[Coral-List] Swan Islands coral reefs

Ulf Erlingsson ceo at lindorm.com
Fri Sep 2 10:53:35 EDT 2011


This YouTube video posted the other day brings the message that the  
coral reefs on Swan Islands, Honduras, are in excellent condition.  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ5OHwuX6vg

Having read on this list of wide-spread coral death, and knowing the  
geographical setting of Swan Islands (they are uninhabited and not  
exposed to any land-derived pollution) it makes me want to see an  
atlas, or GIS, over coral reef health, presented in such a way that  
one can compare it to relevant societal factors such as population  
density, degree of economical activity, and the like. And, not to  
forget, shipping, since we know the tremendous amount of pollution  
from anti-fouling paint such as TBT.

Has anyone compiled info in this way? It is obviously a task for  
geography, for someone trained in geographical information systems.

An exercise of this kind will also reveal where available data is  
missing. For instance, years ago I made a GIS over the risk of  
natural disasters in a Central American country, and by starting with  
the desired output it became painfully obvious how little there was  
in the way of adequate data, and how much of the data collected by  
scientists was useful since the design of the study had not  
contemplated the ultimate use of it in decision-making.

Maybe the coral research community should team up around an umbrella  
plan in a similar way that the climate researchers did in the early  
80's with global change, and start making strategic research and data  
collection plans?

Ulf Erlingsson
Lindorm, Inc.


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