystems and is a key element of the overall U.S. Coral Reef Initiative. (c) "International Coral Reef Initiative" is an existing partnership, founded by the United States in 1994, of governments, intergovernmental organizations, multilateral development banks, nongovernmental organizations, scientists, and the private sector whose purpose is to mobilize governments and other interested parties whose coordinated, vigorous, and effective actions are required to address the threats to the world's coral reefs. Sec. 2. Policy. (a) All Federal agencies whose actions may affect U.S. coral reef ecosystems shall: (a) identify their actions that may affect U.S. coral reef ecosystems; (b) utilize their programs and authorities to protect and enhance the conditions of such ecosystems; and (c) to the extent permitted by law, ensure that any actions they authorize, fund, or carry out will not degrade the conditions of such ecosystems. (b) Exceptions to this section may be allowed under terms prescribed by the heads of Federal agencies: (1) during time of war or national emergency; (2) when necessary for reasons of national security, as determined by the President; (3) during emergencies posing an unacceptable threat to human health or safety or to the marine environment and admitting of no other feasible solution; or (4) in any case that constitutes a danger to human life or a real threat to vessels, aircraft, platforms, or other man-made structures at sea, such as cases of force majeure caused by stress of weather or other act of God. Sec. 3. Federal Agency Responsibilities. In furtherance of section 2 of this order, Federal agencies whose actions affect U.S. coral reef ecosystems, shall, subject to the availability of appropriations, provide for implementation of measures needed to research, monitor, manage, and restore affected ecosystems, including, but not limited to, measures reducing impacts from pollution, sedimentation, and fishing. To the extent not inconsistent with statutory responsibilities and procedures, these measures shall be developed in cooperation with the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force and fishery management councils and in consultation with affected States, territorial, commonwealth, tribal, and local government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, the scientific community, and commercial interests. Sec. 4. U.S. Coral Reef Task Force. The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce, through the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, shall co-chair a U.S. Coral Reef Task Force ("Task Force"), whose members shall include, but not be limited to, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Attorney General, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Transportation, the Director of the National Science Foundation, the Administrator of the Agency for International Development, and the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The Task Force shall oversee implementation of the policy and Federal agency responsibilities set forth in this order, and shall guide and support activities under the U.S. Coral Reef Initiative ("CRI"). All Federal agencies whose actions may affect U.S. coral reef ecosystems shall review their participation in the CRI and the strategies developed under it, including strategies and plans of State, territorial, commonwealth, and local governments, and, to the extent feasible, shall enhance Federal participation and support of such strategies and plans. The Task Force shall work in cooperation with State, territorial, commonwealth, and local government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, the scientific community, and commercial interests. Sec. 5. Duties of the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force. (a) Coral Reef Mapping and Monitoring. The Task Force, in cooperation with State, territory, commonwealth, and local government partners, shall coordinate a comprehensive program to map and monitor U.S. coral reefs. Such programs shall include, but not be limited to, territories and commonwealths, special marine protected areas such as National Marine Sanctuaries, National Estuarine Research Reserves, National Parks, National Wildlife Refuges, and other entities having significant coral reef resources. To the extent feasible, remote sensing capabilities shall be developed and applied to this program and local communities should be engaged in the design and conduct of programs. (b) Research. The Task Force shall develop and implement, with the scientific community, research aimed at identifying the major causes and consequences of degradation of coral reef ecosystems. This research shall include fundamental scientific research to provide a sound framework for the restoration and conservation of coral reef ecosystems worldwide. To the extent feasible, existing and planned environmental monitoring and mapping programs should be linked with scientific research activities. This Executive order shall not interfere with the normal conduct of scientific studies on coral reef ecosystems. (c) Conservation, Mitigation, and Restoration. The Task Force, in cooperation with State, territorial, commonwealth, and local government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, the scientific community and commercial interests, shall develop, recommend, and seek or secure implementation of measures necessary to reduce and mitigate coral reef ecosystem degradation and to restore damaged coral reefs. These measures shall include solutions to problems such as land-based sources of water pollution, sedimentation, detrimental alteration of salinity or temperature, over-fishing, over-use, collection of coral reef species, and direct destruction caused by activities such as recreational and commercial vessel traffic and treasure salvage. In developing these measures, the Task Force shall review existing legislation to determine whether additional legislation is necessary to complement the policy objectives of this order and shall recommend such legislation if appropriate. The Task Force shall further evaluate existing navigational aids, including charts, maps, day markers, and beacons to determine if the designation of the location of specific coral reefs should be enhanced through the use, revision, or improvement of such aids. (d) International Cooperation. The Secretary of State and the Administrator of the Agency for International Development, in cooperation with other members of the Coral Reef Task Force and drawing upon their expertise, shall assess the U.S. role in international trade and protection of coral reef species and implement appropriate strategies and actions to promote conservation and sustainable use of coral reef resources worldwide. Such actions shall include expanded collaboration with other International Coral Reef Initiative ("ICRI") partners, especially governments, to implement the ICRI through its Framework for Action and the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network at regional, national, and local levels. Sec. 6. This order does not create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable in law or equity by a party against the United States, its agencies, its officers, or any person. WILLIAM J. CLINTON THE WHITE HOUSE, June 11, 1998. From crmpriau at pbaru.wasantara.net.id Wed Jul 1 07:17:19 1998 From: crmpriau at pbaru.wasantara.net.id (Coremap BAPPEDA Tk.I Riau) Date: Wed, 1 Jul 1998 18:17:19 +0700 Subject: spiny lobster reference Message-ID: <01bda4e1$d26e9020$LocalHost@default> Dear Coral lister I have been interested about spiny lobster (Panulirus spp), but in my college (Fisheries of Riau University, Riau-Indonesia) I never get the references about it. I'm 26th old, I'm a U/W photographer specialist and an environmental journalist. At now I'm active on Coral reef Rehabilitation and management program of Riau Province, Indonesia. I will study about spiny lobster in Indonesia. I hope some body help me with kindness. please send me a refference and the name/E-mail of spiny lobster expert. thanks..... coremap-bappeda tk-I Riau, Indonesia Fadil Nandila crmpriau at pbaru.wasantara.net.id mailing addres: COREMAP-BAPPEDA TK-I RIAU JL. CUT NYAK DHIEN, PEKANBARU (28000) RIAU-INDONESIA FAKS. 62-761-36035 From coral at aoml.noaa.gov Wed Jul 1 08:20:54 1998 From: coral at aoml.noaa.gov (Coral Health and Monitoring Program) Date: Wed, 1 Jul 1998 12:20:54 GMT Subject: coral-list-digest reminder Message-ID: <199807011220.MAA21470@coral.aoml.noaa.gov> As a reminder, those of you who prefer not to receive coral-list postings as they occur, rather receive one message approximately once a week (but this depends upon message traffic), you may subscribe to coral-list-digest instead of coral-list. If you wish to do this, send the following text in the body of a message to majordomo at coral.aoml.noaa.gov : subscribe coral-list-digest unsubscribe coral-list ~~~~~~ Here is what the latest header looks like for the most recent coral-list-digest (minus the text that would follow): Subject: coral-list-digest V1 #23 coral-list-digest Wednesday, 1 July 1998 Volume 01 : Number 023 In this issue: Coral demise Reefs at Risk. Re: Reefs at Risk. Reefs at Risk Re: Reefs at Risk. Re: Reefs at Risk Qatar reefs Re: Reefs at Risk--nutrients Bill Precht's reply Re:Reefs at Risk. Re: Reefs at Risk hi RE: Bill Precht's reply RE: Reefs at Risk. unsuscribe RE: Reefs at Risk threats to tropical coastal environment spiny lobster reference Thank's for The Artificial Reef ---------------------------------------------------------------------- If you have any problems, please let me know. Cheers, Jim Hendee coral-list administrator Jim.Hendee at NOAA.Gov From edcolijn at bart.nl Wed Jul 1 12:57:13 1998 From: edcolijn at bart.nl (Ed Colijn) Date: Wed, 01 Jul 1998 18:57:13 +0200 Subject: Coral bleaching Thailand Message-ID: <359A6A69.35AF37C@bart.nl> Bangkok Post [Two Articles] June 29, 1998 Worst ever coral bleaching in Thai seas Sea temperature rise puts coral at risk Kanittha Inchukul The warming of sea water has caused widespread coral bleaching in the Gulf of Thailand from Trat province in the eastern coast down to Singapore, according to Chulalongkorn University's marine science expert Suraphol Sudara. He described the phenomenon as the worst ever to occur but stopped short of putting the blame on El Nino. Dr Suraphol said coral bleaching was detected in April in almost every part of the gulf especially tourist attractions such as Chang, Tao and Pha-ngan islands. Fortunately however, he said this had not yet occurred in the Andaman Sea. Coincidentally, he noted that the same phenomenon was also detected in the Great Barrier Reefs in Australia and in Singaporean waters. He disclosed that the temperature of water in the gulf had increased significantly from an average of 28-29 degrees Celsius to 32 degrees. He said it could be possible that the warming of the sea water was caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon. The bleaching is caused by the escape of a kind of algae called zooxanthellae from the coral structure as a result of sea water warming. Eventually, this can lead to the death of the coral. Also affected by sea water warming is giant clam or hoi mue sua. Dr Suraphol said it was as yet too soon to predict whether the affected corals would survive or not. Normally, he said it would take at least 2-3 years for the bleached corals to start to recover slowly unless the problem is further compounded by sea pollution. The immediate impact of coral bleaching is a drop in the number of tourists who are interested in diving or snorkelling with the long-term impacts yet to be determined, said the scientist, adding that the death of corals would result in more serious shore erosion as corals serve as a natural barrier to waves. Dr Suraphol's concern about coral bleaching confirms the alarm raised by some diving instructors who earlier observed the phenomenon in the sea off Pattaya, near Samaesan and Koh Samet island. Dave Chandler, in his letter to the Bangkok Post, said he suspected sea water warming as the culprit but did not rule out pollution from industrial sites and discharges from tankers and vessels. The Pattaya-based diving instructor said both soft and hard corals had died, leaving only bleached white limestone. Nevertheless, he said other corals look healthy and unaffected. Mr Chandler said his diving computer measured sea temperature at 33 degrees Celsius in shallow water and 32 degrees at depths below 6-8 metres. Normally, the temperature would be no more than 30 degrees, he noted. He expressed concern that if the corals were wiped out, it would deal a tremendous blow to the ecology of the gulf and would seriously threaten Thailand's badly-needed income from tourists who come here to dive. =================================================== More than a little off colour MARINE LIFE: Scientists have discovered many of Thailand's coral reefs are not looking very healthy. In some places 100 percent of the most common Acropora coral has been bleached white Dr Suraphol Sudara and Dr Thammasak Yeemin of the Coral and Seagrass Research Unit, Chulalongkorn University A healthy coral reef is a dynamic world of vivid colour thanks to the single-cell algae called zooxanthellae. This algae, which lives in the cells of the coral, shares a symbiotic - or mutually advantageous - relationship with the coral. The zooxanthellae provides the coral not just with colour, but also extra food through the process of photosynthesis. In return, the coral gives the algae a home and protection inside its skeletal structure. Things normally go well between the two partners until something disrupts their symbiotic relationship, resulting in the coral host kicking out its algal roommate. The sad fact is in most cases, coral cannot survive on its own - without zooxanthellae it bleaches white and gradually dies. The even sadder fact is, this is happening now in the Gulf of Thailand. Since the 1980s marine biologists around the world have been concerned about coral bleaching, and although they could see it happening in many places, scientists were having a hard time confirming what was actually causing this disastrous phenomenon. Even today, there is no conclusive evidence about why bleaching actually happens. Coral bleaching has occurred in the Caribbean, the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and in the Arabian Gulf and Red Sea. Bleaching was first noticed in Thai waters in 1979 on a few patches of coral off Phuket. By 1991 the problem was widely recognised on the Andaman side of the kingdom. It was not really observed in the Gulf of Thailand until recently. Then in late April, the bleaching of coral in the Gulf was widely noticed at islands off the coast of Chumpon and Surat Thani. Then it was discovered areas on the east coast such as Rayong, Trat and the inner part of the Gulf around Ko Sichang and Pattaya were also affected. But the phenomenon was quite strange. While some species in the coral colonies were affected by bleaching, others were maintaining their normal colour. A preliminary survey at Ko Rum Ra offshore from Bangsapan, Prachuab Kiri khan province, where bleaching was noticed at the end of April is continuing to this day. The situation there seems serious as the reef appears in parts to be completely white. About 10 species of the Acropora group - which includes staghorn coral and table coral - had suffered almost 100 percent bleaching; Pocillopora damicornis is about 80 percent bleached and the other 20 percent is pale in colour; about 60-70 percent of massive coral in the Porites group were found to be bleached, especially the coral lying in shallow flat parts of the reef. Coral in the shallower water appears to have been more effected by the bleaching than that in deeper water, and the sea water temperature in shallower areas was found to be rather high, around 32-33 degrees Celsius. The reefs around Koh Tao, a popular island for divers and snorkelers has also fallen victim to bleaching which was observed there in early May, when the recorded sea water temperature also proved to be high - about 31-32 degrees Celsius. The most significant impact appears to be on the Acropora group of hard corals - the most commonly found coral in this region - which was completely bleached white. More than 80 percent of another hard coral Pocillopa damicornis was found to be bleached. Fungia were also all found to be bleached and even some species of colourful soft coral had turned white. It appears the bleached soft coral might not be able recover. Similar bleaching incidents were recognised at coral communities on the inner part of the Gulf starting from Ko Sichang through to Pattaya to Sathaheep. A survey also showed bleaching extended further along the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand to Trat. The extent of the bleaching and the long-term damage it causes to the reef remains to be seen. The death of particular species - particularly the Acropora group - appears to be extensive. While it might be possible for the coral to recover from the effects of bleaching, the problems it faces do not end there. If the coral is overrun by filamentous algae, or if other alien invertibrates make their homes on its skeleton, rejuvenation of the coral might be hampered or indeed made impossible. Some groups of coral might recover, such as Galaxea, Platygyra and Lobophyllia, but the question of how long the recovery process could take remains a mystery. As is understanding how great the impact will be on the reproductive cycle or fecundity of the effected reef organisms. Neither is it known what the long term impact of bleaching will be on other reef organisms such as sea urchins and reef fish. Or whether the bleaching will increase the rates of bio-erosion on the reef. All these issues still need to be studied. The cause of the unusually high sea water temperatures all over the Gulf of Thailand remains to be proved by physical oceanographers, however it has been suggested it is linked to the El Nino weather phenomenon. Even though El Nino is more or less over, this bleaching might be part of its legacy. ? Copyright The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd. 1998 -- Ed Colijn edcolijn at bart.nl The Indonesian Nature Conservation Database http://www.bart.nl/~edcolijn/ From nolan at cyberlearn.com Wed Jul 1 21:08:51 1998 From: nolan at cyberlearn.com (Ron S. Nolan) Date: Wed, 1 Jul 1998 18:08:51 -0700 Subject: zooxanthellae picture Message-ID: Greetings, Does anyone have a slide or print of symbiotic zooxanthellae (from hermatypic corals) which we might use in a new CD-ROM series on ecosystems and communities for college-level biology and ecology courses? Regards, "Nolan" Ron S. Nolan, Ph.D. Digital Studios?/CyberLearning Collection?/Electric Biology? http://www.cyberlearn.com nolan at cyberlearn.com (800) 499-3322 (408) 688-3158 outside of US FAX (408) 688-5738 From cnidaria at earthlink.net Thu Jul 2 11:04:15 1998 From: cnidaria at earthlink.net (James M. Cervino) Date: Thu, 2 Jul 1998 08:04:15 -0700 (PDT) Subject: No subject Message-ID: Reefs At Risk My students and myself have been reading the debate on the coral list server regarding the problems reefs are facing, and we had some questions: 1) I have been diving the Caribbean since 1979, and the Pacific since 1990. We have seen the exponentially expanding human populations and tourist hotels grow in numbers in the past 15 years, and along with this growth we have seen the steady growth of macro-algae smothering the corals leading to coastal eutrophication . None of these islands have sewage treatment plants, and the islands that don't have septic tank overflows, dump sewage directly into the water. I don't even think there is a debate as to whether this direct dumping of sewage is causing such high nutrient loads along these coasts and shallow lagoons, or is there? 2) Are we saying in situations such as this, up-welling of nutrients from the deep oceans, and sewage from anthropogenic sources are equally causing the demise of coral cover? 3)Can someone honestly say that fertilizers and anthropogenic waste, whether it be direct or from leaky septic is not part of the major problem on these islands and southern Florida?? 4) Regarding Fl. : What about the river of sand, a geological formation called the Long Key Formation, that was deposited along the Florida peninsula 3-5 million yrs ago. Larry Brand has claimed that this is an ideal way for phosphate laden water to move through unchanged, thus leaking under the Florida Bay, is this not true?? It makes sense! Is this not causing the demise of coral cover from coastal eutrophication?? 5)Studies by Lapointe and Tomasko have shown that increased water column nutrient availability typically results in greater epiphyte levels on seagrass blades. Nutrient-induced increases in epiphyte coverage decrease the amount of light that seagrass blades and corals tissue receives. Is this not a stress causing a major problem?? 6) CAN WE ALL AGREE THAT NUTRIENTS FROM ANTHROPOGENIC SOURCES ARE CAUSING THE DEMISE IN CORAL AND SEA GRASS COVER IN FL. AND CARIBBEAN ISLANDS? WILL THIS NOT LOWER THE METABOLIC ACTIVITY OF THE CORALS THUS MAKING THEM MORE SUSCEPTIBLE TO DISEASES? Excess nutrients can cause the proliferation of macro-algal blooms, and cyanobacteria in and around these oligotrophic systems. Example: Sipadan Island, Indo-Pacific. In 1988 Sipadan Island had 15 rooms (huts on stilts,) on this 600 yard circle coral cay. In 1990 there were 2 more dive operators on this cay adding 30 more rooms. In 1992 another 2 dive operators added 30 more rooms, and as of 1998 I heard there were 7 dive operators on this tiny coral cay. So this small island now has 200 to 300 humans whose waste is deposited in the porous limestone substrate each day. We have photo graphed the decline in corals due to excess sediment, and proliferation of macrophytes growing all over the Acroporids and soft coral species. Gardens of hard and soft corals that once thrived on this 400meter wall in front of the island, are now 80% gone. The corals 1/2 km. out from shore are smothered with bluegreens and weedy types. The nutrient thresholds noted by Bell PRF (1992) Water Research 26:553-560, for inorganic nitrogen and soluble reactive phosphorus must be at level. This is a protected reserve, with no HCN or dynamite fishing. Therefore herbivores should be controlling the macrophytes. AND THIS IS NOT SO! 7)There are plenty of sea urchins and parrotfish, and yet still we see the smothering of algae on corals?? Why is this so?? 8) LAST QUESTION: LETS SAY WE SEE AN INCREASE HUMAN GROWTH AND IN DIADEMA ANTILLARUM IN THE NEXT 10 YEARS. WILL THE URCHINS START TAKING CARE OF THE MACROPHYTES THAT ARE SMOTHERING THE CORALS? AND WHAT ABOUT THE GREEN PEA SOUP ON THE SURFACE WATERS COMING FROM PLANKTON BLOOMS? I GUESS THE WATER BELOW WILL BE CLEAR, HOWEVER, WE STILL HAVE A PHOTOSYNTHESIS PROBLEM. WILL THIS NOT SLOW THE GROWTH RATE IN CORALS? I GUESS WITH THE GROWING CHLOROPHYLL CONCENTRATIONS WE MIGHT HAVE ANOTHER PROBLEM, INCREASE TEMPS. AND BLEACHING, I DON'T THINK THESE LITTLE CRITTERS CAN SOLVE THIS PROBLEM! THANKS, JAMES AND STUDENTS FROM AP SCIENCE AT ST. FRANCIS IN NY. ************************************ James M. Cervino Marine Biologist Global Coral Reef Alliance 124-19 9th ave. College Point New York, N.Y. 11356 Phone/Fax-(718) 539-8155 ************************************ From Ouida.Meier at wku.edu Thu Jul 2 15:01:33 1998 From: Ouida.Meier at wku.edu (Ouida Meier) Date: Thu, 02 Jul 98 14:01:33 CDT Subject: Reefs at Risk Message-ID: <9806028994.AA899413844@WKU.EDU> After being out of town, then reading the debate about the source and degree of threat to reefs in Florida in one lump, I forwarded the discussion to a student currently away at a field station and sent the following note along with it. Dear Paulette, ... The neat thing about the coral-list discussion I sent you is that the people who wrote in are some of the major players in the region. Reading between the lines, you also begin to get an idea of how nasty some of the interactions can be among scientists there - people in this field, for some reason, tend to take a position and then make it a very personal thing, maybe because one survival strategy is to become increasingly competitive/aggressive/defensive as "territories" become smaller. One would think this problem is big enough to engender cooperation instead. You know my own take on the whole situation in Florida: most of the rigorous studies that have taken place over reasonable time periods have shown declines in Florida's reefs (Dustan and Halas 1987, Porter and Meier 1992). Our current large-scale monitoring project is also showing declines; since we're still collecting and analyzing data from that study I will mention only those facets that have been completed and publicly released so far. The scary thing is that the data from these 3 studies show several different kinds of reef decline over time: percent cover of reef-building corals is decreasing, percent cover of fire corals (milleporids) and macroalgae is increasing, local species diversity is declining (rare corals becoming more rare), spatial complexity of the habitat is declining as branching corals die out, and incidences of disease are becoming more frequent, more widespread geographically, and more diseases are being found in more species of coral. While in some parts of the world declines in reefs can be clearly attributed to one particular source of impact (e.g., severe overfishing, or sedimentation from coastal development), this is not the case in the Florida Keys. Instead, I would argue that Floridian reefs should be considered severely threatened because they are exposed to multiple environmental impacts. You know from the pollution and toxicology work you're doing now that synergistic effects on organisms from multiple pollutants are frequently greater than the summed effects from each of the individual pollutants. I think the same principal of complexity of interaction applies to communities, ecosystems, and probably to the global system as well. I think the best clue we have that multiple sources of environmental impact are at work IS the fact that we have measured multiple kinds of reef decline, without even looking very far beyond the coral components. People get frustrated when they can't trace a specific, measurably changing parameter back up its causal chain to a single measurable cause, but we're dealing with genuine ecosystem networks of interaction here, not threads or chains, with system properties like contribution of indirect effects on top of that, and with multiple sources of environmental impact on top of THAT. This is not to say that identifying the most damaging sources of impact is an intractable problem, but effects propagate differently through network systems than they do along threads. Acknowledging and dealing with complexity is really very different from the linear ways we normally try to understand things and solve problems in science. But at this point in time, making progress with problems in complex systems like coral reefs will require biting that bullet - finding ways to deal with complexity of interaction in a rigorous fashion. Ouida ***************************** Dr. Ouida W. Meier Department of Biology Western Kentucky University Bowling Green, KY 42101 ouida.meier at wku.edu ***************************** From bmiller at soest.hawaii.edu Thu Jul 2 17:59:25 1998 From: bmiller at soest.hawaii.edu (Robert Miller) Date: Thu, 2 Jul 1998 11:59:25 -1000 (HST) Subject: all apologies Message-ID: Dear list, Recently I made a comment to the list implying that Bill Precht, as an environmental consultant, might have some ties to the sugar industry in Florida. I got this idea from the web page of Precht's former employer, Consul-Tech, which touts its experience in dealing with development and agricultural projects. Precht quickly corrected me, and I apologize for any misunderstanding. The comment was not intended as a personal attack, but as a call for general questioning of the motives of enviromental consultants. I think that the inherent conflict of interest that may be involved always bears scrutiny. I am only a graduate student, and my specialty has been deep-sea biology, rather than coral reef biology. Thus I was unaware of the severity of judgement placed on such comments, as Bill Precht wittily expressed in the following note. Date: Thu, 2 Jul 1998 16:59:55 -0400 From: "Precht,Bill" To: Robert Miller Subject: RE: Reefs at Risk. Bob: Just a personal note for your eyes only. One of the rules of the game for being on the coral list - "NO PERSONAL SLAMS" It's not the proper forum. Next time you pull a stunt like that I'll ask you to be removed from the list and I'm sure I'll have grassroots support. I don't know who you think you are, but your comments regarding my so called "underlying message" border on being libelous. I took the time to look for any significant contributions you have made in the field of coral reef science... As I expected.. you are an academic dud. See you in the funny papers With Sweetest regards (another reference to big sugar just in case you didn't get the metaphor), Bill Date: Thu, 2 Jul 1998 17:09:06 -0400 From: "Precht,Bill" To: Robert Miller Subject: RE: Reefs at Risk. By the way... precautionary principal is spelled PRINCIPLE From BPrecht at kennesaw.Lawco.com Thu Jul 2 17:54:49 1998 From: BPrecht at kennesaw.Lawco.com (Precht,Bill) Date: Thu, 2 Jul 1998 17:54:49 -0400 Subject: underwater GPS? Message-ID: <831C92FC9CDFD1118B3B00A0C9AB304F02AB9C@miami-1.wins.lawco.com> In response to the GPS querry - > Presently Trimble Navigation makes a GPS unit for the US > Military (Navy Seals). This system known as the MUGR (Miniature > Underwater GPS Receiver) is a 6-channel, P(Y) code, SA/AS performance > hand held unit. It is waterproof up to 2 atmospheres (66 feet) and > weighs 1.2 pounds. It is designed "to be very easy to use even under > duress". The P(Y) code indicates a military code. Users licences for > commercial/scientific use are available. However, with the recent and > ongoing declassification of military technology I understand this > equipment may be readily available to the scientific community sooner > than later and with non-military codes. > > Since this equipment has been heretofore unavailable to > general users, and because of the need for accurate underwater surveys > in the case of ship groundings etc..., We have also adapted a > survey-grade, Trimble RTK - GPS rover unit for U/W data collection. > We float the receiver directly above the diver doing the survey. The > diver has the antenna mounted on a pole with a waterproof coaxial > cable connecting the antenna with the receiver. With teams of as > little as three field personnel we are able to cover a large area with > excellent precision and accuracy (cm scale). Limitations include > water depth and sea state. The calmer the conditions and the > shallower the depth - the better the results. It is difficult to near > impossible to use this technique in rough seas. If you have any > additional questions on this technique... please don't hesitate to > drop me a line. In addition, our firm has a working (partnering) > relationship with the firm SSR (Search, Survey & Recovery) out of > Jupiter FL. They have a system entitled the IVMS (Integrated Video > Mapping System) that incorporates a constant GPS location on their U/W > video surveys. This system is further being refined with the advent > of digital video cameras. > > I hope this clarifies any questions as to the present > State-of-the-Art with U/W GPS. > > > Cheers, > > Bill Precht > > LAW Engineering & Environmental Services Inc. > 5845 NW 158th Street > Miami Lakes, FL 33014 > ph (305) 826-5588 > fax (305) 826-1799 > > -----Original Message----- > From: eric roach [SMTP:ericroach at hotmail.com] > Sent: Tuesday, June 23, 1998 5:33 PM > To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov > Subject: underwater GPS? > > Does anyone possess product information for any > sort of underwater GPS > or any ideas of how to make one? > > Eric Roach > > > ______________________________________________________ > Get Your Private, Free Email at > http://www.hotmail.com From BPrecht at kennesaw.Lawco.com Thu Jul 2 17:51:01 1998 From: BPrecht at kennesaw.Lawco.com (Precht,Bill) Date: Thu, 2 Jul 1998 17:51:01 -0400 Subject: underwater GPS? Message-ID: <831C92FC9CDFD1118B3B00A0C9AB304F02AB9A@miami-1.wins.lawco.com> > -----Original Message----- > From: Precht,Bill > Sent: Thursday, July 02, 1998 5:51 PM > To: Precht,Bill > Subject: RE: underwater GPS? > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Precht,Bill > Sent: Monday, June 29, 1998 3:36 PM > To: 'eric roach' > Subject: RE: underwater GPS? > > In response to the GPS querry - > > Presently Trimble Navigation makes a GPS unit for the US > Military (Navy Seals). This system known as the MUGR (Miniature > Underwater GPS Receiver) is a 6-channel, P(Y) code, SA/AS performance > hand held unit. It is waterproof up to 2 atmospheres (66 feet) and > weighs 1.2 pounds. It is designed "to be very easy to use even under > duress". The P(Y) code indicates a military code. Users licences for > commercial/scientific use are available. However, with the recent and > ongoing declassification of military technology I understand this > equipment may be readily available to the scientific community sooner > than later and with non-military codes. > > Since this equipment has been heretofore unavailable to > general users, and because of the need for accurate underwater surveys > in the case of ship groundings etc..., We have also adapted a > survey-grade, Trimble RTK - GPS rover unit for U/W data collection. > We float the receiver directly above the diver doing the survey. The > diver has the antenna mounted on a pole with a waterproof coaxial > cable connecting the antenna with the receiver. With teams of as > little as three field personnel we are able to cover a large area with > excellent precision and accuracy (cm scale). Limitations include > water depth and sea state. The calmer the conditions and the > shallower the depth - the better the results. It is difficult to near > impossible to use this technique in rough seas. If you have any > additional questions on this technique... please don't hesitate to > drop me a line. In addition, our firm has a working (partnering) > relationship with the firm SSR (Search, Survey & Recovery) out of > Jupiter FL. They have a system entitled the IVMS (Integrated Video > Mapping System) that incorporates a constant GPS location on their U/W > video surveys. This system is further being refined with the advent > of digital video cameras. > > I hope this clarifies any questions as to the present > State-of-the-Art with U/W GPS. > > > Cheers, > > Bill Precht > > LAW Engineering & Environmental Services Inc. > 5845 NW 158th Street > Miami Lakes, FL 33014 > ph (305) 826-5588 > fax (305) 826-1799 > > -----Original Message----- > From: eric roach [SMTP:ericroach at hotmail.com] > Sent: Tuesday, June 23, 1998 5:33 PM > To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov > Subject: underwater GPS? > > Does anyone possess product information for any > sort of underwater GPS > or any ideas of how to make one? > > Eric Roach > > > ______________________________________________________ > Get Your Private, Free Email at > http://www.hotmail.com From d.fenner at aims.gov.au Thu Jul 2 18:27:01 1998 From: d.fenner at aims.gov.au (Doug Fenner) Date: Fri, 03 Jul 1998 08:27:01 +1000 Subject: coral bleaching Message-ID: <3.0.1.32.19980703082701.007054d8@email.aims.gov.au> NOAA 98- CONTACT: Patricia Viets, NOAA FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (301) 457-5005 xxxxxxx 1998 Coral Reef Bleaching in Indian Ocean Unprecedented, NOAA Announces An episode of extremely high ocean temperatures migrated from south to north throughout the Indian Ocean during the first six months of 1998 causing considerable coral reef bleaching in its wake, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports. Sea surface temperatures, exceeding the maximum values expected for any time during the year, were observed by NOAA's satellites to have exceeded levels critical to cause beaching where these waters overlay Indian Ocean coral reefs. A somewhat similar episode occurred following the 1987 El Nino in the Indian Ocean; however, in 1988 the extreme sea surface temperature anomalies, toxic to corals, moderated sufficiently as the sun moved into the Northern Hemisphere. In that year, reefs in the Indian Ocean north of the equator were spared heavy bleaching. In 1998, this has not been the case. Bleaching, earlier projected by NOAA, has been reported from the field on the following reefs: Seychelles; Kenya; Reunion; Mauritius; Somalia; Madagascar; Maldives; Indonesia; Sri Lanka; Gulf of Thailand [Siam]; Andaman Islands; Malaysia; Oman; India; and Cambodia. This unprecedented round of bleaching in coral reefs throughout the Indian Ocean follows El Nino-related bleaching events during late-1997 and early-1998 both projected by NOAA's satellite HotSpot charts and documented by reef scientists in Mexico (Pacific), Panama (Pacific); Galapagos; Australia's Great Barrier Reef; Papua New Guinea; and American Samoa. In the Indian Ocean, sea surface temperature anomalies appear to be coming less severe toward the end of June. The total area covered by "HotSpots" is now only in the northernmost fringes of the Indian Ocean. However, during June the Philippines and the Florida Keys regions have been seeing temperature anomalies sufficiently high that bleaching has been reported and biologists are concerned for reefs there. Coral reefs -- the "rainforests of the oceans" -- support a variety of sea life and provide resources of significant economic importance such as fishing and recreation. Coral bleaching, induced by high water temperatures, has raised concerns about these fragile ecosystems. Coral bleaching occurs as coral tissue expels zooxanthellae, a type of algae that resides in the structure of the coral, and is essential to the coral's survival. Corals normally recover, unless high ocean temperatures persist for too long a period or become too warm. Coral Reef "HotSpots" depicted as regions of yellow/orange in the NOAA/NESDIS charts (http://psbsgi1.nesdis.noaa.gov:8080/PSB/EPS/SST/climohot.html) highlight those anomalies that are equal to or above the annual maximum sea surface temperatures by +1 deg C or more. HotSpot animations are available at the Oceanic Research & Applications Division's WebSite: http://http://manati.wwb.noaa.gov/orad/sub/noaarsrc.html (please send any replies to addresses found in these web sites, not the forwarder of this message, as I have no further information on this.) Douglas Fenner, Ph.D. Coral Taxonomist Australian Institute of Marine Science PMB No 3 Townsville MC Queensland 4810 Australia phone 07 4753 4241 e-mail: d.fenner at aims.gov.au From cbingman at netcom.com Thu Jul 2 23:54:16 1998 From: cbingman at netcom.com (Craig Bingman) Date: Thu, 2 Jul 1998 20:54:16 -0700 (PDT) Subject: all apologies In-Reply-To: Message-ID: On Thu, 2 Jul 1998, Robert Miller wrote: > > Dear list, > > Recently I made a comment to the list implying that Bill Precht, as an > environmental consultant, might have some ties to the sugar industry in > Florida. I got this idea from the web page of Precht's former employer, > Consul-Tech, which touts its experience in dealing with development and > agricultural projects. Precht quickly corrected me, and I > apologize for any misunderstanding. It matters less when it goes away quickly. This whole thing could have been concluded in one or two terse sentences. > The comment was not intended as a > personal attack, but as a call for general questioning of the motives of > enviromental consultants. If your axiom is that environmental consultants for a given industry are less than completely ethical when they weigh facts, then that is going to a legitimate problem. > I think that the inherent conflict of interest > that may be involved always bears scrutiny. > > I am only a graduate student, and my specialty has been deep-sea biology, > rather than coral reef biology. Thus I was unaware of the severity of > judgement placed on such comments, as Bill Precht wittily expressed > in the following note. Surely the study of deep sea biu=ology ghas attracted it shares of prickly customoers. > Date: Thu, 2 Jul 1998 16:59:55 -0400 > From: "Precht,Bill" > To: Robert Miller > Subject: RE: Reefs at Risk. > > Bob: > > Just a personal note for your eyes only. > > One of the rules of the game for being on the coral list - "NO PERSONAL > SLAMS" > > It's not the proper forum. Next time you pull a stunt like that I'll > ask you to be removed from the list and I'm sure I'll have grassroots > support. > > I don't know who you think you are, but your comments regarding my so > called "underlying message" border on being libelous. > > I took the time to look for any significant contributions you have made > in the field of coral reef science... As I expected.. you are an > academic dud. > > See you in the funny papers > > With Sweetest regards (another reference to big sugar just in case you > didn't get the metaphor), > > Bill > > > Date: Thu, 2 Jul 1998 17:09:06 -0400 > From: "Precht,Bill" > To: Robert Miller > Subject: RE: Reefs at Risk. > > By the way... > > precautionary principal is spelled PRINCIPLE > > > > From crmpriau at pbaru.wasantara.net.id Fri Jul 3 03:49:36 1998 From: crmpriau at pbaru.wasantara.net.id (Coremap BAPPEDA Tk.I Riau) Date: Fri, 3 Jul 1998 14:49:36 +0700 Subject: spiny lobster reference Message-ID: <01bda657$20406aa0$LocalHost@default> Dear Albert Thiel and Coral listers Would you like to inform an E-Mail of Martin Moe, Please..... -----Original Message----- From: Albert Thiel To: Coremap BAPPEDA Tk.I Riau Date: 01 Juli 1998 23:14 Subject: RE: spiny lobster reference >Martin Moe (Green Turtle Press) wrong an exhaustive book called Lobsters > > >-----Original Message----- >From: owner-coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov >[mailto:owner-coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov] On Behalf Of Coremap BAPPEDA >Tk.I Riau >Sent: Wednesday, July 01, 1998 7:17 AM >To: Coral Health Monitoring Program >Subject: spiny lobster reference > >Dear Coral lister > >I have been interested about spiny lobster (Panulirus spp), but in my >college (Fisheries of Riau University, Riau-Indonesia) I never get the >references about it. >I'm 26th old, I'm a U/W photographer specialist and an environmental >journalist. At now I'm active on Coral reef Rehabilitation and management >program of Riau Province, Indonesia. >I will study about spiny lobster in Indonesia. I hope some body help me with >kindness. >please send me a refference and the name/E-mail of spiny lobster expert. >thanks..... > > >coremap-bappeda tk-I Riau, Indonesia > > >Fadil Nandila >crmpriau at pbaru.wasantara.net.id > >mailing addres: >COREMAP-BAPPEDA TK-I RIAU >JL. CUT NYAK DHIEN, PEKANBARU (28000) > RIAU-INDONESIA >FAKS. 62-761-36035 > > > > From crmpriau at pbaru.wasantara.net.id Fri Jul 3 06:09:27 1998 From: crmpriau at pbaru.wasantara.net.id (Coremap BAPPEDA Tk.I Riau) Date: Fri, 3 Jul 1998 17:09:27 +0700 Subject: tyre reef wrong ? Message-ID: <01bda66a$a9a8d440$LocalHost@default> Dear Mr. Michael and Mr. King I try to clear this issue I, m realy sorry if this make you mad The coral lister where answered me (about 80 % or up) said, Tyre is not good to be Artificial reef. But they not reply me the reason with scientific. Just Mr Collin done. Am I wrong?...... Mr. King, in this case Riau Coremap Tim just helping some Diving club in Riau University to got a reason from "coral divender of the earth" about Tyre reef, before they done the wrong one. If they know that are wrong, so thay will not to do (I hope....) They just want to helping the "poor Fisherman" at Riau Archipilago where they didn't have alternative job. The tyre can give them a site for fishing. Fishing are they cultural job. No fish, no rice and then they son no school. We save coral reef that for save a fishes stoking of the area. Isn't it? So why we do all of this if we shall have been catcing a fish? (That they respon for any C-lister whom not agree the Tyre reef for agregating fish). I tell you some (bad ide?): one day at juni 1998 my frend told me that he was listening from a radio, reporting about; our goverment give a permition and agree to use Tyre for articial reef it mean to saving beach and to "grow up" a poor fisherman at 24 province in Indonesia............bla...bla...bla.... What we act now????? Ok .....I shall cancel it if you send me the article or published where can't destroy the collin scientific Tyre. Cheers Fadil Nandila Coremap-Bappeda TK I Riau Jl. Cut Nyak Dhien, Pekanbaru - Riau Indonesia crmpriau at pbaru.wasantara.net.id -----Original Message----- From: Peter N. King To: COREMAP Bappeda Riau Fadil Nandila ; Michael Risk Cc: Evan Edinger ; Ken Collins ; Ghislaine Llewellyn Date: 02 Juli 1998 5:29 Subject: Re: Artificial reefs >Mike and the Riau COREMAP Team > >I completely agree with Mike on this issue. There are many other interesting >and useful ways to recycle tires rather than dumping them in the sea. If you >need some information on recycling tires let me know. On artificial reefs, I >believe the best use is close to where an existing reef has been damaged by >blast fishing, coral mining or some other degradation. If the reef has died due >to sedimentation or excessive nutrient loading, then there is little point >trying to replace the original reef with an artificial one, unless the original >cause of the reef loss is solved. Peter King > >Dear Riau COREMAP: > >I was very surprised to read your response to Dr. Collins, of the UK, re >the use of tires for artificial reefs. It seems that you received many >responses from the Coral-list that were negative about this, but you got >the one response you needed, one that would allow you to make the reefs >from tires. > >It may very well be that tires make useful fish-aggregation devices in >temperate waters, for at least a short period of time. I should be very >clear, however: there is no scientific doubt that tires are one of the >worst possible materials for use in tropical environments. There are >several reasons for this: > 1. tires bleed toxic substances (metals,plasticisers) > 2. corals will not settle on them, hence your artificial reef will never >become a "real" reef > 3. over time, tires "exfoliate" (especially true of steel-belted tires) > >There are a number of good references to appropriate materials to use for >artificial reefs. Some of my own include Atoll Res. Bulletin #255 >(1981-almost 20 years ago!), and a followup in 1988, Mar. Poll. Bull. 19: >219-222. I would be glad to send you reprints, if you wish. In short, by >properly arranging the concrete and coral rock of a reef, you can control >the size of the fish and lobsters attracted to that reef. In a relatively >short period of time, corals and other invertebrates settle on the reefs, >converting them to "real" reefs. (In many cases, the lower parts of the >water column are so sediment-laden that corals cannot settle-but give them >a concrete block, elevated 30 cm, and settlement occurs. For more on this, >see Cortes and Risk, 1985.) > >Our project in Semarang just finished, and published, an experiment >ranking several materials that have been used in SE Asia for artificial >reefs. Only sheet metal was worse than tires! The best, of course, were >concrete structures. > >I recognise that you are under pressure to solve a terrestrial waste >problem by dumping tires in the sea. I think this is a bad solution, and >that is what I, as Team Leader, wrote in the COREMAP Final Report, which >is supposed to guide your actions. This is a bad solution, not only for >the reasons given above (which should be sufficient), but also because you >give up further opportunities. In the COREMAP Report, I consulted with Dr. >Peter Sale, and I pointed out that concrete artificial reefs can be >constructed in such a way (textures, shapes) as to attract the larvae of >ornamental and economically-important fish species. > >Cukup. The evidence is quite clear. If you want, I will send you all the >materials to which I refer above. Or you could read the COREMAP report. > >Dr. Michael Risk >Professor of Biology and Geology >McMaster Univ. > > From athiel at bellsouth.net Thu Jul 2 19:23:41 1998 From: athiel at bellsouth.net (Albert Thiel) Date: Thu, 2 Jul 1998 19:23:41 -0400 Subject: all apologies In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <000301bda610$73153860$6b519fcf@albert.atlcon.net> Posting private email to a list is considered an absolute no no and lack of etiquette and netiquette Albert -----Original Message----- From: owner-coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov [mailto:owner-coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov] On Behalf Of Robert Miller Sent: Thursday, July 02, 1998 5:59 PM To: Coral-List Subject: all apologies Dear list, Recently I made a comment to the list implying that Bill Precht, as an environmental consultant, might have some ties to the sugar industry in Florida. I got this idea from the web page of Precht's former employer, Consul-Tech, which touts its experience in dealing with development and agricultural projects. Precht quickly corrected me, and I apologize for any misunderstanding. The comment was not intended as a personal attack, but as a call for general questioning of the motives of enviromental consultants. I think that the inherent conflict of interest that may be involved always bears scrutiny. I am only a graduate student, and my specialty has been deep-sea biology, rather than coral reef biology. Thus I was unaware of the severity of judgement placed on such comments, as Bill Precht wittily expressed in the following note. Date: Thu, 2 Jul 1998 16:59:55 -0400 From: "Precht,Bill" To: Robert Miller Subject: RE: Reefs at Risk. Bob: Just a personal note for your eyes only. One of the rules of the game for being on the coral list - "NO PERSONAL SLAMS" It's not the proper forum. Next time you pull a stunt like that I'll ask you to be removed from the list and I'm sure I'll have grassroots support. I don't know who you think you are, but your comments regarding my so called "underlying message" border on being libelous. I took the time to look for any significant contributions you have made in the field of coral reef science... As I expected.. you are an academic dud. See you in the funny papers With Sweetest regards (another reference to big sugar just in case you didn't get the metaphor), Bill Date: Thu, 2 Jul 1998 17:09:06 -0400 From: "Precht,Bill" To: Robert Miller Subject: RE: Reefs at Risk. By the way... precautionary principal is spelled PRINCIPLE From astrong at orbit1i.nesdis.noaa.gov Fri Jul 3 11:31:55 1998 From: astrong at orbit1i.nesdis.noaa.gov (Alan Strong) Date: Fri, 3 Jul 1998 15:31:55 GMT Subject: coral bleaching Message-ID: <199807031531.PAA03291@coral.aoml.noaa.gov> This NOAA Press Release that went out 1 July based on our research/collaborations has an image that can be viewed at our WebSite: WHAT'S NEW --- http://manati.wwb.noaa.gov/orad/new.html This effort has been a genuine collaborative effort! -- thanks to Doug Fenner at AIMS in Australia for posting this to the "coral-list"! [I had forgotten to post it today before our 4-th of July holiday!!]. It can be viewed at NOAA's: http://www.noaa.gov/public-affairs/pr98/jul98/noaa98-42.html Cheers, AES On Fri, 3 Jul 1998, Doug Fenner wrote: > NOAA 98- > CONTACT: Patricia Viets, NOAA FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE > (301) 457-5005 xxxxxxx > > > 1998 Coral Reef Bleaching in Indian Ocean Unprecedented, > NOAA Announces > > An episode of extremely high ocean temperatures migrated from south > to > north throughout the Indian Ocean during the first six months of 1998 > causing considerable coral reef bleaching in its wake, the National > Oceanic > and Atmospheric Administration reports. > > Sea surface temperatures, exceeding the maximum values expected for > any time during the year, were observed by NOAA's satellites to have > exceeded levels critical to cause beaching where these waters overlay > Indian Ocean coral reefs. > > A somewhat similar episode occurred following the 1987 El Nino in > the > Indian Ocean; however, in 1988 the extreme sea surface temperature > anomalies, toxic to corals, moderated sufficiently as the sun moved > into > the Northern Hemisphere. In that year, reefs in the Indian Ocean > north of > the equator were spared heavy bleaching. > > In 1998, this has not been the case. Bleaching, earlier projected > by > NOAA, has been reported from the field on the following reefs: > Seychelles; > Kenya; Reunion; Mauritius; Somalia; Madagascar; Maldives; Indonesia; > Sri > Lanka; Gulf of Thailand [Siam]; Andaman Islands; Malaysia; Oman; > India; and > Cambodia. > > This unprecedented round of bleaching in coral reefs throughout the > Indian Ocean follows El Nino-related bleaching events during late-1997 > and > early-1998 both projected by NOAA's satellite HotSpot charts and > documented > by reef scientists in Mexico (Pacific), Panama (Pacific); Galapagos; > Australia's Great Barrier Reef; Papua New Guinea; and American Samoa. > > In the Indian Ocean, sea surface temperature anomalies appear to be > coming less severe toward the end of June. The total area covered by > "HotSpots" is now only in the northernmost fringes of the Indian > Ocean. > However, during June the Philippines and the Florida Keys regions have > been > seeing temperature anomalies sufficiently high that bleaching has been > reported and biologists are concerned for reefs there. > > Coral reefs -- the "rainforests of the oceans" -- support a variety > of > sea life and provide resources of significant economic importance such > as > fishing and recreation. Coral bleaching, induced by high water > temperatures, has raised concerns about these fragile ecosystems. > Coral > bleaching occurs as coral tissue expels zooxanthellae, a type of algae > that > resides in the structure of the coral, and is essential to the coral's > survival. Corals normally recover, unless high ocean temperatures > persist > for too long a period or become too warm. > > Coral Reef "HotSpots" depicted as regions of yellow/orange in the > NOAA/NESDIS charts > (http://psbsgi1.nesdis.noaa.gov:8080/PSB/EPS/SST/climohot.html) > highlight > those anomalies that are equal to or above the annual maximum sea > surface > temperatures by +1 deg C or more. > > HotSpot animations are available at the Oceanic Research & > Applications Division's WebSite: > > http://http://manati.wwb.noaa.gov/orad/sub/noaarsrc.html > > (please send any replies to addresses found in these web sites, not the > forwarder of this message, as I have no further information on this.) > Douglas Fenner, Ph.D. > Coral Taxonomist > Australian Institute of Marine Science > PMB No 3 > Townsville MC > Queensland 4810 > Australia > phone 07 4753 4241 > e-mail: d.fenner at aims.gov.au > From riskmj at mcmail.cis.mcmaster.ca Fri Jul 3 10:58:55 1998 From: riskmj at mcmail.cis.mcmaster.ca (Michael Risk) Date: Fri, 3 Jul 1998 10:58:55 -0400 (EDT) Subject: tyre reef wrong ? Message-ID: <199807031533.PAA03311@coral.aoml.noaa.gov> Thank you for your reply. My reply may have been a bit strong, but it was nonetheless correct. (I have since received feedback from my good friend Tom Tomascik as to Dr. Collins' reputation-maybe you should not listen too closely to what he tells you.) I understand that there are enormous problems in Riau. In fact, everywhere in Indonesia. The pressure for a "quick fix" is enormous, because people have to eat. So let me suggest some things that might help: 1. first, Evan and I will send you the information/papers we have. They will convince you that tires are bad. (Gila sekali: "tyres" in Britain, "tires" in North america.) 2. *IF* there are unexploited fish stocks in an area where corals would never grow normally, for example deep sand flats, then tires are OK as FADs. (Fish Aggregation Devices.) If there is coral anywhere near, even 200 m, then make your reefs out of rock/concrete: use some of the designs in my Atoll Res Bull paper. You will then find baby corals growing on your "reefs" within a few months, beginning the process of converting the reef to a real reef. 3. My marine project in Semarang is working to try to solve some of the problems you mention. We are trying to get the Canadian development agency that funds us to agree to a reorientation of the project, to value-added sustainable marine exports, such as coral and fish farms. There will shortly be pilot projects underway in the Karimunjawa Islands, involving artificial reefs, cultivation of "jamur", etc: you are very welcome to visit, just contact Dr. Llewellyn (Gilly). 4. Gilly and one of my students plan to come to Riau soon (August?). We have a project under way to evaluate the effect of the "haze/smoke" problem on the metabolism of corals. It should be possible for you to meet with them in Riau, to discuss some of these matters. Their plans aren't set yet: they want to sample corals that were worst hit by the smoke, and (if I remember correctly) Gilly was planning to fly into Bintan, take a ferry down to Lingga or Sengkep... Sampai nanti. From jch at aoml.noaa.gov Fri Jul 3 11:29:09 1998 From: jch at aoml.noaa.gov (Coral-List Administrator) Date: Fri, 3 Jul 1998 11:29:09 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Diatribes, protocol, etc. (fwd) Message-ID: Approved: zooid511 From: Coral Health and Monitoring Program To: coral-list Subject: Diatribes, protocol, etc. Dear Coral-Listers, Please find attached the protocol for posting messages, protocol, etc. for coral-list, in case you forgot. I know it is tempting, when someone flames you in front of others, to flame back to the same wide audience so you can defend yourseld, and I am probably more guilty than anybody else for this (and have thoroughly embarassed myself in the process), but please try to limit public diatribes, flaming, etc. as best you see fit. Whenever possible, flame back via personal email to that person, then maybe if that person sees fit, he/she can re-broadcast to the list that he/she was a jerk, and that now he/she sees the light. Posting to a listserver messages that were sent to you in confidence is definitely not cool. Please do not do that, because if you do, your karma is likely to catch up to you, and the same thing will happen to you! 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Sincerely yours, Jim Hendee Louis Florit Philippe Dubosq Ocean Chemistry Division Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 4301 Rickenbacker Causeway Miami, FL 33149-1026 USA From eakin at ogp.noaa.gov Fri Jul 3 15:16:45 1998 From: eakin at ogp.noaa.gov (Mark Eakin) Date: 3 Jul 1998 15:16:45 U Subject: tyre reef wrong ? Message-ID: Subject: Time: 10:05 AM RE>tyre reef wrong ? Date: 7/3/98 I don't have scientific papers to share with you. What I have is a real world experience and a location where I could take you where the beach still has tires embedded within the rocks and a reef that still has tires embedded in the framework almost 20 years after a very small hurricane destroyed a tire-based artificial reef. The artificial reef was over 1 km from shore. Any artificial reef should use component parts that are large enough to not be moved by the highest wind-forced waves that might be encountered in the area. This means that you must assume that: 1) reefs constructed of small parts WILL come apart 2) the size of component parts, not the size of a final structure, is the determining factor 3) tires are too small and light in water to have sufficient stability. All of this assumes that you actually want an artificial reef in the first place. Most research supports the hypothesis that reefs do not increase biomass or productivity. Instead, they simply serve as fish attractors that make it easier to remove the fish from the reef ecosystem. A graduate student of John McManus has recently done some fine work supporting this in the Phillipines. Cheers, Mark -------------------------------------- Date: 7/3/98 7:07 AM To: Mark Eakin From: Coremap BAPPEDA Tk.I Riau Dear Mr. Michael and Mr. King I try to clear this issue I, m realy sorry if this make you mad The coral lister where answered me (about 80 % or up) said, Tyre is not good to be Artificial reef. But they not reply me the reason with scientific. Just Mr Collin done. Am I wrong?...... Mr. King, in this case Riau Coremap Tim just helping some Diving club in Riau University to got a reason from "coral divender of the earth" about Tyre reef, before they done the wrong one. If they know that are wrong, so thay will not to do (I hope....) They just want to helping the "poor Fisherman" at Riau Archipilago where they didn't have alternative job. The tyre can give them a site for fishing. Fishing are they cultural job. No fish, no rice and then they son no school. We save coral reef that for save a fishes stoking of the area. Isn't it? So why we do all of this if we shall have been catcing a fish? (That they respon for any C-lister whom not agree the Tyre reef for agregating fish). I tell you some (bad ide?): one day at juni 1998 my frend told me that he was listening from a radio, reporting about; our goverment give a permition and agree to use Tyre for articial reef it mean to saving beach and to "grow up" a poor fisherman at 24 province in Indonesia............bla...bla...bla.... What we act now????? Ok .....I shall cancel it if you send me the article or published where can't destroy the collin scientific Tyre. Cheers Fadil Nandila Coremap-Bappeda TK I Riau Jl. Cut Nyak Dhien, Pekanbaru - Riau Indonesia crmpriau at pbaru.wasantara.net.id -----Original Message----- From: Peter N. King To: COREMAP Bappeda Riau Fadil Nandila ; Michael Risk Cc: Evan Edinger ; Ken Collins ; Ghislaine Llewellyn Date: 02 Juli 1998 5:29 Subject: Re: Artificial reefs >Mike and the Riau COREMAP Team > >I completely agree with Mike on this issue. There are many other interesting >and useful ways to recycle tires rather than dumping them in the sea. If you >need some information on recycling tires let me know. On artificial reefs, I >believe the best use is close to where an existing reef has been damaged by >blast fishing, coral mining or some other degradation. If the reef has died due >to sedimentation or excessive nutrient loading, then there is little point >trying to replace the original reef with an artificial one, unless the original >cause of the reef loss is solved. Peter King > >Dear Riau COREMAP: > >I was very surprised to read your response to Dr. Collins, of the UK, re >the use of tires for artificial reefs. It seems that you received many >responses from the Coral-list that were negative about this, but you got >the one response you needed, one that would allow you to make the reefs >from tires. > >It may very well be that tires make useful fish-aggregation devices in >temperate waters, for at least a short period of time. I should be very >clear, however: there is no scientific doubt that tires are one of the >worst possible materials for use in tropical environments. There are >several reasons for this: > 1. tires bleed toxic substances (metals,plasticisers) > 2. corals will not settle on them, hence your artificial reef will never >become a "real" reef > 3. over time, tires "exfoliate" (especially true of steel-belted tires) > >There are a number of good references to appropriate materials to use for >artificial reefs. Some of my own include Atoll Res. Bulletin #255 >(1981-almost 20 years ago!), and a followup in 1988, Mar. Poll. Bull. 19: >219-222. I would be glad to send you reprints, if you wish. In short, by >properly arranging the concrete and coral rock of a reef, you can control >the size of the fish and lobsters attracted to that reef. In a relatively >short period of time, corals and other invertebrates settle on the reefs, >converting them to "real" reefs. (In many cases, the lower parts of the >water column are so sediment-laden that corals cannot settle-but give them >a concrete block, elevated 30 cm, and settlement occurs. For more on this, >see Cortes and Risk, 1985.) > >Our project in Semarang just finished, and published, an experiment >ranking several materials that have been used in SE Asia for artificial >reefs. Only sheet metal was worse than tires! The best, of course, were >concrete structures. > >I recognise that you are under pressure to solve a terrestrial waste >problem by dumping tires in the sea. I think this is a bad solution, and >that is what I, as Team Leader, wrote in the COREMAP Final Report, which >is supposed to guide your actions. This is a bad solution, not only for >the reasons given above (which should be sufficient), but also because you >give up further opportunities. In the COREMAP Report, I consulted with Dr. >Peter Sale, and I pointed out that concrete artificial reefs can be >constructed in such a way (textures, shapes) as to attract the larvae of >ornamental and economically-important fish species. > >Cukup. The evidence is quite clear. If you want, I will send you all the >materials to which I refer above. Or you could read the COREMAP report. > >Dr. Michael Risk >Professor of Biology and Geology >McMaster Univ. > > ------------------ RFC822 Header Follows ------------------ Received: by ogp.noaa.gov with ADMIN;3 Jul 1998 07:05:17 U Received: by coral.aoml.noaa.gov (950413.SGI.8.6.12/930416.SGI) for coral-list-outgoing id KAA02035; Fri, 3 Jul 1998 10:16:20 GMT Received: from ns2.wasantara.net.id by coral.aoml.noaa.gov via ESMTP (950413.SGI.8.6.12/930416.SGI) for id GAA02030; Fri, 3 Jul 1998 06:16:08 -0400 Received: from pbaru.wasantara.net.id (pbaru.wasantara.net.id [202.159.84.163]) by ns2.wasantara.net.id (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id SAA20329; Fri, 3 Jul 1998 18:07:11 +0700 (JAVT) Received: from PBARU/SpoolDir by pbaru.wasantara.net.id (Mercury 1.40); 3 Jul 98 17:16:20 +0700 Received: from SpoolDir by PBARU (Mercury 1.40); 3 Jul 98 17:15:38 +0700 Received: from default (202.159.84.184) by pbaru.wasantara.net.id (Mercury 1.40); 3 Jul 98 17:15:35 +0700 From: "Coremap BAPPEDA Tk.I Riau" To: "Peter N. King" , "Michael Risk" Cc: "Coral Health Monitoring Program" Subject: tyre reef wrong ? Date: Fri, 3 Jul 1998 17:09:27 +0700 Message-ID: <01bda66a$a9a8d440$LocalHost at default> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.71.1712.3 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.71.1712.3 Sender: owner-coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov Precedence: bulk From c.wilkinson at aims.gov.au Mon Jul 6 01:05:22 1998 From: c.wilkinson at aims.gov.au (Clive Wilkinson) Date: Mon, 06 Jul 1998 15:05:22 +1000 Subject: Reefs at Risk. Message-ID: <3.0.1.32.19980706150522.006bbe84@email.aims.gov.au> A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: text/enriched Size: 3638 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/pipermail/coral-list-old/attachments/19980706/402da92d/attachment.bin From lizard at amsg.austmus.gov.au Sun Jul 5 19:39:10 1998 From: lizard at amsg.austmus.gov.au (lizard at amsg.austmus.gov.au) Date: Mon, 6 Jul 1998 10:39:10 +1100 Subject: 1999 Lizard Island Doctoral Fellowship Message-ID: <199807061140.LAA15969@coral.aoml.noaa.gov> LIZARD ISLAND RESEARCH STATION GREAT BARRIER REEF, AUSTRALIA Applications are now invited for the 1999 Lizard Island Doctoral Fellowship. The Fellowship provides funding for field work and equipment for a PhD student whose thesis research is based on coral reefs, of which a significant portion will be based at the Lizard Island Research Station. It is worth up to A$6,000 per year for up to three years. Funds for the first year of the 1999 Fellowship will be available in March 1999. For detailed information and application guidelines, see: www.austmus.gov.au/science/projects/lizard/lizfello.htm Applications close on 1 October 1998 __________________________________________________________________ Dr Anne Hoggett and Dr Lyle Vail, Directors Lizard Island Research Station PMB 37 Cairns QLD 4871 Australia Phone and fax: + 61 (0)7 4060-3977 lizard at amsg.austmus.gov.au http://www.austmus.gov.au/science/projects/lizard/ _________________________________________________________________ From reefcare at cura.net Mon Jul 6 10:52:26 1998 From: reefcare at cura.net (Paul Hoetjes) Date: Mon, 06 Jul 1998 10:52:26 -0400 Subject: Trididemnum solidum Message-ID: <35A0E4AA.1D08A230@cura.net> Dear all, Does anyone know whether *Trididemnum solidum*, a compound encrusting ascidian, is native to the Caribbean or whether it is an exotic species brought in accidentally from the Pacific? *Trididemnum* is very common on the island of Curacao which is a major port (in the sixties and seventies it was in a league with New York and Rotterdam) just north of the coast of Venezuela, but I understand it is not very common elsewhere in the Caribbean. Because it can overgrow and kill corals it is a source of some concern here on the island. A survey on the island in 1993 by Reef Care Curacao (a non-profit volunteer organisation striving to protect the reefs) found an increase in number of *Trididemnum* colonies of up to 725 % compared to a survey done in 1978 in the same localities (631 colonies along one of the 45 line transects from 10-120 ft, a distance of about 100 meters). In our quarterly reef monitoring program we find 1 % cover for *Trididemnum* in some localities. I'd appreciate any information about this organism, please e-mail me direct at reefcare at cura.net Paul C. Hoetjes Scientific Coordinator, Reef Care Curacao From riskmj at mcmail.cis.mcmaster.ca Mon Jul 6 11:27:52 1998 From: riskmj at mcmail.cis.mcmaster.ca (Michael Risk) Date: Mon, 6 Jul 1998 11:27:52 -0400 (EDT) Subject: tyre reef wrong ? Message-ID: <199807061929.TAA18030@coral.aoml.noaa.gov> Much to my dismay, it appears that my message to the Riau COREMAP Team (copied to Peter King, ADB, and Dr. G. Llewellyn, Resident Advisor of our Indonesia Project) regarding the use of discarded tires for making artificial reefs has been inadvertently posted to the general Coral-List. Perhaps the Administration at my university is right, and I should retire on the grounds of general infirmity and stupidity. I apologise to subscribers to the List, for burdening them with yet another trivial matter. I especially regret any embarrassment I have caused to Tom Tomascik, a man of boundless energy and impeccable professional credentials, and one who would never knowingly offend others. The message was my doing only I remain firm in my original opinion, however, that tires are an unsuitable material for constructing reefs. Those who would advocate their use in coral reef habitats can only be doing so out of ignorance of the basic research in this area, or from some other agenda. Mike Risk From zakaid at popeye.cc.biu.ac.il Mon Jul 6 17:14:47 1998 From: zakaid at popeye.cc.biu.ac.il (zakai david) Date: Tue, 07 Jul 1998 00:14:47 +0300 Subject: Introduction of exotic marine animals Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.19980707001447.007ad3f0@popeye.cc.biu.ac.il> Dear All, Does anyone know of any examples or papers which demonstrate an introduction of exotic marine animals as a result of release to the near by sea or lake after keeping the exotic animal as a pet?? Many Thanks, David. ===================================================================== David Zakai, Red Sea marine biologist Department of Life Science Nature Reserves Authority of Israel Bar-Ilan University Eilat district, P.O.Box 667 Ramat-Gan Israel, 88105 Israel, 52100 Ph:+972-7-6373988 +972-7-6360117 Fax:+972-7-6375047 +972-7-6375329 Home:+972-7-6330373 Email: zakaid at popeye.cc.biu.ac.il ===================================================================== From dbaker at tm.net.my Mon Jul 6 19:16:13 1998 From: dbaker at tm.net.my (DBaker) Date: Tue, 07 Jul 1998 07:16:13 +0800 Subject: High Nutrients & Red Tide Message-ID: <35A15ABD.7D4F@tm.net.my> Dear Coral-L, As many List members have asked for any/all info that I recvd on this issue, I have so posted this reply. Don *********************************************************************** Subject: Re: Red Tide Syndrome Date: Mon, 6 Jul 1998 13:56:35 -0600 From: "Paul Sammarco" To: dbaker at tm.net.my Dear Don, My reply follows: >Can anyone point me to data/pubs about any aspects of red tide >correlating with high nutrient coastal waters..and coral bleaching? These are two issues which are documented separately. See Slobodkin's early work on Red Tides from the '50's and beyond. Slobodkin, L. 1952. J. Mar. Res. 12a: 148-155. Slobodin, L. 1989. The null case of the paradox of the plankton. In: Novel Phytoplankton Blooms: Causes and Impacts of Recurrent Brown Tides and other Unusual Blooms, ed. by E.M. Cosper, V.M. Bricelj, and E.J. Carpenter, Springer-Verlag, Berlin. Slobodin, L. 1998. Akira Okubo and the theory of blooms. Oceanography (in press). With respect to the effects of nutrient increases on corals, see Bassim (and Sammarco's) recent work. Bassim, K.M. 1997. Effects of temperature and ammonium on the early developmental stagesof a scleractinian coral: Implications for global warming and nutrient enrichment. M.Sc. thesis, Biology, University of Southwestern Louisiana, Lafayette, LA, 51 p. Bassim and Sammarco (2 ms.'s - one submitted, one in prep.). >Is there any type of correlation? High nutrient loads => weaker >coral/zoxx relationship? The bottom line here is - yes - there is a relationship - or so we believe. This is what our experiments suggest. > Best Wishes, Paul W. Sammarco ------------------------------------------------- Paul W. Sammarco, Ph.D. Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON) 8124 Hwy. 56 Chauvin, LA 70344 USA Tel: (504) 851-2876 FAX: (504) 851-2874 email: psammarco at lumcon.edu www: http://www.lumcon.edu From zakaid at popeye.cc.biu.ac.il Wed Jul 8 01:54:41 1998 From: zakaid at popeye.cc.biu.ac.il (zakai david) Date: Wed, 08 Jul 1998 08:54:41 +0300 Subject: No subject Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.19980708085441.007b5e60@popeye.cc.biu.ac.il> The question was: Dear All, Does anyone know of any examples or papers which demonstrate an introduction of exotic marine animals as a result of release to the near by sea or lake after keeping the exotic animal as a pet?? Many Thanks, David. One of the answers is: Dear David, The closest I can get to an introduction of a marine organism used as a pet is the famous Caulerpa taxifolia released from an aquarium into the waters of southern France. Meinesz, A. et al. 1993. Spread of the introduced tropical green alga Caulerpa taxifolia in northern Mediterranian waters. Journal of Applied Phycology 5: 141-147 Could you post the replies you recieve on the coral list ? Simon Wilson OMAN ===================================================================== David Zakai, Red Sea marine biologist Department of Life Science Nature Reserves Authority of Israel Bar-Ilan University Eilat district, P.O.Box 667 Ramat-Gan Israel, 88105 Israel, 52100 Ph:+972-7-6373988 +972-7-6360117 Fax:+972-7-6375047 +972-7-6375329 Home:+972-7-6330373 Email: zakaid at popeye.cc.biu.ac.il ===================================================================== From edg at wcmc.org.uk Wed Jul 8 06:28:36 1998 From: edg at wcmc.org.uk (Ed Green) Date: Wed, 08 Jul 1998 11:28:36 +0100 Subject: Coral growth rates Message-ID: An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: not available Url: http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/pipermail/coral-list-old/attachments/19980708/464aeae7/attachment.pl From sobelj%dccmc at cenmarine.com Wed Jul 8 15:36:29 1998 From: sobelj%dccmc at cenmarine.com (sobelj%dccmc at cenmarine.com) Date: Wed, 8 Jul 1998 15:36:29 -0400 Subject: Caulerpa taxifolia In-Reply-To: Message-ID: In response to David Zakai's earlier message below: The Caulerpa taxifolia introduction to the French Mediterranean was featured in a U.S. National Public Radio piece yesterday and from that piece it sounds like a very significant exotic species introducation doing extensive damage. The question was: Dear All, Does anyone know of any examples or papers which demonstrate an introduction of exotic marine animals as a result of release to the near by sea or lake after keeping the exotic animal as a pet?? Many Thanks, David. One of the answers is: Dear David, The closest I can get to an introduction of a marine organism used as a pet is the famous Caulerpa taxifolia released from an aquarium into the waters of southern France. Meinesz, A. et al. 1993. Spread of the introduced tropical green alga Caulerpa taxifolia in northern Mediterranian waters. Journal of Applied Phycology 5: 141-147 Could you post the replies you recieve on the coral list ? Simon Wilson OMAN ===================================================================== David Zakai, Red Sea marine biologist Department of Life Science Nature Reserves Authority of Israel Bar-Ilan University Eilat district, P.O.Box 667 Ramat-Gan Israel, 88105 Israel, 52100 Ph:+972-7-6373988 +972-7-6360117 Fax:+972-7-6375047 +972-7-6375329 Home:+972-7-6330373 Email: zakaid at popeye.cc.biu.ac.il ===================================================================== ************************************************************************** ******************************************* Jack Sobel, Director Ecosystem Protection Center for Marine Conservation Washington, DC 20036 (202)429-5609 or (202)857-5552 Fax: (202)872-0619 Email: jsobel @cenmarine.com "The last word in ignorance is the man who says of an animal or plant: 'What good is it?'. If the land mechanismas a whol is good, then every part is good, whether we understand it or not. If the biota, in the course of eons, has built something we like, but do not understand, then who but a fool would discard seemingly useless parts? To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering." Aldo Leopold, Round River, 1953. ************************************************************************** ****************************************** From zakaid at popeye.cc.biu.ac.il Thu Jul 9 03:36:02 1998 From: zakaid at popeye.cc.biu.ac.il (zakai david) Date: Thu, 09 Jul 1998 10:36:02 +0300 Subject: Volunteers wanted Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.19980709103602.0079e7a0@popeye.cc.biu.ac.il> Dear All, The Nature Reserves Authority of Israel is seeking for volunteers to work on projects of marine biology and coastal management. Qualifications: SCUBA diving license, B ac. or currently attending school, in marine related science or coastal management. Period: immediate start, we need you for at least 3 mounts. We give: accommodation, and transportation at working hours only. Academic credit: can be arrange CV + letter of recommendation and field of interest is need to be send my Email to David Zakai zakaid at popeye.cc.biu.ac.il or by mail to the Steinitz Marine Biology Laboratory, P.O.Box 469, Eilat, Israel. or to fax No. +972-7-6374329 ===================================================================== David Zakai, Red Sea marine biologist Department of Life Science Nature Reserves Authority of Israel Bar-Ilan University Eilat district, P.O.Box 667 Ramat-Gan Israel, 88105 Israel, 52100 Ph:+972-7-6373988 +972-7-6360117 Fax:+972-7-6375047 +972-7-6375329 Home:+972-7-6330373 Email: zakaid at popeye.cc.biu.ac.il ===================================================================== From crmpriau at pbaru.wasantara.net.id Thu Jul 9 04:27:00 1998 From: crmpriau at pbaru.wasantara.net.id (Coremap BAPPEDA Tk.I Riau) Date: Thu, 9 Jul 1998 15:27:00 +0700 Subject: Bacterial Plaque at Coral Reef Message-ID: <01bdab13$5aa2f800$LocalHost@default> Dear Coral Lister, My name is M. Taufik Hidayat, I was graduated from Fishery and Marine Science Faculty, Riau University, Riau-Indonesia. I'm interesting in Bacteriology and coral reef study. I just read an article about a disease of coral reef caused by marine bacteria in Science News June 1998. And I'm very interesting on it. So I need more information, articles, literature or any kind of journal about that. Could you help me, please. Thank you very much. M. Taufik Hidayat Coral Reef Rehabilitation and Management Programme (COREMAP) Riau Bappeda TK.I Riau, Pekanbaru-Indonesia -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/pipermail/coral-list-old/attachments/19980709/b623a4ab/attachment.html From cmurray at gsosun1.gso.uri.edu Thu Jul 9 09:25:04 1998 From: cmurray at gsosun1.gso.uri.edu (Cynthia Murray) Date: Thu, 09 Jul 1998 09:25:04 -0400 Subject: The National Sea Grant Depository Message-ID: <3.0.1.32.19980709092504.00696e54@gsosun1.gso.uri.edu> Hello, We would like to introduce you to the National Sea Grant Depository (NSGD), which serves as the archive and lending library for the National Sea Grant College Program. Our web site http://nsgd.gso.uri.edu will further introduce you to our services. The collection is comprised of approximately 30,000 books, journal reprints, conference proceedings, advisory and technical reports, handbooks, maps and many other types of information not readily available from other sources. Publications cover a wide variety of marine subjects, including oceanography, marine education, aquaculture, fisheries, coastal zone management, marine recreation and law. You can access this wealth of information through the publications database, which is searchable online from our site, as well as through the quarterly "Sea Grant Abstracts" which announces the availability of new Sea Grant documents. From the NSGD web site you may also link to any of the 29 Sea Grant programs across the country to see what exciting things are happening in your geographic location. Once you've located the information you'd like to use, we can assist by sending loan copies of publications or referring you to the appropriate source. There is also a project underway to provide many of the documents in the collection as full-text pdf files over the internet. Thank you. If you'd like additional information please contact us at: National Sea Grant Depository Pell Library Building University of Rhode Island Narragansett Bay Campus Narragansett, RI 02882-1197 USA (401) 874-6114 (401) 874-6160 (fax) nsgd at gsosun1.gso.uri.edu http://nsgd.gso.uri.edu From smiller at gate.net Thu Jul 9 15:53:24 1998 From: smiller at gate.net (Steven Miller) Date: Thu, 09 Jul 1998 12:53:24 -0700 Subject: Reefs at Risk continued Message-ID: <35A51FB4.12FC@gate.net> Recent discussions about what can be done to ?help? coral reefs produced, in my view, many interesting and helpful suggestions. I think that it is relevant to post NURC/UNCW's research priorities (see below) for 1999 (proposals are due mid-August) and to make a funding plea to those people in power at NGOs, foundations, or other philanthropic organizations. What can you do to help "reefs at risk?" Support a world-class coral reef research program - the largest in the U.S. All projects are independently peer reviewed using nationally recognized, NSF-style, procedures. It may be unorthodox to use the list-server in this manner, but we seek outside funding to get more money directly into the hands of the best scientists to conduct nationally relevant research. For your information, scientists working with our program receive, at no cost, access to our shore-based facility (accommodations and laboratories) and complete diving support; including boats, divemaster/captain, and air and nitrox. Additionally, we provide funding support that averages about $15,000 per project, which means the overall scope of projects remains limited. I apologize if this "advertisement" or "request" is offensive to anyone on the list. Our research priorities follow. Regional research priorities, as part of the annual research announcement by NOAA's National Undersea Research Center at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, in Florida for 1999 include, but are not limited to, the following areas: 1. Marine Reserves and other protected areas in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary: Research and innovative monitoring programs are sought to help identify natural and human-caused changes to coral reefs and nearshore ecosystems in Sanctuary Preservation Areas (SPAs) and the Ecological Reserve (ER). SPAs and the ER are managed as ?no-take? zones, and changes over time and comparisons with reference areas will be evaluated in the year 2002, when the Sanctuary?s entire management plan is formally reviewed by State and Federal officials. Traditional monitoring programs are underway for coral community structure, fishes, and some large invertebrate species (specifically; conch and lobster). 2. Nutrient enrichment in the coastal ocean: This initiative addresses how nutrients (natural and especially sewage- and stormwater-derived) reach coastal waters and seafloor habitats, and their subsequent impacts on coastal ecosystems relative to natural sources of nutrient supply (such as tidal exchange and upwelling). Questions about water quality are among the most controversial topics related to evaluating the condition of coral reefs in Florida, and elsewhere. Large-scale (spatially throughout the Keys on a quarterly basis, and more frequently for Florida Bay) water quality monitoring on a quarterly basis is underway as part of the Sanctuary and EPA water quality protection program. 3. Recruitment processes: Programs are sought that emphasize economically valuable fisheries, factors that control the survival and growth of early life stages (especially for corals), and evaluation of management options (for example, placement and size of reserves) that rely on recruitment success. Under this topic two specific initiatives exist: a. Determination and documentation of spawning events within the sanctuary. b. Identification of factors that affect recruitment of conch, lobster and corals within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary; including, limits to spawning, reproductive behavior, larval supply, habitat limitation, post-settlement processes and sources of recruits. Interventions that facilitate and accelerate regeneration or restoration are high priority (as are experiments to advance knowledge leading to methodologies for regeneration or restoration). Additional information is available at: http://www.uncwil.edu/nurc Or contact: Dr. Steven Miller Associate Director, Florida Program NURC/UNC at Wilmington SMiller at gate.net 305-451-0233 From reefcare at cura.net Thu Jul 9 18:43:40 1998 From: reefcare at cura.net (Paul Hoetjes) Date: Thu, 09 Jul 1998 18:43:40 -0400 Subject: Reefs at Risk Message-ID: <35A5479C.1ABFE73B@cura.net> Dear all, During the recent discussion of the state of the reefs, several references were made to the die off of Acropora cervicornis and A. palmata due to white-band disease. In the whole discussion however, no mention was made of Montastrea annularis/faveolata. Yet here on the island of Curacao in the Southern Caribbean (supposedly not getting any polluted water from the rest of the Caribbean as may be the case in the Florida region) we are seeing a frightening amount of dead/partly dead Montastreas. During a quarterly reef monitoring program employing triplicate point intersect line transects, that we (Reef Care Curacao, a volunteer ngo) have been doing since May 1997, we have found that between 30 and 40 % and in some cases close to 50 % of Montastrea colonies show recently dead patches (more than 10 % of colony area). Some of this may be due to the 1995 bleaching which was very serious here. However we also found close to 20 % of colonies diseased (in addition to the partly dead colonies), mostly with yellow-band/blotch disease, but also rapid wasting syndrome. Whatever the cause, reefs that were healthy and unmarked in 1993, look like a disaster area now. This is the case not only in areas where human impact might be the/a cause but also in an area far removed upstream and upwind from any coastal development or pollution sources. Is Montastrea showing signs of die off elsewhere in the Caribbean or are we unique in this respect? If so, is our island perhaps in the vanguard of a new wave of destruction about to sweep through the Caribbean? It may sound dramatic, but who suspected that most Acroporas in the Caribbean would disappear when White-band disease first started. By the way, has any epidemiological analysis ever been made of how white-band spread and whether that might indicate its origins or vector(s)? Regards, Paul C. Hoetjes Scientific Coordinator, Reef Care Curacao From reefkeeper at earthlink.net Fri Jul 10 07:40:23 1998 From: reefkeeper at earthlink.net (Alexander Stone) Date: Fri, 10 Jul 1998 11:40:23 +0000 Subject: Science Assoc/Intern Position Message-ID: <35A5FDA8.2D86@earthlink.net> SCIENCE ASSOCIATE / INTERN half-time position Miami, Florida POSITION DESCRIPTION You will work for the Director in our Brickell area office, tabulating and analyzing reef survey data, and preparing reef survey reports. HOURS AND COMPENSATION 20 hours a week, $8.50-$9.50 @ hour. Monday - Friday, schedule to be set according to your needs. COLLEGE CREDIT May be arranged with your professor ABOUT REEFKEEPER INTERNATIONAL We are a non-profit science-based conservation organization exclusively dedicated to the protection of coral reefs and their marine life. Our projects include a Caribbean-wide reef monitoring program, and ReefCheck survey facilitation. For more info, visit our website (http://www.reefkeeper.org) ASSIGNMENT COMPONENTS o review submitted reef survey data sheets o tabulate & analyze results from reef survey data sheets o conduct library searches for documentation o outline and write reef monitoring survey reports o communicate with ReefMonitor Affiliate Groups regarding survey progress & procedures REQUIRED SKILLS o SUPERIOR written communication skills o ability to interpret technical information o attention to detail & organizational skills o familiarity with coral reef biology and ecology o familiarity with Excel APPLY BY JULY 27 TO: ReefKeeper International (305) 358-4600 / fax (305) 358-3030 reefkeeper at earthlink.net From Ouida.Meier at wku.edu Fri Jul 10 13:06:00 1998 From: Ouida.Meier at wku.edu (Ouida Meier) Date: Fri, 10 Jul 98 12:06:00 CDT Subject: Reefs at Risk Message-ID: <9806109000.AA900097844@WKU.EDU> I appreciated Clive Wilkinson's post of 6 June and wanted to respond. He stated, among other things: <> My earlier remark about network complexity and rigorous thinking (with regard to the Florida discussion) was not intended to imply that we can't leap unless we know the names of all the streets we are flying over - frequently we don't have that luxury or even the necessary tools to trace all the complexities underlying a "big picture." On the other hand, the holistic leaps we take needn't be fatally flawed because of "mushy thinking", of which holistic approaches are often (and often unfairly) accused. For example, as Clive Wilkinson points out, one mark of a scientifically useful holistic leap is that it leaves behind testable predictions - potential road maps for how two points are connected. His posting stimulated me to take a closer look at the Reefs at Risk report (http://www.wri.org/indictrs/reefrisk.htm), and it seems to me that the report is in fact appropriately synthetic without being the product of mushy thinking. The authors are clear ("Technical Notes") about their data sources, decisions they made to reconcile scales, and criteria used for risk categories for each data set, and they should be congratulated for careful and conscientious completion of a very ambitious task. They also make it clear that their report is a large-scale effort to produce indicators of threats to reefs, not a summary of reef condition. As a first approximation of threats to reefs, and given the kinds of data sets appropriate to the scale they were building up to (e.g., more detailed terrestrial than marine information sometimes available), they've done a superb job, and met their stated goals and claims. Given this information, the next step is to test predictions against observations. Areas where actual reef conditions are better than or worse than the predicted threats can be examined closely to find second order factors, or practices that overwhelm the level of threat predicted either positively or negatively. I think perhaps the Florida/Caribbean discussion could be considered in that light, not as an attempt to criticize a well-done and very useful piece of work. Since the whole idea of reductionism vs. holism was specifically raised, I'd like to offer the following metaphor in the event that it may contribute something to our efforts to understand, appreciate, and make use of work that others do at scales of resolution that may be outside of one's usual "workspace." The structure of the metaphor implies ways of making room for cooperation, multiple perspectives, and multiple approaches in the work we do - which we need and people seem inclined to continue to develop. [If this is becoming too off-topic for you, please accept my apology and delete now.] A couple of months ago I came to a realization of one way to resolve apparent dichotomies of reductionism and holism, analysis and synthesis, differentiation and integration. I've begun seeing these as positions along a continuum - points or regions along ongoing cycles of exploration, discovery, analysis, synthesis, and integration. My best simple picture at the moment is that we acquire knowledge and understanding in our discipline, both as individuals and as a group developing a body of knowledge over time, in repeated cycles. I made an image about it at the time, posted at: http://bioweb.wku.edu/faculty/omeier/ana_syn.htm The metaphor is basically that of a circulatory system, with paths of flow going from a major vessel, splitting up into branches, then into smaller and smaller vessels, making a finely divided capillary bed, then moving by anastamosis into larger and larger vessels again. The whole thing resembles a directional network with variation in path width, length, and connection. (There are obvious shortcomings in the drawing, e.g. represents only the surface of the structure. Different advantages to "vessel" and "path" language . . . ) There are some processes and situations that are embraced usefully by this metaphor. For example, people who think of themselves as reductionists work more to develop the finely divided "capillary" regions of detail, precision, and specificity of process and theory. People who think of themselves as "holists" may spend more time constructing and connecting broader, more aggregated pathways. Our discipline (any discipline) as a whole accumulates knowledge over time by incorporating discoveries at all levels of resolution, or at all regions of the cycle, repeatedly. As a collective, we build the body of knowledge - the directional network of information that is the circulating structure - as we go; we hope and believe by our testing that the paths we discover or lay down are firmly supported by reality. If we are lucky, in our individual careers we knowingly move through complete cycles of analysis and synthesis. We try to avoid "stagnating" - experiencing no flow, and "getting into a rut" - traveling one narrow pathway over and over again until it becomes unnecessarily entrenched and rigid. (Without habitually recognizing, examining and integrating "new stuff", we lose our joy and openness to new connections in our work.) Through time some areas of a discipline become highly vascularized with more work and more able work, while other regions experience decreasing flow as interest, funding or relevance wanes. Sometimes we work to build depth, connection, and precise detail along partially known pathways (reductionism), and sometimes our efforts are focused on syntheses, broad connections, and generalizations (holism), but clearly these efforts don't just coexist, they feed and depend upon each other. I wouldn't want to push this metaphor much farther, though there is the heart (driving forces and motivation), and organs (the larger structures we serve - I'm convinced the world tolerates scientists only because once in a while we are more useful than not). Anyway, for what it's worth . . . . Ouida *************************** Dr. Ouida W. Meier Department of Biology Western Kentucky University Bowling Green, KY 42101 ouida.meier at wku.edu *************************** From smiller at gate.net Thu Jul 9 13:19:52 1998 From: smiller at gate.net (Steven Miller) Date: Thu, 09 Jul 1998 10:19:52 -0700 Subject: ISRS Homepage Message-ID: <35A4FBB8.2AD7@gate.net> A homepage is now available for the International Society for Reef Studies (ISRS): http://www.uncwil.edu/isrs The Society was formed in 1980 and membership stands at over 800, from over 50 countries world-wide. According to its constitution the principal objective of the Society is to "promote the production and dissemination of scientific knowledge and understanding of coral reefs, both living and fossil." To achieve its objective the Society holds annual meetings and co-sponsors other gatherings, prints and distributes the journal Coral Reefs and an newsletter Reef Encounter; and raises funds and receives contributions by way of subscriptions and donations. Information about these activities and more is available on the homepage. We look forward to comments, suggestions, and participation. Please consider joining the society. Sincerely, Steven Miller, Ph.D. From glover at btl.net Mon Jul 13 00:40:47 1998 From: glover at btl.net (Glovers Reef Marine Research Station) Date: Sun, 12 Jul 1998 22:40:47 -0600 Subject: Glovers Reef Marine Research Station Message-ID: <199807131332.NAA22424@coral.aoml.noaa.gov> GLOVER'S REEF MARINE RESEARCH STATION WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY P.O. Box 2310 Belize City, Belize Glover's Reef atoll and marine reserve is a major component of a general comprehensive program for coastal zone management for Belize, Central America. In a broad sense the reserve was established to maintain ecological processes, preserve genetic diversity, achieve sustainable yields of its resources through wise management of species and their habitats, maintain natural areas for education and research and provide social, and economic benefits through ecologically sensitive recreation and tourism. Keenly aware of the need to protect this world class resource, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) purchased the island of Middle Caye, situated at the southern end of the atoll, for the purposes of providing a marine park headquarters for the Government of Belize and to establish a marine research field station. This facility and now provides a base of operations for park rangers and scientists alike. WCS's over-arching mission is to provide for the long-term conservation and protection of Glover's Reef atoll. To accomplish this goal, WCS is working in close collaboration with the government of Belize to develop a coordinated research and management program for the atoll. WCS's primary responsibility in this partnership is scientific research. In the coming years, we hope that the research on Glover's Reef atoll will lead to a better understanding and management of this coral reef. The Comparative Investigations of Tropical Reef Ecosystems (CITRE) program identified Glover's Reef as the most preferred site in the Caribbean for "long-term, multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional investigation of coral reef ecosystems" (Dahl, MacIntyre & Antonius. 1974. A comparative survey of coral reef research sites. In: Marie-Helene Sachet and Arthur Dahl. Atoll Research Bulletin. 172: 37-75.). The authors reported, "In contrast to the other reefs surveyed in the Caribbean area, Glover's Reef atoll appears to offer the greatest variety of reef types, and the optimum reef development in terms of population density and species diversity of reef corals and associated organisms". In addition to Glover's Reef, Belize's extensive barrier reef is 30 km away. The WCS research station on Glover's Reef atoll is located on Middle Caye. The present facility includes a ranger station, a laboratory and work area, dining and cooking facilities (meals are provided), and housing for eight scientists and/or students (with tents, we can handle a few more if necessary). There are boats, aquaria and dive air for the use of researchers. The station is completely self-sufficient with electricity (110 vac) provided by a complementary system of solar power and diesel generator. Fresh water is available through a desalination plant and rain-water catchment. Toilet facilities are state-of-the-art pollution-free, containment composition type. GLOVER'S REEF MARINE RESEARCH STATION is dedicated to support of marine research and education activities of other non-profit organizations. It seeks to provide cost-effective facilities and services for field projects related to these activities. Listed below is a schedule of research projects scheduled for 1998-99, so far: SCHEDULED 1998-99 GLOVER'S REEF MARINE RESEARCH STATION PROJECTS (updated July 12, 1998) Dr. Charles Acosta (party of 4)-June 10 to June 30 (Lobster & Conch biology) Dr. Liz Graham (party of 5)-----June 17 to June 24 (Insular Archaeology) Mr. James Azueta (party of 8)--July 4 to July 6 (Reserve Boundary Bouys) Dr. John Godwin (party of 4)---July 8 to Aug. 12 (Reef Fish Behavior) Mr. Peter Mumby (party of 2)---July 8 to Aug. 5 (Coral & Algal populations) Dr Chuck Carr III (party of 5)---Aug. 5 to 9 (Research & Management Seminar) Mr. Dllan Gomez (party of 4)---Aug. (to be det'd.)(Coral Reef Monitoring) Dr. Tim McClanahan (party of 8)-Sept. 23 to Oct. 14(Coral & Algal Pop. Dynam.) Dr. Dennis Thoney (party of 6)-Nov. 4 to Nov. 18 (GIS Database for Algae, Fish & Coral) Dr. Tim McClanahan (party of 4)-Dec. 1 to Dec 15 (Coral & Algal Pop. Dynam.) Dr. Chris Tanner (party of 8)---Jan. 4 to Jan 18 (Chemical Ecology, Sponges & Plants) Dr. Dennis Thoney (party of 7)-Jan. 18 to March 15 (GIS Database for Algae, Fish & Coral) Dr. David Campbell (party of 10)-March 27 to Apr 2 (Field Course, Phytosociology studies) ***************************************************** The Wildlife Conservation Society invites any scientists or students interested in using the GLOVER'S REEF MARINE RESEARCH STATION to please contact Tom Bright (see below) and visit our web site at . We look forward to assisting you in your research efforts on Glover's Reef. Please submit as soon as possible, a project proposal (maximum 5 pages, see attached format) to: Dr. Thomas J. Bright, Station Manager Glover's Reef Marine Research Station Wildlife Conservation Society P.O. Box 2310 Belize City, Belize, C.A. Tel/Fax: 501-2-33855 in Belize City 501-5-22153 at Middle Caye E-mail: glover at btl.net Use of the Station is solely on approval by the Wildlife Conservation Society. Your proposal will be reviewed quickly. It is strongly recommended that the project proposal be submitted first by E-mail, and followed up by regular mail. We use WORD. Researchers must also apply to the Belize Fisheries Administrator for a research permit. The Administrator can be contacted at the following address for details on how to apply for a research permit, and what the required fees will be (usually about $250, plus or minus): Fisheries Administrator Department of Fisheries Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries P.O. Box 148 Belize City, Belize, C.A. Tel: 501-2-44552, or 501-2-32623, or 501-2-32187 Fax: 501-2-32982 Attention Mr. James Azueta, Assuming approval of your project proposal, and acquisition of any required research permits, we will accommodate your party during the time specified. Charges will be as follows, in U. S. Dollars: FOOD and LODGING (per person per day) Belize students $10 Other students $30 over one month $25 Non students up to one month, single room $60 shared room $40 over one month, single room $50 shared room $30 BOAT USE (prices are plus fuel, gas=$3.00/gal, Diesel=$2.50) 28 FOOT DIESEL SKIPPERED INBOARD BOAT, WITH CABIN, Per Hour $40 Half Day $125 Full Day $200 Overnight $325 25 FOOT SKIPPERED SKIFF, TWIN 60 HP GASOLINE OUTBOARDS Per Hour $20 Half Day $40 Full Day $60 20 FOOT SKIPPERED SKIFF, 55 HP GASOLINE OUTBOARD Per Hour $15 Half Day $25 Full Day $50 ONE WAY TRANSPORT (up to 8 + gear), including fuel, between: BELIZE CITY and MIDDLE Caye $325 DANGRIGA and MIDDLE Caye $180 DIVING Air fills $4 Tanks & weights no charge Snorkeling gear $5 (we will rent the following only if your own gear breaks down): Regulator $5 BC Vest $5 BEVERAGES Beer $2.00 Soda $1 INTERNET (per hour) $3 PHONE (use your calling card for long distance) Upon approval of your project proposal, you will be billed for one fourth of the total anticipated charges for your group's food and lodging. When this is paid, your reservation will be confirmed (the latest you can pay the deposit is 30 days prior to your project starting date). Prepayment of all or part of your anticipated fees is acceptable at any time. Fees may be deposited in a WCS bank account in the U. S., paid by check to WCS in the U. S. through the mail, or by cash (US or Belize Dollars) or check on the island. We will transport your party and gear by boat, at the above cost, from the town of Dangriga or Belize City to Middle Caye and back. Or you may make arrangements with one of the commercial boat charterers at a rather higher cost. We can assist you in acquiring commercial charters for the purpose. All SCUBA divers MUST be CERTIFIED for the type of diving anticipated. Divers must have a buddy. You cannot depend on one of the island staff for this. Divers must bring their own regulators, dive computers, and BC vests. All divers new to the Station will be checked out by the Station Dive Master before being allowed to dive. Bring your Dive Log and certification card. We look forward to a safe and productive field excursion for you at Glover's Reef. Sincerely, TOM BRIGHT, Station Manager ****************************************************** FORMAT FOR PROJECT PROPOSAL (5 pages maximum) TITLE: PROJECT LEADER, Organization, phone, fax, E-mail ABSTRACT: One or two paragraphs. OBJECTIVE(S): DATES REQUESTED: METHODS: This is a very important section and should describe your intended activities in enough detail to allow the Station Manager to determine if your expectations can be met. ANTICIPATED PRODUCTS OF PROJECT: Contributions to theses, research papers, articles, published abstracts, application to management and conservation, classroom credit, etc.? PROJECT PERSONNEL OTHER THAN LEADER: list all other persons in your party who will accompany you as participants in the project. Include their functions (co-project leader, student, technician, volunteer, etc.) and affiliations. From rfgo1 at york.ac.uk Tue Jul 14 15:05:52 1998 From: rfgo1 at york.ac.uk (Rupert Ormond) Date: Tue, 14 Jul 1998 15:05:52 BST Subject: coral bleaching in Indian Ocean Message-ID: INCREASED CORAL BLEACHING IN THE RED SEA AND INDIAN OCEAN 1997-8 Joyce Hsieh and I would like to thank all coral-listers who responded with information about recent bleaching in the Indian Ocean and Red Sea to our request posted on the coral-list earlier this year. We have been shocked by the extent of the bleaching revealed from this and other survey work. We have prepared a report based on these data, and for those interested a copy is attached (minus figures) as a Word 6 file. An abstract of the report is given below. We would welcome comment and further information prior to publication. regards Dr. Rupert Ormond Senior Lecturer & Director, Tropical Marine Research Unit, Biology Department, University of York, YORK YO1 5DD U.K. ---------------------------------- tel: 44-1904-432930 fax: 44-1904-432860 e-mail: rfgo1 at york.ac.uk Abstract. Coral bleaching) resulting in extensive coral mortality has been reported with increasing frequency over the last 15-20 years mainly from Caribbean and Pacific Oceans. This bleaching has been found to be associated with above normal maximum surface seawater temperatures (SSTs) typically linked to El Ni?o / Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. Until now significant bleaching has rarely been reported from Indian Ocean or Red Sea, but during 1997-8 we received word-of-mouth reports from divers that bleaching might be occurring on an unprecedented scale in this region. We therefore circulated government agencies, dive centres etc. with an information leaflet and request for information. Over 20 positive reports were received of bleaching in 12 different countries. These indicate that significant bleaching occurred in the central Arabian Gulf during 1995 and 1996, and in the central and southern Red Sea in the summer of 1997. Bleaching also occurred in the Maldives in mid-1997, and again in early 1998, since when bleaching has also occurred over a large part of the Western Indian Ocean, including the Seychelles, La Reunion, Comoros and East Africa. We found that in almost all cases bleaching was associated with SSTs, as recorded either in situ and / or derived from satellite data, that were significantly above the normal maxima for each area. The higher than normal SSTs during 1997/8 appear linked to the recent El Ni?o (ENSO) event which has recently been confirmed to influence Indian as well as Pacific Oceans. From brichards at hampshire.edu Tue Jul 14 11:47:25 1998 From: brichards at hampshire.edu (Ben Richards) Date: Tue, 14 Jul 1998 11:47:25 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Censusing of reef invertebrates Message-ID: Dear coral-listers - Does anyone have information or references for books or papers discussing surveying techniques for coral reef invertebrate species? I am a research assistant who has among his other tasks, part of the development of a rapid assessment protocol for a suite of heavily collected reef invertebrate species (see species list). Methods currently under consideration are random belt transects (per AGRA protocols), timed roving diver surveys, and stationary visual transects. I have been unable to find references to methods used specifically for the surveying of reef invertebrates (there is much on fishes) in the books I have hear. Any information you can give would be most appreciated. The preliminary species list is as follows: Giant anemone, Condylactis, gigantea Sea biscut, Basket star, Astrophyton spp. Brittle stars, Ophiocoma spp. Banded coral shrimp, Stenopus hispidus Nudibranchs Coralimorphs, Discosoma spp. Crinoids Cyphomae snail, Cyphomae gibbosum Tulip snail, Fasciolaria tulipa Benjamin Richards Research Assistant Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary http://hampshire.edu/~blrF94/index.html email: brichards at ocean.nos.noaa.gov "You cannot stay on the summit forever, you have to come down again. So why bother in the first place? Just this: What is above knows what is below, but what is below does not know what is above. One climbs, one sees. One descends, one sees no longer, but one has seen. There is an art of conduscting oneself in the lower regions by the memory ofwhat one saw higher up. What one can no longer see, one can still know." - Rene Dumal From ibaums at rsmas.miami.edu Thu Jul 16 15:59:07 1998 From: ibaums at rsmas.miami.edu (Iliana Baums) Date: Thu, 16 Jul 1998 15:59:07 -0400 Subject: Field support in the Line Islands Message-ID: <3.0.1.32.19980716155907.00724d18@sammy.rsmas.miami.edu> A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: text/enriched Size: 887 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/pipermail/coral-list-old/attachments/19980716/3c789989/attachment.bin From moconnor at aims.gov.au Thu Jul 16 21:02:24 1998 From: moconnor at aims.gov.au (Mick O'Connor) Date: Fri, 17 Jul 1998 11:02:24 +1000 Subject: BLEACHING DATA - REQUEST. Message-ID: <2.2.32.19980717010224.006783f8@email.aims.gov.au> HI ALL, I'M CURRENTLY WORKING ( COLLATING DATA ) AT THE AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF MARINE SCIENCE FOR 6 WEEKS LOOKING AT THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN CORAL BLEACHING AND NATURAL CLIMATE VARIABILITY - WITH SPECIAL REFERANCE TO THE ENSO PHENOMENON. I HAVE HAD GREAT DIFFICULTY IN COLLATING BLEACHING INFO. I WAS HOPING TO LOOK AT RELATIONSHIPS SINCE THE '82 EN. EVENT TO PRESENT, BUT THE BLEACHING DATA FOR THIS TIME-SPAN ON THE GBR IS SCARCE. HENCE I AM PROBABLY GOING TO HAVE TO STUDY RELATIONS SINCE THE EARLY 1990'S INSTEAD. HAS ANYONE..... 1. BLEACHING DATA FOR THE GBR ( OR ANY OTHER PACIFIC ISLAND ) STRETCHING BACK TO THE EARLY 80's OR DATA FROM THE EARLY 90's??? 2. ANY BLEACHING DATA, PERIOD. WHICH MIGHT BE USEFUL. (ANY WEST/CENTRAL PACIFIC REGION) WIDE SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL DATA WOULD BE BEST - BUT ANY LEADS WOULD BE USEFUL!!! NOTE: THE DATA IS FOR USE IN A DISSERTATION AND WILL BE UNPUBLISHED (REFS. WILL BE MADE TO DATA SOURCES). I HAVE HAD REAL PROBLEMS COLLATING DATA AND WOULD APPRECIATE ANY LEADS. ANY ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE FROM ANY SITE WOULD BE APPRECIATED. THANKING YOU IN ADVANCE, MICK. P.S. - AGAIN THE DATA WILL BE UNPUBLISHED (BUT DATA WILL BE PROPERLY ACKNOWLEGED). AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF MARINE SCIENCE, TOWNSVILLE, AUSTRALIA. TEL: (00 61)(07)4753 4444. ext.230. From mfine at ccsg.tau.ac.il Fri Jul 17 01:14:29 1998 From: mfine at ccsg.tau.ac.il (Maoz Fine) Date: Fri, 17 Jul 1998 08:14:29 +0300 Subject: [Fwd: bleaching of Oculina patagonica] Message-ID: <35AEDDB5.67B5@ccsg.tau.ac.il> An embedded message was scrubbed... From: Maoz Fine Subject: bleaching of Oculina patagonica Date: Thu, 09 Jul 1998 23:20:48 +0300 Size: 1278 Url: http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/pipermail/coral-list-old/attachments/19980717/47ba6474/attachment.mht From cnidaria at earthlink.net Fri Jul 17 12:02:37 1998 From: cnidaria at earthlink.net (James M. Cervino) Date: Fri, 17 Jul 1998 11:02:37 -0500 Subject: Response to Dr. Amoz Message-ID: Dear Maoz, Bacterial infection alone cannot account for the spatial or temporal pattern of these mass bleaching events. They have always been correlated with HIGH sea surface temps. I have also seen, in vitro and in situ, corals expel there symbioant ( zoox.) under temperature decrease.Steen and Muscatine published a paper regarding "low temperature evokes rapid exocytosis of symbiotic algae by sea anemone" 1987 in the Biological Bulletin 172,246-263. We have seen in countless lab experiments exposing corals to temp increase and decrease, causing the corals expel the symbioant. Under high temperature stress the mitotic division rate speeds up as the temperature rises, and the host starts to expel there symbioant. There seems to be a host influence on division rates of the cnidarian, Len Muscatine has shown us this during a lab experiments in Woods Hole a couple of years ago. He and colleagues have published a few papers regarding this physiological response: One example, Suharsono & BE Brown, J.Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol., 158 (1992) 179-188. Coral Reef Bleaching episodes between 1983 & 1991 followed positive anomalies more than 1C above long term monthly averages "(hot spots)" during the proceeding warm season (Goreau, Hayes Ambio Vol. 23 no.3 May 94). Al Strong of NOAA has been watching SST closely. He is comparing the rise above the norm for that region with EARLY SIGNS of bleaching in the tropics. We are seeing more and more bleaching events in the past 2 decades, this is lowering the metabolic activity (DEFENSES!) of the corals. Areas that are under stress from pollution, sewage (excess nutrients leading to eutrophication) and sedimentation, will exhibit longer if no recovery rates at all. Deforestation causing the uplifting of the soil is unleashing a wide variety of microbial communities into the oceans, from rivers. Aspergillosis is a soil based fungi found in the soil in South American rain forests, could it be that the microbial loads coming from land are increasing at such high concentrations be responsible for wide scale bleaching events? It is possible that this can be linked to the seafan mortality, and inducing other coral diseases, but bleaching?? Yes if there is a high microbial population in the water during the time of mass bleaching events, the mucus from the corals will be utilized as a food source by bacteria or fungi. High numbers of gram negs (-) can become pathogenic, especially if the metabolic activity of the corals is lowered by stressful conditions like high temps. One of the triggering mechanisms for zoox. expulsion are the result of: a reduced supply of nutrients available to the algae from the stressed coral host (Muscatine, 1971;decreased space availability caused by atrophied host tissues, and secretion of substances by the coral host that produce a hostile environment around the algae (Jaap, W.C. 1979 Bull. Mar. Sci. 29:414-422. Could the Vibro AK1 that was identified in that paper increase mitosis thus causing expulsion as in increased temperature stress during bleaching events? Reading the paper published in Nature makes no mention, or comparison of division rates of the zooxanthellae observed in Oculina patagonica. Vibrios will utilize the mucus that is produced as a definite nutrient source during increased seas surface temperatures, however, the responsibility for MASS BLEACHING?? The recovery rates of corals in areas where there is minimal stress from anthropogenic sources are higher, much higher. After the 95 bleaching event that hit New Britain (PNG), the corals were in full recovery 8 to 9 months after the bleaching event. Kimbe Bay is under minimal stress from man. Has anyone published a paper comparing undisturbed areas to disturbed? Good Luck with the experiments! ******************************* James M. Cervino Marine Biologist Global Coral Reef Alliance 124-19 9th ave. College Point New York, NY 11356 Phone/Fax (718) 539-8155 ******************************** From nhorsman at samoa.net Sat Jul 18 16:43:59 1998 From: nhorsman at samoa.net (Nicole Horsman) Date: Sat, 18 Jul 1998 09:43:59 -1100 Subject: Searching for Jan Henning Steffen Message-ID: <19980718003529564.AAF152@default> Dear coral-listers, I am desperately trying to contact Jan Henning Steffen who was working on the Coral Reef Assessment and Monitoring Project in Sumatra, Indonesia in 1997. Last I heard, he was based in the Bung Hatta University, Fakultas Perikanan, Padang, Sumatra, Indonesia up till October 1997. After that I think he returned to Germany for a short time but was expected back in Jakarta to take up a position with the Biodiversity Foundation late 1997 early 1998. I would appreciate hearing from anyone who knows of his current location and contact details. Please use the coral-list address if responding before the end of July. If after July, please mail me personally at the address below. Thank you Nichole Horsman From Maikea at aol.com Mon Jul 20 00:31:18 1998 From: Maikea at aol.com (Maikea at aol.com) Date: Mon, 20 Jul 1998 00:31:18 EDT Subject: No Subject Message-ID: Dear Researchers, My name is Chad Treatman. I am looking to assist Researchers working on Coral Reef Management, and any pertaining subject. I have a resume to back my abilities and hope that there are such positions available. Please contact me directly at Maikea at aol.com, (718)238-1825, or by snail-mail at : Chad Treatman 6676 Sedgwick Place Brooklyn, NY, 11220 Thank you all Chad Treatman From crmpriau at pbaru.wasantara.net.id Mon Jul 20 05:17:07 1998 From: crmpriau at pbaru.wasantara.net.id (Coremap BAPPEDA Tk.I Riau) Date: Mon, 20 Jul 1998 16:17:07 +0700 Subject: Need some posters Message-ID: <01bdb3bf$2b0adea0$0100007f@localhost> Dear All, I am looking for some posters of coralreef for my collection. That's kind of you, who can help me on it. Thank's for your kindness. Romie crmpriau at pbaru.wasantara.net.id Mailing address : Jln. Wijaya Gg. Wijaya No. 80/6 RT. 04 RW. 02 Kel. Kedung Sari (28123) Riau - Indonesia From mfine at ccsg.tau.ac.il Sun Jul 19 13:17:02 1998 From: mfine at ccsg.tau.ac.il (Maoz Fine) Date: Sun, 19 Jul 1998 20:17:02 +0300 Subject: Response to James Cervino (Bacterial Bleaching of O.patagonica) Message-ID: <199807201128.LAA19280@coral.aoml.noaa.gov> Dear James, Thank you for your message. your point of view is of graet intereste to us, and I must say, to answer all your questions we need some more research time. Any way, we have tried to gather some of the information we have so far in order to convince you and the other readers, that at least in the case of O.patagonica a bacteria is the causetive agent for bleaching. Coral bleaching is generally considered to be a phenomenon caused by environmental stress, such as increased or decreased seawater temperatures, increased solar radiation, including ultraviolet radiation, pollution reduced salinity and combinations of these stresses. The evidence supporting stress as the cause of coral bleaching is based both on field studies and laboratory experiments. The field studies involve correlations between environmental parameters and frequency of bleaching. The most common factor believed to be responsible for extensive coral bleaching is elevated sea temperature. This is particularly important because of the possible link between coral bleaching and global warming. How does increased seawater temperature cause coral bleaching? In principle, there are three possible targets: the coral animal, the endosymbiotic algae and potential coral pathogenic microorganisms. There are several reasons to assume that the coral animal is not the prime target. If the increased temperature affected the coral physiology directly, then one would expect that genetically identical coral species exposed to the same temperature stress would all bleach. The possibility that the endosymbiotic algae is the target of environmental stress, resulting in coral bleaching, was implied in the adaptative bleaching hypothesis of Buddemeir and Fautin (1993. Coral bleaching as an adaptive mechanism. A testable hypothesis. BioScience 43: 320-325.). They suggested that coral bleaching is a normal regulatory process by which genetic variation among the zooxanthellae is allowed. Accordingly, increased sea water temperature would lead to the loss of algae, allowing more heat-resistant algae to form stable symbioses with the coral. Moreover, the model of Ware et al (1996. Patterns of coral bleaching: modelling the adaptivebleaching hypothesis. Ecological Modelling 84: 199-214.) showed how the adaptive bleaching hypothesis could explain some features of bleaching events that are difficult to reconcile with mechanisms based on invariant temperature tolerances of the two symbiotic partners. Recently, it has been shown that corals can host multi-species communities of symbiotic algae (Rowan, R., N. Kowlton, A. Baker, and J. Jara. 1997. Landscape ecology of algal symbionts creates variation in episodes of coral bleaching. Nature 338: 265-269.). The composition of these communities followed a gradient of environmental parameters, and an analyses of the symbionts before and after bleaching suggested that some corals were protected from bleaching by hosting an additional symbiont that was more tolerant to the stress condition. It should be pointed out that the fact that different algae may make corals more resistant to bleaching does not prove that the algae are the primary target of the stress condition. The third possible target for an environmental stress condition leading to coral bleaching is potential pathogenic microorganisms. It is known that stress conditions, especially temperature, can cause certain bacteria to become pathogenic by "turning on" virulence genes (Colwell, R.R. 1996. Global climate and infectious disease: The cholera paradigm. Science 274: 2025-2031., Patz, J. A., R. Epstein, A. B. Thomas, and J. M. Balbus. 1996. Global climate change and emerging infectious diseases. JAMA. 275: 217-223.,Toren, A., L. Landau, A. Kushmaro, Y. Loya, and E. Rosenberg. 1998. Effect of temperature on the adhesion of Vibrio AK-1 to Oculina patagonica and coral bleaching. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 64: 1379-1384.).We suggest that altering the surface bacterial population by even small changes in the environmental conditions can lead to coral bleaching. In the bleaching of the coral Oculina patagonica in the Mediterranean Sea, the causative agent of the coral bleaching disease is the bacterium Vibrio AK-1 (Kushmaro, A., Y. Loya, M. Fine, and E. Rosenberg. 1996. Bacterial infection and coral bleaching. Nature. 380: 396., Kushmaro, A., E. Rosenberg, M. Fine, and Y. Loya. 1997. Bleaching of the coral Oculina patagonica by Vibrio AK-1. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 147: 159-165.) and elevated seawater temperatures cause the bacterium to become virulent (Toren, A., L. Landau, A. Kushmaro, Y. Loya, and E. Rosenberg. 1998. Effect of temperature on the adhesion of Vibrio AK-1 to Oculina patagonica and coral bleaching. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 64: 1379-1384.). Bleaching of Oculina patagonica in the Mediterranean Sea. Recent surveys show that O. patagonica is abundant in wide areas along the Israeli coast of the Mediterranean at a depth range of one to fifty meters. Most of the bleaching colonies have been found in patchy formations at depths of one to six meters. Bleaching of O. patagonica was first observed in 1993 and since then has been continuously monitored. The number of bleached colonies and the extent of bleaching increases rapidly in the summer following rising sea temperatures. In each of the years, Mediterranean seawater temperature off the coast of Israel increased from a minimum of 17=B1 0.2 C in February to a maximum of 29 =B1 0.2 C in August. The percentage of colonies that showed bleaching increased from a minimum of less than 10% in February/March to a maximum of 80% in August/September. The frequency of bleaching began to increase in the Spring when the water temperature reached 22-25 C and the corals began to recover in the late Fall when the temperature again dropped below 25 C. Vibrio AK-1 is the causative agent of bleaching of O. patagonica. Koch's postulates were applied to demonstrate that a particular Vibrio strain, initially referred to as AK-1, was the causative agent of the coral bleaching disease of O. patagonica (Kushmaro, A., Y. Loya, M. Fine, and E. Rosenberg. 1996. Bacterial infection and coral bleaching. Nature. 380: 396., Kushmaro, A., E. Rosenberg, M. Fine, and Y. Loya. 1997. Bleaching of the coral Oculina patagonica by Vibrio AK1. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 147: 159-165.). First, the microorganism was found to be present in all 28 diseased (bleached) corals examined and absent in all 24 healthy corals examined. Second, the bacterium was obtained in pure culture. The bacterium was identified as a new species of Vibrio by classical biochemical tests, fatty acid profile and 16S rDNA. Third,=20 pure cultures of Vibrio AK-1 caused the bleaching disease in controlled aquaria experiments. As few as 120 bacteria caused 83% of the corals to bleach in 20 days at 29 C. None of the corals that were not inoculated with bacteria showed any signs of bleaching. Fourth, addition of antibiotics to the aquaria completely blocked the Vibrio AK-1 induced bleaching. The effect of temperature of V. shiloi induced coral bleaching. As mentioned above, bleaching of O. patagonica in the Mediterranean Sea is correlated with increased seawater temperatures. To examine if Vibrio AK-1 infection of O. patagonica is also temperature regulated, a series of aquaria experiments were performed at different temperatures. No bleaching occurred at 16 C. At 20 C, bleaching was slow. At 25 C and 29 C, bleaching was rapid and extensive, reaching 80% and 100%, respectively, after 45 days. No added bacteria controls showed no bleaching at all four temperatures tested. Thus, a similar pattern of temperature dependence on bleaching was observed in laboratory infection experiments and in field observations. In the case of adhesion of Vibrio AK-1 to O. patagonica, the process is both bacteria-specific and host-specific (Toren, A., L. Landau, A. Kushmaro, Y. Loya, and E. Rosenberg. 1998. Effect of temperature on the adhesion of Vibrio AK-1 to Oculina patagonica and coral bleaching. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 64: 1379-1384). Approximately 80% of the input Vibrio AK-1 cells adhered to the O. patagonica in 6 h, whereas several other marine bacteria failed to adhere to the coral. Several lines of investigation indicated that adhesion of Vibrio AK-1 to O. patagonica involved a b-D-galactoside-containing receptor on the coral surface. First, 50 =B5m methyl-b -D-g-alactopyranoside completely inhibited adhesion, whereas several other sugars tested had no effect on the binding of Vibrio AK-1 to O. patagonica. Second, addition of methyl- b-D-galactopyranoside solutions to the coral, after the bacteria were allowed to adhere for 6-12 h, resulted in desorption of the bacteria from the coral surface. Addition of the inhibitor after 12 h did not release the bacteria, indicating that Vibrio AK-1 had become irreversibly associated with the coral. The discovery that the causative agent of the bleaching of the coral O. patagonica is the bacterium Vibrio AK-1 and that the infection is temperature regulated, raised four major questions: 1. How general is the phenomenon? Are bacteria the causative agents of coral bleaching in other parts of the world? If so, which bacteria are involved? 2. How do environmental factors, such as changes in sea water temperature and radiation trigger the infection? 3. How is the disease transmitted? 4. What are the mechanisms by which bacterial infection causes the loss of the endosymbiotic algae? Regarding the first question - there have been a few studies that show changes in the bacterial population of corals following bleaching events (Ritchie, K.B., J.H. Dennis, T. McGrath, and G.W. Smith. 1994. Bacteria associated with bleached and nonbleached areas of Montastrea annularis. In: Kass L. (ed) Bahamian field station. Prof. 5th Symp. Nat. Hist. Bahamas, San Salvador, Bahamas, p. 75-79., Upton, S.J., and E.C. Peters. 1989. A new and unusual species of Coccidium (Apicomplexa, Agamococcidiorida) from Caribbean scleractinian corals. J. Invert. Pat. 47: 184-193. However, except for the Vibrio AK-1 / O. patagonica interaction, there have been no demonstrations that the bacteria associated with the bleached corals are the causative agents of the disease. The fact that bacteria are the causative agents of at least certain coral diseases does not diminish the critical importance of environmental factors and their effect on the disease process. Thus, it is important both to discover the causative agents for coral diseases and to study the effect of environmental factors on the pathogen/host interaction. Regards Maoz Fine From delbeek at hawaii.edu Mon Jul 20 13:57:09 1998 From: delbeek at hawaii.edu (J. Charles Delbeek) Date: Mon, 20 Jul 1998 07:57:09 -1000 Subject: Response to James Cervino (Bacterial Bleaching of O.patagonica) In-Reply-To: <199807201128.LAA19280@coral.aoml.noaa.gov> Message-ID: Maoz: I am curious as to what the possibilities are to the fourth question i.e. why/how do the bacteria cause the coral to bleach?? J. Charles Delbeek M.Sc. Aquarium Biologist Waikiki Aquarium "The fact that my physiology differs from yours pleases me to no end." Mr. Spock From Maikea at aol.com Mon Jul 20 20:40:42 1998 From: Maikea at aol.com (Maikea at aol.com) Date: Mon, 20 Jul 1998 20:40:42 EDT Subject: No Subject Message-ID: <3fad8eb3.35b3e38c@aol.com> My apologies for my vagueness in my last posting. I was posting looking for research assistant positions, or assisting professors studying Coral Reef Ecology and problems on Reefs. I hold a BA in Biology from Oberlin College in Ohio, and have been actively volunteering for a little over a year now at several places in the United States. I also have done several months of research during summers in Coral Reef Managemeny, namely on bleaching effects, reproduction, and growth. At this point, I am looking for a paying "job" in the field, or to further my studies in Grad work. As I asked in my previous posting, is there anyone who needs a knowledgable assistant to assist in Coral Reef Research. Appreciation to those that did answer, but I realize that i needed to be more specific, so i am reposting. Please Contact me with any information at 'Maikea at aol.com' Thank You Chad Treatman From crmpriau at pbaru.wasantara.net.id Tue Jul 21 03:22:47 1998 From: crmpriau at pbaru.wasantara.net.id (Coremap BAPPEDA Tk.I Riau) Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1998 14:22:47 +0700 Subject: Information of International Fund Message-ID: <01bdb478$5c984480$0100007f@localhost> Dear all, We are the NGO called "Laksana Samudera" in Pekanbaru, Riau - Indonesia. and concern on marine science and ecosystem. We would like to know about the information of international foundation fund. Any body can hel us ? Thank for your information Sincerelly yours Romie Jhonnerie crmpriau at pbaru.wasantara.net.id From rfu at ifs.se Tue Jul 21 05:51:09 1998 From: rfu at ifs.se (rfu at ifs.se) Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1998 10:51:09 +0100 Subject: IFS Research Grants Message-ID: <199807211204.MAA24769@coral.aoml.noaa.gov> THE INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR SCIENCE - CALL FOR RESEARCH GRANT APPLICATIONS FROM DEVELOPING COUNTRY SCIENTISTS WORKING IN THE FIELD OF AQUATIC RESOURCES The International Foundation for Science (IFS) provides support to young scientists of merit in developing countries by awarding research grants and providing grantees with additional services such as travel grants and purchasing assistance=2E Within the scope of Aquatic Resources, projects can relate to research dealing with the ecology and sustainable management of aquatic resources=2E Simple surveys should not be included=2E Project proposals dealing with aquaculture research, ie site selection, selection, breeding, rearing, and nutrition of cultivable organisms, and disease control are invited=2E Relevant research in fisheries, aquatic biology and ecology, environmental impact including coastal zone management, and ecology of species and ecosystems can be proposed in applications=2E =20 Research grants are awarded up to a maximum value of USD 12,000 for a period of one to three years and may be renewed twice=2E They are intended for the purchase of equipment, expendable supplies, and literature=2E Applicants must be citizens of, and carry out the research in, a developing country (countries in Europe, including Turkey and Cyprus, or the former Soviet Union, do not qualify for support)=2E They should also be employed at a university or national research institution in a developing country=2E As well as being under the age of 40 (under 30 for applicants from China) and at the start of their research career, candidates must possess a higher academic degree, which should be at least an MSc or equivalent=2E=20 The IFS supports projects dealing with the management, use, and conservation of biological resources and their environment=2E The Foundation organizes its activities into six Research Areas, viz Animal Production, Aquatic Resources, Crop Science, Food Science, Forestry/Agroforestry, and Natural Products=2E=20 For further information and application forms in English or French write to:=20 IFS, Grev Turegatan 19, S-114 38 Stockholm, Sweden Fax: +46-8-54581801 Email: info at ifs=2Ese Website: www=2Eifs=2Ese From browndr at mcmail.cis.mcmaster.ca Tue Jul 21 12:37:41 1998 From: browndr at mcmail.cis.mcmaster.ca (D.R. Browne) Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1998 12:37:41 -0400 (EDT) Subject: shrimp pond wastes Message-ID: I am having difficulty tracking down wastewater treatment methods and technologies for the treatment of shrimp pond effluent and wastes. In particular we are interested in methods to degrade/treate chitin wastes and were wondering if a fermentation process was possible. This is with respect to coastal tambaks in Indonesia. Any information or references would be greatly appreciated. David. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- David R. Browne tel. 905-525-9140 x24513 School of Geography and Geology fax 905-522-3141 McMaster University email: browndr at mcmaster.ca Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4M1 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- From astrong at nesdis.noaa.gov Tue Jul 21 13:39:13 1998 From: astrong at nesdis.noaa.gov (astrong at nesdis.noaa.gov) Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1998 13:39:13 -0400 Subject: Bleaching "Hotspots" In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <199807211739.NAA01544@orbit34i.nesdis.noaa.gov> HotSpot Notes July 21, 1998 NOAA satellite data shows "HotSpots" and related coral reef bleaching appears to be on the increase again, after a brief drop in intensity during the past month. Ocean surface temperatures are becoming "near-critical" for potential bleaching in the following areas in the western hemisphere: - much of the Gulf of Mexico [Texas Flower Gardens?] - northern Caribbean - the Bahamas - south of Bermuda Bleaching appears to be continuing at the following eastern hemisphere locations: - Cambodian coast -- central South China Sea -- N. Philippines - portions of the Red Sea - areas in the southern Persian Gulf - portions of eastern Mediterranean [bleaching reported off Israel]! AES **** <>< ******* <>< ******* <>< ******* <>< ******* <>< ******* <>< ***** Alan E. Strong Phys Scientist/Oceanographer Adj Assoc Res Professor NOAA/NESDIS/ORA/ORAD -- E/RA3 US Naval Academy NOAA Science Center -- RM 711W Oceanography Department 5200 Auth Road Annapolis, MD 21402 Camp Springs, MD 20746 410-293-6550 Alan.E.Strong at noaa.gov 301-763-8102 x170 FAX: 301-763-8108 http://manati.wwb.noaa.gov/orad From SWells at wwfnet.org Wed Jul 22 03:57:00 1998 From: SWells at wwfnet.org (Susan Wells) Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1998 09:57:00 +0200 Subject: Bleaching in Vietnam Message-ID: This is a small observation to add to the depressing list of sites affected by bleaching in Asia. I have just come back from Vietnam where I saw major bleaching on reefs in the Con Dao Islands, which lie about about 200 km south of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and 80 km off the Mekong Delta. I dived at 2 sites (to a maximum depth of about 15m) and snorkelled at 3 other sites. At all localities there was extensive bleaching (I would estimate over 70% - considerably worse than my only other experience of a major bleaching event which was Belize in 1995), at all depths and in most species. Some of the bleached colonies were already being overgrown by algae. The water was noticeably warm. The reefs had some of the most impressive coral growth that I have seen for sometime, but had already been badly damaged by Typhoon Linda in November 1997. Con Dao National Park was established as an MPA in 1991, and WWF-Indochina has been working on a turtle conservation project there since 1995. Currently WWF and HK University of Science and Technology are collaborating on a DANIDA-funded Marine Biodiversity Project to provide training and advice to park staff on how to manage the park. I also dived twice at Hon Mun Island (further north, off the coast at Nha Trang), the site of a proposed marine protected area. Here, I observed no bleaching and the water was noticeably cold, apparently due to a well documented adjacent upwelling. I snorkelled very briefly in Halong Bay (right in the north of the country) and did not observe any bleaching here, although I only saw a small area of reef. Much of Halong Bay is a World Heritage Site. I would urge anyone going to Vietnam to contact the National Institute of Oceanography (at Nha Trang), the WWF-Indochina office (in Hanoi) or Con Dao National Park if they are able to help check the situation out in more detail. Sue Wells Marine Programme Co-ordinator WWF International Switzerland From hapalcan at hotmail.com Tue Jul 21 17:09:55 1998 From: hapalcan at hotmail.com (Ana Marie Alcantara) Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1998 14:09:55 PDT Subject: Dynamite fishing in Philippines Message-ID: <199807221328.NAA00396@coral.aoml.noaa.gov> Dear Sir/Madam: We are a beach resort owner in the Philippines and we have a problem with local community. They had been using dynamites for fishing and as well as throw waste around the seashore. We tried to educate them (since most of them are uneducated) with the consequences of dynamite fishing and as well as gave them free toilet bowls for them to poop but nevertheless they don't care. We tried so hard to help them improve their lifestyle but couldn't figure out on how to tickle these people. Do you have any suggestions on how will we prevent these people on using these dynamites and reducing waste around our community? We need public support and we cannot improve our market in our resort if they don't help us. I am very much aware of what is happening to our environment now and concerned with the coral reefs. I want to prevent the coral reef of an island near our resort too. Is there any group of people in the Philippines who cares for the environment (coral reefs in general)? Thank you very much. Sincerely, Ana Marie Alcantara From t.flueck at nzz.ch Wed Jul 22 18:44:06 1998 From: t.flueck at nzz.ch (Flueck Thomas) Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1998 00:44:06 +0200 Subject: Reef-status on Maldives Message-ID: <01BDB5D3.29C5D5C0@p030rol0.nzz.ch> >From July 3 to 18 we investigated maldivian coral reefs in the north of the Ari atoll. When we arrived there, bleached corals could already be seen from the plane. When we left the archipelago two weeks later, bleached corals could hardly be observed from this bird's-eye view. In between we checked seven reefs, using 100 meter transect lines in 4 and 10 m depth. According the methods of Reefcheck98 we recorded the substrate. The provisional results are sad: More than 95% of all hard corals (mostly Acropra sp.) were dead and covered with algae. Porites sp. colonies were bleached up to 100%. All Fungia and Herpolita were bleached. Leather corals e.g. Sinularia sp. were bleached up to 100%. Sea-anemones were bleached as well... and so on. Below a depth of 15 m living colonies were found here and there. During the investigations the number of bleached corals decreased whereas the number of algae-covered colonies increased. The degree of filamentous algae- and siltation-covering increased rapidly. The same situation is reported from 6 other teams working on North- and South-Male atoll in the same period. Here are the questions we would like to post: 1. Is it reasonable to assume that large scale factors as global-warming and CO2-increase brought these systems to a critical point and that local factors as eutrophication (probably due to increasing number of tourist resorts) tilt them? 2. How do you rate the chance for these reefs to recover? 3. If there is a chance for recovery, how long does it take? 4. Do you know references describing similar situations? We look forward to hearing your comments. Thomas Flueck Dipl. phil. II Editor NZZ Online (http://www.nzz.ch) Neue Zuercher Zeitung Switzerland From dbaker at tm.net.my Wed Jul 22 23:33:45 1998 From: dbaker at tm.net.my (DBaker) Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1998 11:33:45 +0800 Subject: Resorts & Blast Fishing Message-ID: <35B6AF19.6A02@tm.net.my> Subject: Re: Dynamite fishing in Philippines Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1998 11:31:54 +0800 From: DBaker To: Ana Marie Alcantara References: 1 Ana Marie Alcantara wrote: > > Dear Sir/Madam: > > We are a beach resort owner in the Philippines and we have a problem > with local community. They had been using dynamites for fishing and as > well as throw waste around the seashore. We tried to educate them (since > most of them are uneducated) with the consequences of dynamite fishing > and as well as gave them free toilet bowls for them to poop but > nevertheless they don't care. We tried so hard to help them improve > their lifestyle but couldn't figure out on how to tickle these people. > Do you have any suggestions on how will we prevent these people on using > these dynamites and reducing waste around our community? We need public > support and we cannot improve our market in our resort if they don't > help us. I am very much aware of what is happening to our environment > now and concerned with the coral reefs. I want to prevent the coral reef > of an island near our resort too. Is there any group of people in the > Philippines who cares for the environment (coral reefs in general)? > > Thank you very much. > > Sincerely, > Ana Marie Alcantara ******************************************************************* Hello Ana Marie, Though you may be receiving some interesting replies from Coral-L, I would like to reply from my very own "hands-on experience", whereas, I have been the resident ecologist/biologist/aquaculturist for Gayana Resort Bay Sdn. Bhd. / Kota Kinabalu/ Sabah, Malaysia for some 3 years now. I have attained limited success in: * The establishment of a 7sqkm marine life sanctuary that includes a 3sqkm mangrove area. * Stopping the use of explosives & cyanide in this sanctuary and the nearby reefs by 1 km buffer from the sanctuary. * Educating the local nearby villages as to why their fish catches are much better outside the sanctuary. How did we attain this? We have employed about 30% of the Resort staff from these nearby villages. [Ladies as housekeepers, dishwashers, and beach cleaners - men as maint. staff and also beach cleaners] We have also under our hire one of the village elders as head of security. This effort is to win their support & loyalty to the Resort and the Sanctaury by their employ....and direct involvement with the Resort's development. Sort of like having them part & parcial of the facilities operations in a more possessive manner to these villagers. This certainly may seem to be over simplifying it..but it has worked. Initially, as an American, I was "ugly" to the villagers that would bomb/blast the reefs 2 km away from the sanctuary...taking pictures and then having a fishermen swinging a machete at me ..at the Resort. He was trying to feed his little children. If I took the photo to the police, he gets thrown in jail, beat up, and his children go hungry and have to beg off other families. Difficult to Deal with indeed. So, I eventually chilled out. I only insisted, through the village elder security chief at the Resort, that, "please, no bombs or cyanide in or next to the Sanctaury. You will catch more fish. Please be patient." They villages seem to respect this approach much better. The fishermen even bring the pretty aquarium fishes to the Project aquariums..... With the solid waste trash that floats onto our beach and from Resort ops, [90% plastics] we collect and compress into large gabion net cages [used for construction, etc.], outer coat/line with concrete and sink in 70 ft of water off shore in the effort to establish an artificial reef and further enhance local fisheries yields. As this Resort is also an "education" for its Malaysian owners, one of the most important waste features coming from the Resort is septic graywater & blackwater discharge. We are now installing a unique hydroponic treatment system to address this waste. Concurrent changes will also be made with soap constiuents [sodium chg to potassium base]as well. For the villagers themselves, direct educational "correction" and even police action will not work. It was initially tried at Gayana in 1994/95. One of the first recommendations I made, when I came on board, was to hire a few of the villagers as housemaids and restaurant dishwashers. It evolved thereafter into what we have today. I also am the director of The Reef Project. This facility and effort is part of the theme that sustains the Resort. We have a large public building complete with a Hall/Forum [50pax seating] for evening video movies about coral reefs, etc. The other part of the Project [raceways, labs, dive locker] is mariculture & rehabilitation research and development of giant clams, corals, and high value marine aquarium fishes. And, Yes, we employ two local villagers at this Project as well. Please feel free to contact me direct with questions & recommendations requests on any matters for your Resort. Sincerely, Don E Baker Director & Founder THE REEF PROJECT Pulau Gaya / 88000 Kota Kinabalu G16 Wisma Sabah Sabah, Malaysia [reefprj at hotmail.com & reefprj at tm.net.my] From abemariko at wwf.or.jp Thu Jul 23 01:26:07 1998 From: abemariko at wwf.or.jp (abemariko) Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1998 14:26:07 +0900 Subject: Dynamite fishing in Philippines References: <199807221328.NAA00396@coral.aoml.noaa.gov> Message-ID: <35B6C96F.54B900C1@wwf.or.jp> Hi, Ana Marie Alcantara > Is there any group of people in the > Philippines who cares for the environment (coral reefs in general)? I am a staff of WWF Japan. I think you should make contact with WWF Philippines at Quezon City. Their contact numbers are; tel: 632-921-2905/433 3220-22 fax:632-426-3927 e-mail: kkp at mozcom.com. I hope above info helps. Can I ask which resort/island is that ? The Philippines is one of my favorite dive site. Regards, Mariko Abe WWF Japan -- **************************************************** WWF Japan ???????????????? ?105-0014???????3-1-14??????????6F Tel?03-3769-1713?Fax?03-3769-1717 e-mail?abemariko at wwf.or.jp http://wwfjapan.aaapc.co.jp/ ??????????????? **************************************************** From wallison at dhivehinet.net.mv Thu Jul 23 12:44:18 1998 From: wallison at dhivehinet.net.mv (William Allison) Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1998 09:44:18 -0700 Subject: Maldives bleaching Message-ID: <35B76862.3E56@dhivehinet.net.mv> To put Maldives bleaching in perspective: Thomas Flueck's recent posting on Maldives implies bleaching damage is worse than it is. The surveys were mostly or all post-main event (April May) so there is no way of discriminating between pre-bleaching and bleaching period mortality. Mortality of Acroporas was very high, but it was not as bad as implied. Sincerely, Bill -- William (Bill) R. Allison (MSc, MBA) Coral Reef Research and Management Ma. Maadheli Majeedhee Magu Male 20-03 MALDIVES ph 960 32 9667 (direct) fx 960 32 6884 (voice, fax) e-mail: wallison at dhivehinet.net.mv From coral at aoml.noaa.gov Thu Jul 23 13:31:37 1998 From: coral at aoml.noaa.gov (Coral Health and Monitoring Program) Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1998 13:31:37 -0400 (EDT) Subject: The Great "Reefs At Risk" Debate Message-ID: <199807231747.RAA06825@coral.aoml.noaa.gov> Because of the many valuable comments that were generated recently on coral-list in response to the publication of the WRI publication, "Reefs at Risk," I have compiled all those comments into one document which may be accessed at the following URL: http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/themes/rr_thread.html (The document does not include some of the acerbic comments near the end of the thread, nor my misspelled "Diatribes" follow-up message!) For more information on the book, please see: http://www.wri.org/indictrs/reefrisk.htm Cheers, Jim Hendee coral-list administrator From rrresort at dhivehinet.net.mv Thu Jul 23 15:13:53 1998 From: rrresort at dhivehinet.net.mv (Reethi Rah Resort) Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1998 00:13:53 +0500 Subject: Reef Check 98 Maldives Statement Message-ID: <199807231908.TAA07282@coral.aoml.noaa.gov> Reef Check 98 Maldives False information about the Maldivian Reef Check on the Internet It has come to our attention, that you have received information about = the findings of the Reef Check 98 Maldives going on at this moment. The = source implies that all the coral reefs in the Maldives are to 95% dead = and that coral bleaching is responsible for this situation. Also it = implies, that this statement was issued by the project management = responsible for the Reef Check 98 Maldives.=20 To this we state: The information you have received, is false and not = authorized by the Reef Check 98 Maldives project management.=20 As there are still teams working in the Maldives, the scientific data = collected has not yet been evaluated. Therefore there is no basis for = speculations about the status of the reefs of the Maldives. Since the = studies took or are taking place only in the North Male and the Ari = Atoll there is also no basis for a general statement on the status of = the Maldivian coral reefs. The idea of the Reef Check Project as we perceive it is to collect as = much data as possible to generate an overview of the status of coral = reefs worldwide. The method allows a general overview but is not aimed = at describing or explaining short-term dynamic processes. The project management of the Maldivian Reef Check is aware of these = facts and therefore cannot accept false and unauthorized statements of = this kind. We advise you therefore, to ignore any information on the = findings of the Reef Check 98 Maldives not issued by the project = management. From crmpriau at pbaru.wasantara.net.id Thu Jul 23 22:20:00 1998 From: crmpriau at pbaru.wasantara.net.id (Coremap BAPPEDA Tk.I Riau) Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1998 09:20:00 +0700 Subject: Dynamite fishing in Philippines Message-ID: <01bdb6a9$8f7e76c0$0100007f@localhost> Dear Ana Marie I do not know who in Philippina representatif to help you. But I reed Mariko Abe, that is good idea. WWF can be help you. I will compose how to manage this problem and send you leter. we have same problem. And that is our job to clear it. at now we have a program: "community base management" to clear the "boom" problem. Ok, I Apologiza because just it I can help you for a while. I promise to send you the management. Fadil Nandila -----Original Message----- From: Ana Marie Alcantara To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov Date: 22 Juli 1998 20:50 Subject: Dynamite fishing in Philippines >Dear Sir/Madam: > >We are a beach resort owner in the Philippines and we have a problem >with local community. They had been using dynamites for fishing and as >well as throw waste around the seashore. We tried to educate them (since >most of them are uneducated) with the consequences of dynamite fishing >and as well as gave them free toilet bowls for them to poop but >nevertheless they don't care. We tried so hard to help them improve >their lifestyle but couldn't figure out on how to tickle these people. >Do you have any suggestions on how will we prevent these people on using >these dynamites and reducing waste around our community? We need public >support and we cannot improve our market in our resort if they don't >help us. I am very much aware of what is happening to our environment >now and concerned with the coral reefs. I want to prevent the coral reef >of an island near our resort too. Is there any group of people in the >Philippines who cares for the environment (coral reefs in general)? > >Thank you very much. > >Sincerely, >Ana Marie Alcantara > > From sgittings at ocean.nos.noaa.gov Fri Jul 24 11:30:27 1998 From: sgittings at ocean.nos.noaa.gov (Gittings, S.) Date: 24 Jul 1998 11:30:27 -0400 Subject: Sustainable Sea Announcement Message-ID: <199807241729.RAA12369@coral.aoml.noaa.gov> At http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/themes/sse.html, or at the anonymous FTP site ftp://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/pub/champ/fgbnms/, you will find an announcement of an opportunity for collaboration with the National Geographic Society's Sustainable Seas Expeditions, a five-year, public-private effort to use manned submersibles to explore the coastal waters of the United States, with emphasis on the nation's National Marine Sanctuaries. The project team is requesting proposals for collaboration, but has tried to simplify the submission process as much as possible by requesting completion of short forms that contain the information needed to select collaborative projects. All projects conducted during the Sustainable Seas Expeditions, even those previously identified by the sanctuaries as high priority projects, will be required to submit completed forms. To help us meet the deadline of the review process, please do not to wait for the deadline to submit this information, if possible. Also please feel free to disseminate this announcement in electronic or hard copy format. Dr. Steve Gittings, Science Coordinator NOAA Sanctuaries and Reserves Division SSMC-4, N/ORM2, Rm. 11535 Silver Spring, MD 20910 From coral at aoml.noaa.gov Tue Jul 28 09:54:05 1998 From: coral at aoml.noaa.gov (Coral Health and Monitoring Program) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1998 09:54:05 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Coral Reef Monitoring Protocols Message-ID: <199807281356.NAA01261@coral.aoml.noaa.gov> For your convenience, a list of some coral reef assessment protocols has been compiled at: http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/methods.html We realize the list is not complete and would appreciate whatever feedback you may have. So far, this is what we have: The Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network's Protocols for Coral Reef Monitoring The Atlantic and Gulf Reef Assessment's Rapid Assessment Protocol and RAP Data Template. (This is the preliminary protocol. The revised protocol will appear soon.) The Caribbean Coastal Marine Productivity (CARICOMP) Programme's Methods Manual for Coral Reef Communities The Reef Check 1998's 1998 Reef Check Core Methods (including how to post results) A Manual for Monitoring Coral Reefs with Indicator Species: Butterflyfishes as Indicators of Change on Indo-Pacific Reefs, by Michael P. Crosby, Ph.D. and Ernst S. Reese, Ph.D. (You must have an Adobe Acrobat PDF reader to view this document.) Guidelines, Handbooks and Tools for Coral Reef Management, by Sue Wells. ~~~~ If you have any comments or additions, please address them to the CHAMP WebMaster, Gina Morisseau-Leroy at gmoriss at aoml.noaa.gov. Cheers... JCH From otyack at intnet.mu Wed Jul 29 03:40:57 1998 From: otyack at intnet.mu (Olivier Tyack) Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 11:40:57 +0400 Subject: Moorings Message-ID: <199807291305.NAA06974@coral.aoml.noaa.gov> Dear coral-list, We are seeking technical informations about moorings. These moorings are to be implemented inside the lagoon in 2-5 meters. We are seeking for different type of solution, because some of them are to be on sand and some directly in the reef. If ever you can help us or orientate us please do so. Regards, Olivier TYACK President Mauritius Marine Conservation Society From bma at interplanet.com.br Wed Jul 29 17:19:35 1998 From: bma at interplanet.com.br (Biomonitoramento e Meio Ambiente Ltda.) Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 11:19:35 -1000 Subject: Information on coral reef transplantation Message-ID: <35BF91E7.51E5@interplanet.com.br> Dear all Does anybody know about any information regarding transplantation of corals from one place the other? If this was ever attempted, I would be very interested in obtaining some information. Regards Pablo Cotsifis Biomonitoramento e Meio Ambiente Salvador - Bahia E-mail: bma at interplanet.com.br Phone: 00 55 71 247 4993 From ccc at coralcay.demon.co.uk Thu Jul 30 08:24:07 1998 From: ccc at coralcay.demon.co.uk (ccc at coralcay.demon.co.uk) Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1998 12:24:07 +0000 Subject: Job opening with Coral Cay Conservation Message-ID: <199807301112.MAA13336@coralcay.demon.co.uk> Coral Cay Conservation (CCC) Opening: Project Scientist An experienced postgraduate marine biologist is sought for the position of a Project Scientist (PS) to oversee CCC's field research programme in the Philippines. CCC is a UK based non-profit organisation which provides resources for the protection and sustainable use of coastal environments. The main duties of the PS are to oversee and co-ordinate the ongoing CCC coral reef research programme under basic expedition conditions. This includes supervision of other science staff, teaching marine ecology and identification to diving non-biologist volunteers and local counterparts and co-ordination of the survey work conducted. Other aspects of this position are data management, reporting on scientific activities, developing institutional links and representing CCC at meetings and conferences. The position of PS is a six month non-salaried post based in the Philippines starting on the 15th September 1998. Candidates are required to have: -a postgraduate qualification (preferable PhD level) in a relevant subject, -extensive coral reef research experience in the Indo- Pacific region, -good working knowledge of Indo-Pacific fish, coral and invertebrate families and species, -competence in computing, -good organisational skills, -excellent communication and presentation skills, -excellent interpersonal skills. The selection process for this post is ongoing and there are also positions available in 1999 in the Philippines (contact Maria Beger) and in Belize (contact Shonagh Whithey). Further information on CCC's work can be obtained from our website: http://www.coralcay.org/ Please apply in writing or by e-mail to: Maria Beger, Assistant Science Co-ordinator, Coral Cay Conservation, 154 Clapham Park Rd, London, SW4 7DE, UK, ccc at coralcay.demon.co.uk -- Coral Cay Conservation Ltd. 154 Clapham Park Road, London, SW4 7DE, UK. Tel: +44 (0)171 498 6248 Fax: +44 (0)171 498 8447 E-Mail: ccc at coralcay.demon.co.uk | "Providing resources for the protection and WWW: http://www.coralcay.org/ | sustainable use of coastal environments." From astrong at nesdis.noaa.gov Thu Jul 30 08:57:39 1998 From: astrong at nesdis.noaa.gov (astrong at nesdis.noaa.gov) Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1998 08:57:39 -0400 Subject: Bleaching Notes -- Bermuda? Message-ID: <199807301257.IAA22475@orbit34i.nesdis.noaa.gov> "Comments" posted today at [repeated below]: http://psbsgi1.nesdis.noaa.gov:8080/PSB/EPS/SST/climohot.html Observations appreciated... Al Strong HotSpot Notes July 29, 1998 NOAA satellite data show "HotSpots" and related coral reef bleaching appears to be moving into the reefs of Bermuda for the first time since 1994. SSTs over much of the Gulf of Mexico continue to hover close to critical levels, especially near the Texas Flower Gardens. In the eastern hemisphere: SSTs have inched upward a bit further in the Arabian Gulf and bleaching would now appear to be widespread, as was seen in 1996. The large HotSpot around northern reefs of the Philippines still shows no signs of shrinking. AES **** <>< ******* <>< ******* <>< ******* <>< ******* <>< ******* <>< ***** Alan E. Strong Phys Scientist/Oceanographer Adj Assoc Res Professor NOAA/NESDIS/ORA/ORAD -- E/RA3 US Naval Academy NOAA Science Center -- RM 711W Oceanography Department 5200 Auth Road Annapolis, MD 21402 Camp Springs, MD 20746 410-293-6550 Alan.E.Strong at noaa.gov 301-763-8102 x170 FAX: 301-763-8108 http://manati.wwb.noaa.gov/orad From Greenforce.melissa at btinternet.com Fri Jul 31 10:37:02 1998 From: Greenforce.melissa at btinternet.com (Melissa Jones) Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1998 15:37:02 +0100 Subject: Reef Survey Team Available Message-ID: <199807311528.PAA18544@coral.aoml.noaa.gov> Are you aware of a coral reef survey project which could make use of a fully equipped survey team free of charge? Greenforce is a Registered Non-profit Making Organisation and a member of the British Council for Voluntary Organisations. We arrange biodiversity survey projects world-wide, including coral reef surveys. Greenforce is self-financing and offers its services to host country institutions free of charge. Our survey teams are led by qualified scientists and experienced dive leaders, assisted by groups of research assistants. We provide all the equipment necessary to conduct the survey, much of which is donated to the host country on completion of the survey. All our diving operations are conducted in accordance with UNESCO=92s Guidelines for Scientific Diving. We are currently conducting a three year survey of the Yaduataba island reefs on behalf the National trust for Fiji, who will use our data to formulate a sustainable management plan for the area, and to support their application to have Yaduataba island recognised as Fiji=92s first World Heritage Site. We intend to start another reef survey next July and are currently seeking a suitable project. Our preference is to work on behalf of a host country institution which lacks the recourses or manpower to conduct a survey itself. All we ask in return for conducting the survey is help with obtaining the necessary visas and research permits for our survey team. Because of the capital cost of equipment, we prefer long-term projects of three or more years. I=92d be interested to hear any suggestions or proposals, and would be pleased to answer any questions regarding Greenforce and our work. You can learn more about us from our website www.btinternet/~greenforce. Regards Jonathon Tully Marine Projects Co-ordinator