[Coral-List] Rare "elkhorn-iike" Acropora on Arno Coral-List Digest, Vol 43, Issue 20
Bob Snowden
bsnowden at pittsburghzoo.org
Wed Mar 21 13:21:00 EDT 2012
Dean,
It would be a shame to lose these corals. I agree with Bruce. The only problem is that after reattachment to the substrate, you still have the COTS to deal with that will, given time, surely find the fragments. The "stringing" method would be your best bet if keeping the stars away is the main goal. Is there any place near that can grow some fragments ex-situ in maybe a flow-thru system with natural light? That would be another alternative and would virtually guarantee a star free environment for conservation efforts.
Good luck,
Bob
Bob Snowden
Aquarist, Marine Invertebrates
Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium
(412) 365-2596
bsnowden at pittsburghzoo.org
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Today's Topics:
1. Majuro airport project going ahead (Dean Jacobson)
2. Re: Rare "elkhorn-iike" Acropora on Arno (BRUCE CARLSON)
3. Approaching game over (Sarah Frias-Torres)
4. Re: Approaching game over (Mel Briscoe)
5. Re: Approaching game over (Michael Risk)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2012 22:34:38 -0700 (PDT)
From: Dean Jacobson <atolldino at yahoo.com>
Subject: [Coral-List] Majuro airport project going ahead
To: "coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov" <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
Message-ID:
<1332221678.67207.YahooMailNeo at web31813.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Listers:
Thanks for suggestions about possible surviving Acropora fragments on Arno.... I will try to get there this weekend for a rescue mission.
I was in the field last week when our local paper came out, and I just read that the FAA RSA project at Majuro airport, which presumably includes coral mining at the Reservoir for fill, is now going ahead, after consultations with an office in Guam, and after RMI EPA sent a report. ?The manager of our local EPA, Deborah Manasse, was off-island last week, and did not come to work today, so I do not know what report or document she had provided to FAA. ?And, I have been unable to speak with the US Embassy... I do not know if an EIA was actually done, or if any coral transplantation will be permitted before the reef is mined. ?
Since I do not have any email addresses of the Coral Reef Task Force's All-Islands Committee, who I was told was working on this issue, and who have not yet updated me after our phone conference several weeks ago, ?I am sending an appeal to the list for information. ?Is the mining of the reservoir reef permitted under Executive order 13089, or are the dominant federal agencies (who now who they are) simply ignoring it? ?What mitigation is planned, or required to be planned, by local RMI agencies? ?
I initiated a petition, out of desperation, but of course am not allowed to share that here.
At least I will, if all else fails, be able to videotape the coral mining.
Cheers,
Dean Jacobson
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2012 10:42:21 -1000
From: BRUCE CARLSON <exallias2 at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Rare "elkhorn-iike" Acropora on Arno
To: Dean Jacobson <atolldino at yahoo.com>
Cc: coral list <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
Message-ID: <89D7A5EB-904A-4BDB-9533-0DAD2CD1EB34 at gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Dean,
The short answer regarding cultivation of fragments is definitely "yes". The long answer as to "how" would take a lot of space here but I'm sure you can get good advice from many folks who are doing this. But the general answer is to just secure the fragment in an "appropriate" location on the reef so they don't roll around. It will re-attach itself over time and grow. It's usually that simple. You can attach fragments with marine epoxy, or portland cement mixed with some plaster of Paris, or simply secure them with cable ties (as they do on reefs in Cancun for A. palmata). Ken Nedimyer cultures Acropora frags using the string method you mentioned.
Good luck trying to protect this unique Acropora!
Bruce Carlson
On Mar 18, 2012, at 12:41 AM, Dean Jacobson wrote:
> Listers:
>
> Sadly, I must report the demise of the "Pacific elkhorn" colonies on Arno atoll that I first located in 2004 and Zoe Richards later publicized in 2010, they have almost all eaten by a devastating Acanthaster outbreak. This outbreak (first noticed two or three years ago) follows the huge Majuro outbreak that began in 2003 (I have done some small-scale control on Arno, removing around 100 animals). I didn't realize the most high-profile coral species would be at the top of the menu. My images are in a photo set:
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/32702872@N03/sets/72157629609330297/
>
>
> I used Maria Beger's image as a "before" shot of the most visually striking of the colonies.
>
> This most spectacular colony, with the parallel "V" branching pattern, displayed the very last of feeding activity, with several fresh feeding scars at the tips of branches... but the last one or two cm of a few of the branches were still alive last week, and I hope the COTS don't go to the trouble to crawl out for the remaining fragments of tissue (they clearly find this species irresistible and no doubt locate it by chemosensory cues, they are not even touching the A. cytherea they usually feed on). I am organizing a COTS control dive (night dives) and I expect we will be able to collect over five hundred animals without difficulty, if I can round up enough divers. I intend to follow up with monthly collection dives. I know this is a fool's errand, but this is a particularly charming reef (luckily the two giant Leptoria colonies, almost 3 meters across and 2 meters tall, were untouched) and control efforts will be focused on a 100 meter area.
>
> I have a question: can anyone suggest a way to cultivate the branch tips, in case any survive? I know suspended line culture can work (i.e. as it has for A. cervicornis), and keep them safe from COTS; even with the wave surge, perhaps lines could be strung across the narrow grooves. I have lots of long-liner monofilament at hand, which would minimize surge drag.
>
> Thanks,
> Dean Jacobson
> College of the Marshall Islands
> _______________________________________________
> Coral-List mailing list
> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
------------------------------
Message: 3
Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2012 10:22:16 -0400
From: Sarah Frias-Torres <sfrias_torres at hotmail.com>
Subject: [Coral-List] Approaching game over
To: coral list <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
Message-ID: <BAY164-W298DFA06D6875AABF814B281400 at phx.gbl>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Dear Coral-ListersI think we are approaching game over.
President Obama will announce tomorrow the permit approval for the southern portion of the Keystone XL pipelinehttp://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2012/03/21/exp-early-myb-keystone.cnn
This is a pipeline operated by TransCanada, that will connect the oil sands in Canada with U.S. oil refineries in the Gulf of Mexico. While the approval is still pending for the portions of the pipeline that go through the U..S. heartland (and one of the most valuable aquifers in the country), approval of the southern portion of the pipeline means that, unless something dramatic happens, the pipeline will become a reality.
Once the Keystone pipeline is operational, it will be game over for Earth's climate and for the coral reefs.
When you follow the debate about this project, it's interesting to see that scientists are almost non existent. Reporters talk about "environmentalists" and use the words "believe" to frame the consequences of using the Canadian oil sands and the pipeline. As if environmentalists are running around in some mystical trance, playing with crystals, singing kumba-ya, and using their believes to "stop the progress of America". Whereas the statements from the oil companies are framed as facts. They even go to the extend of saying "Canadian oil sand use will diversify the country's energy resources".
Where are the climate scientists, the marine scientists, the coral reef scientists in this debate? Are any of the top scientists on those research areas talking to government officials, warning them against using the oil sands?I don't know if Canadian scientists have approached the Canadian government asking to reconsider the use of oil sands. If they had, it didn't work.
Considering the U.S. is the largest fossil fuel consumer in the world, you would expect top scientists have approached the government and demonstrated this madness has to stop. I'm not aware of a commission of top scientists speaking up... the Union of Concerned Scientists seems missing in action.
What can we do?
July brings the 12th International Coral Reef Symposium. I wonder if this will be the last ICRS held while there are still living coral reefs out there. Besides the many activities during the Symposium, those attending should think about the 13th ICRS, in 2016. If nothing changes, the Keystone pipeline will be operational, the Canadian oil sands will have had 4 more years to burn, and so all the other fossil fuel burning all around the world.Maybe the 13th ICRS will be renamed as the "International Coral Reefs We Used to Have Symposium"
Perhaps the world renowned scientists attending the upcoming ICRS could draft a letter to both the U.S. and Canadian governments, explaining the major environmental damage of oil sand usage, for land and marine ecosystems, willing to provide their scientific expertise to answer whatever questions politicians might have... maybe it can be signed up by those attending the Symposium.
Or perhaps, some of you in this list can get into the power circles in either government (or knows someone who can), and initiate a conversation with someone who still has a working brain in there.
Or maybe someone in this list has a better idea on how to deliver the message.
Think about it. Imagine if scientists could really change the world.
Sarah Frias-Torres, Ph.D. Schmidt Ocean Institute Postdoctoral FellowOcean Research & Conservation Association (ORCA) 1420 Seaway Drive, Fort Pierce, Florida 34949 USA Tel (772) 467-1600http://www.teamorca.orghttp://independent.academia.edu/SarahFriasTorres
------------------------------
Message: 4
Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2012 10:55:16 -0400
From: "Mel Briscoe" <Mel at briscoe.com>
Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Approaching game over
To: "'coral list'" <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
Message-ID: <008601cd0772$a4ddadf0$ee9909d0$@Briscoe.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
"Once the Keystone pipeline is operational, it will be game over for Earth's climate and for the coral reefs."
I doubt that the extreme hyperbole is a good way to communicate your concerns to decision makers.
They simply do not listen to Chicken Little.
"initiate a conversation with someone who still has a working brain in there"
A truely wonderful way to get someone to listen to you.
Sarah, your emails are now in the (permanent) public record.
Given your stated attitude, I doubt that you will be called to testify! This squanders your knowledge and passion.
Sorry.
- Mel
-----Original Message-----
From: coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
[mailto:coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov] On Behalf Of Sarah Frias-Torres
Sent: Wednesday, March 21, 2012 10:22 AM
To: coral list
Subject: [Coral-List] Approaching game over
Dear Coral-ListersI think we are approaching game over.
President Obama will announce tomorrow the permit approval for the southern portion of the Keystone XL pipelinehttp://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2012/03/21/exp-early-myb-k
eystone.cnn
This is a pipeline operated by TransCanada, that will connect the oil sands in Canada with U.S. oil refineries in the Gulf of Mexico. While the approval is still pending for the portions of the pipeline that go through the U..S. heartland (and one of the most valuable aquifers in the country), approval of the southern portion of the pipeline means that, unless something dramatic happens, the pipeline will become a reality.
Once the Keystone pipeline is operational, it will be game over for Earth's climate and for the coral reefs.
When you follow the debate about this project, it's interesting to see that scientists are almost non existent. Reporters talk about "environmentalists"
and use the words "believe" to frame the consequences of using the Canadian oil sands and the pipeline. As if environmentalists are running around in some mystical trance, playing with crystals, singing kumba-ya, and using their believes to "stop the progress of America". Whereas the statements from the oil companies are framed as facts. They even go to the extend of saying "Canadian oil sand use will diversify the country's energy resources".
Where are the climate scientists, the marine scientists, the coral reef scientists in this debate? Are any of the top scientists on those research areas talking to government officials, warning them against using the oil sands?I don't know if Canadian scientists have approached the Canadian government asking to reconsider the use of oil sands. If they had, it didn't work.
Considering the U.S. is the largest fossil fuel consumer in the world, you would expect top scientists have approached the government and demonstrated this madness has to stop. I'm not aware of a commission of top scientists speaking up... the Union of Concerned Scientists seems missing in action.
What can we do?
July brings the 12th International Coral Reef Symposium. I wonder if this will be the last ICRS held while there are still living coral reefs out there. Besides the many activities during the Symposium, those attending should think about the 13th ICRS, in 2016. If nothing changes, the Keystone pipeline will be operational, the Canadian oil sands will have had 4 more years to burn, and so all the other fossil fuel burning all around the world.Maybe the 13th ICRS will be renamed as the "International Coral Reefs We Used to Have Symposium"
Perhaps the world renowned scientists attending the upcoming ICRS could draft a letter to both the U.S. and Canadian governments, explaining the major environmental damage of oil sand usage, for land and marine ecosystems, willing to provide their scientific expertise to answer whatever questions politicians might have... maybe it can be signed up by those attending the Symposium.
Or perhaps, some of you in this list can get into the power circles in either government (or knows someone who can), and initiate a conversation with someone who still has a working brain in there.
Or maybe someone in this list has a better idea on how to deliver the message.
Think about it. Imagine if scientists could really change the world.
Sarah Frias-Torres, Ph.D. Schmidt Ocean Institute Postdoctoral FellowOcean Research & Conservation Association (ORCA) 1420 Seaway Drive, Fort Pierce, Florida 34949 USA Tel (772) 467-1600http://www.teamorca.orghttp://independent.academia.edu/SarahFriasTor
res
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------------------------------
Message: 5
Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2012 10:55:15 -0400
From: Michael Risk <riskmj at mcmaster.ca>
Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Approaching game over
To: Sarah Frias-Torres <sfrias_torres at hotmail.com>
Cc: coral list <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
Message-ID: <34169199-E6FB-4EB5-89D2-49BFCD09ED98 at mcmaster.ca>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252
Hello Sarah.
First of all-the experiment to determine whether scientists can change the world's environmental mindset has been running for a long time. So far, the answer is-no.
Second, here is some Canadian perspective:
Those are not "oil sands." They were described as "TAR SANDS" when Tyrell found them >100 years ago. They sat as tar sands for a long time, until oil extraction began. Then some PR flack decided "tar" sounded dirty, and the rest is history. Same as when "global warming" got banned from the lexicon, to be replaced by "climate change."
The present Canadian federal government was recently elected as a "majority", receiving about 35% of the popular vote. Their constituency seems to be old angry white men (not me!) who are deeply religious and conservative. (There are echoes here with our neighbour to the south?) They are profoundly anti-science, because scientists believe in evolution and say bad things about development. While dramatically increasing the size of the civil service, they have quietly laid off almost every scientist working on the impacts of the tar sands. Which are immense. The damage done will last generations-it takes longer to train a scientist than a flack.
This has relevance to coral reefs only as a parable, and as a reminder that the climate impacts are unavoidable.
Mike
On 2012-03-21, at 10:22 AM, Sarah Frias-Torres wrote:
>
> Dear Coral-ListersI think we are approaching game over.
> President Obama will announce tomorrow the permit approval for the
> southern portion of the Keystone XL
> pipelinehttp://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2012/03/21/exp-early
> -myb-keystone.cnn This is a pipeline operated by TransCanada, that
> will connect the oil sands in Canada with U.S. oil refineries in the Gulf of Mexico. While the approval is still pending for the portions of the pipeline that go through the U.S. heartland (and one of the most valuable aquifers in the country), approval of the southern portion of the pipeline means that, unless something dramatic happens, the pipeline will become a reality.
> Once the Keystone pipeline is operational, it will be game over for Earth's climate and for the coral reefs.
> When you follow the debate about this project, it's interesting to see that scientists are almost non existent. Reporters talk about "environmentalists" and use the words "believe" to frame the consequences of using the Canadian oil sands and the pipeline. As if environmentalists are running around in some mystical trance, playing with crystals, singing kumba-ya, and using their believes to "stop the progress of America". Whereas the statements from the oil companies are framed as facts. They even go to the extend of saying "Canadian oil sand use will diversify the country's energy resources".
> Where are the climate scientists, the marine scientists, the coral reef scientists in this debate? Are any of the top scientists on those research areas talking to government officials, warning them against using the oil sands?I don't know if Canadian scientists have approached the Canadian government asking to reconsider the use of oil sands. If they had, it didn't work..
> Considering the U.S. is the largest fossil fuel consumer in the world, you would expect top scientists have approached the government and demonstrated this madness has to stop. I'm not aware of a commission of top scientists speaking up... the Union of Concerned Scientists seems missing in action.
> What can we do?
> July brings the 12th International Coral Reef Symposium. I wonder if this will be the last ICRS held while there are still living coral reefs out there. Besides the many activities during the Symposium, those attending should think about the 13th ICRS, in 2016. If nothing changes, the Keystone pipeline will be operational, the Canadian oil sands will have had 4 more years to burn, and so all the other fossil fuel burning all around the world.Maybe the 13th ICRS will be renamed as the "International Coral Reefs We Used to Have Symposium"
> Perhaps the world renowned scientists attending the upcoming ICRS could draft a letter to both the U.S. and Canadian governments, explaining the major environmental damage of oil sand usage, for land and marine ecosystems, willing to provide their scientific expertise to answer whatever questions politicians might have... maybe it can be signed up by those attending the Symposium.
> Or perhaps, some of you in this list can get into the power circles in either government (or knows someone who can), and initiate a conversation with someone who still has a working brain in there.
> Or maybe someone in this list has a better idea on how to deliver the message.
> Think about it. Imagine if scientists could really change the world.
> Sarah Frias-Torres, Ph.D. Schmidt Ocean Institute Postdoctoral
> FellowOcean Research & Conservation Association (ORCA) 1420 Seaway
> Drive, Fort Pierce, Florida 34949 USA Tel (772)
> 467-1600http://www.teamorca.orghttp://independent.academia.edu/SarahFr
> iasTorres
>
> _______________________________________________
> Coral-List mailing list
> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
Michael Risk
riskmj at mcmaster.ca
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