[Coral-List] feel good sighting

Risk, Michael riskmj at mcmaster.ca
Fri Jun 26 21:30:33 EDT 2015


   Hi Doug.

   The dark red thingy just tucked under the overhang, south of the main valley
   in the colony, is almost certainly C. delitrix. And I am sure it can occur
   in places with good WQ-it probably pre-dates humans.

   As far as the rest of your post goes: my comment was meant as a bit of wry
   humour. I should have known better.

   I sense a slippery slope before our feet, with the Glass Half Full people
   saying “It’s OK over here” and the Glass Half Empties saying “It was better
   when I was younger…”

   I have had tons of experience (most of it bad) with slippery slopes. In this
   case, I choose not to take that next step. All the best.

   Mike

   On Jun 26, 2015, at 6:52 PM, Douglas Fenner
   <[1]douglasfennertassi at gmail.com> wrote:

       I don't agree that there's no good news (and I can't see in the picture
   what is in that spot).  Isn't it possible for Cliona delitrix to be in
   places that don't have fecal bacteria?  That's an amazingly big coral, from
   the photo it looks like it is in good health.
         The data on the populations of Acropora cervicornis and Acropora
   palmata suggest that while they have experienced a catastrophic decline of
   about 97%, their overall total populations appear as though they may have
   now  stabilized.   Maybe  it's  just a pause in the drastic decline to
   extinction,  but  maybe  it  is  going  to hold.  I think any signs of
   stabilization are good news.  Sure, I'd prefer to see data that they are
   coming back strong.  But stabilization sure beats the steep decline they
   were in.
        Not long ago there was a news item that reported a giant coral of
   Pavona clavus in Japan.  It is 17 m wide, 24 m long, and 10 m tall.  From
   the photo, it looked all alive and in good shape.  I think that's good
   news.
        Coral cover has been increasing in American Samoa for the last 10
   years.  I think that's good news, though it is a tiny place.  But that fits
   with the Bruno paper, which although it found a general downward trend in
   coral  cover in the Pacific, it actually hadn't gone down in the South
   Pacific.  I think that's good news.
        The paper that documented the decline of the Great Barrier Reef also
   reported that the reefs at the northern end had not declined.  I think
   that's good news.
        There is a paper on Ningaloo reef on the west coast of Australia.  It
   is the world's largest fringing reef.    Different areas went up or down,
   but no net downward trend for the whole reef.  I think that is good news.
        In Chagos, a large area of coral reefs, the corals were hit very hard
   by the 1998 El Nino mass coral bleaching.  But they have come back amazingly
   well.  I think that's good news.
        Scott Reef and nearby reefs in Western Australia recovered well from
   the 1998 El Nino bleaching mortality.

        I'm not disputing the obvious fact that there is a LOT of bad news for
   coral reefs out there, almost all the news is bad and probably there is much
   worse to come.  No question about the decline of reefs, we are loosing the
   battle.  BUT, there are some good news stories out there, and we should not
   forget  them.   They are part of the reality, and we're in the reality
   business (I hope) for coral reefs.  Management needs to be based on the
   reality as shown in the evidence, whatever that is, good, bad, or ugly (as
   the movie title goes).
   Cheers,  Doug
   Jackson et al 2014.  Status and trends of Caribbean coral reefs: 1970-2012.
    (for Acropora over time see Figure 18 on page 77)
   Giant coral in Japan:
   [2]http://reefbuilders.com/2015/02/13/giant-pavona-clavus-japan-storeys-tall
   /
   Bruno  and  Selig.   2007.   Regional  decline  of  coral cover in the
   Indo-Pacific: timing, extent, and subregional comparisons.  PLoS One  open
   access
   De'ath, Fabricius, Sweatman, Puotinin.  2012.  The 27-year decline of coral
   cover on the Great Barrier Reef and its causes.  Proceedings of the National
   Academy of Sciences
   Speed et al.  2013.  Dynamic stability of coral reefs on the west Australian
   coast.  PLoS One   open access
   Sheppard et al  2012.  Reefs and islands of the Chagos Archipelago, Indian
   Ocean: why it is the world's largest no-take marine protected area.  Aquatic
   conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 22: 232- 261.
   Gilmour et al 2013.  Recovery of an isolated coral reef system following
   severe disturbance.  Science 340: 69-71.

   On Fri, Jun 26, 2015 at 8:02 AM, Risk, Michael <[3]riskmj at mcmaster..ca>
   wrote:

     Hello Andrew.
     Picture's fine, no worries. And it is nice to see so much coral still left
     (just a few km nw of Lameshur Bay).
     But is that a colony of the fecal bacteria bioindicator Cliona delitrix I
     see, upper right?
     .....there is no good news.
     ________________________________________
     From:                     [4]coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
     [[5]coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml..[6]noaa.gov] on behalf of Andrew
     Pederson [[7]andrew at reefheart.com]
     Sent: June 26, 2015 1:13 PM
     To: [8]coral-list at coral.aoml..noaa.gov
     Subject: [Coral-List] feel good sighting

   An entire ridge at Mingo Cay (just north between St Thomas & St John, USVI)
   blanketed in star coral polyps, must have been at least 20 yards in length
   total... photo taken April 28 (sorry about the quality, bit of an unsteady
   hand behind the lens) :
   [9]http://postimg.org/image/sgz4gh1sv/
   Cheers,
   Andrew in Seattle
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   [12]Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
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   --
   Douglas Fenner
   Contractor with Ocean Associates, Inc.
   PO Box 7390
   Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799  USA
   phone 1 684 622-7084
   Join the International Society for Reef Studies
   [14]www.fit.edu/isrs/
   "belief in climate change is optional, participation is not."
   Hope from the Pope
   [15]http://www.nature.com/news/hope-from-the-pope-1.17824?WT.ec_id=NATURE-20
   150625
   Will Pope Francis's climate message break through where others have failed?
   [16]http://news.sciencemag.org/climate/2015/06/will-pope-francis-s-climate-m
   essage-break-through-where-others-have-failed?utm_campaign=email-news-latest
   &utm_src=email
   website:  [17]http://independent.academia.edu/DouglasFenner
   blog: [18]http://ocean.si.edu/blog/reefs-american-samoa-story-hope

   Risk, Michael
   [19]riskmj at mcmaster.ca

References

   1. mailto:douglasfennertassi at gmail.com
   2. http://reefbuilders.com/2015/02/13/giant-pavona-clavus-japan-storeys-tall/
   3. mailto:riskmj at mcmaster.ca
   4. mailto:coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
   5. mailto:coral-list-bounces at coral..aoml
   6. http://noaa.gov/
   7. mailto:andrew at reefheart.com
   8. mailto:coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
   9. http://postimg.org/image/sgz4gh1sv/
  10. mailto:Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
  11. http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
  12. mailto:Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
  13. http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
  14. http://www.fit.edu/isrs/
  15. http://www.nature.com/news/hope-from-the-pope-1.17824?WT.ec_id=NATURE-20150625
  16. http://news.sciencemag.org/climate/2015/06/will-pope-francis-s-climate-message-break-through-where-others-have-failed?utm_campaign=email-news-latest&utm_src=email
  17. http://independent.academia.edu/DouglasFenner
  18. http://ocean.si.edu/blog/reefs-american-samoa-story-hope
  19. mailto:riskmj at mcmaster.ca


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