[Coral-List] Responding to Coral Bleaching

Fri Sep 18 15:40:53 EDT 2015

Austin,

I am simply responding to say I highly support this thread and your
outlined approach. I am glad you brought up the topic of "what can we do to
mitigate bleaching". I am looking forward to seeing some sort of
collaboration with other scientists, non-profit or local government
organizations to establish some standardized approach for COTS removal, and
for the scientific comparison of treatment and control groups.

Furthermore I want to champion your point which is: Every bleach-event
surviving coral head is a TREASURE, and must be treated as such. Even a
disparate reef with a few survivors is a gold mine for genetic resources
and must be genotyped, fragmented and cloned at in situ restoration sites.

Keep it up!

Best Regards,
Jeremy

On Wed, Sep 16, 2015 at 3:23 PM, Austin Bowden-Kerby <abowdenkerby at gmail.com
> wrote:

> Dear Friends,
>
> The reports of massive bleaching developing in both the Pacific and
> Caribbean are quite concerning to us all.   Is there nothing we can do but
> stand by and passively watch?  I propose an alternative approach.
>
> In Fiji, the massive bleaching event of 2000 killed 90% or more of the
> corals on some of our Southern Reefs. The few surviving unbleached corals
> provided hope that the reefs could adapt over time, however
> *Acanthaster *(COTS)
> subsequently killed most of these surviving corals on many of these reefs.
> The probable explanation is simple:  before the bleaching, COTS were in a
> state of low relative abundance, but once most of the corals were gone,
> their relative abundance with respect to the corals became extremely high
> and thus deadly for the surviving bleaching resistant corals, particularly
> their favored prey *Acropora* and *Pocillopora*.   In the Dominican
> Republic, we saw a similar post-bleaching scenario in 2005, but with
> *Coraliophila* snails and *Hermodice* fire worms as the predators.
>
> Might this be the ideal time to mobilize community groups to conduct major
> COTS removal programs in the Pacific- at least for reefs with high
> recreational value?   The alternative is for concerned people to stand by
> and watch in horror, as their precious reefs die of causes that (for the
> most part) they are powerless to control.   If COTS removal were done in a
> systematic manner, control reefs (without COTS removal) could be
> established for comparative purposes to get an indication of the relative
> effectiveness of COTS removal as a proactive climate change adaptation
> strategy for bleaching stressed reefs.
>
> A single COTS can kill a fist-sized coral every day, and that translates to
> massive amounts of corals consumed.  Every coral that survives this
> major                    bleaching event represents a genetic treasure
> vital for the future survival of coral reefs on the planet.  Now is the
> time to act, to ensure that these corals survive the post-bleaching
> predator plagues that can be expected nearly everywhere.
>
> I recently submitted a proposal to USAID PACCAM that was turned down, to
> assist Kiribati with their bleaching emergency.  The proposed strategy
> involved three components:  1. Protecting surviving (bleaching resistant)
> corals through a systematic coral predator removal program carried out on
> specific reef patches, 2. Collection of small fragments of surviving,
> non-bleached (heat-adapted) corals and establishment within coral nurseries
> secure from predation, and 3. At one year and beyond the nursery corals are
> trimmed to produce second-generation, bleaching resistant corals for
> out-planting into selected reef patches.
>
> Where possible, the bleaching resistant corals are planted into no-take
> Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), to take advantage of the greater ecological
> balance and lower abundance of coral predators there. Communities should be
> very much a part of this process, and should be engaged and mobilized. The
> result will be increased human resources involved in nurturing pockets of
> exceptional coral reef health that are composed of bleaching resistant
> corals that have a higher probability of surviving into the future.
>
> All the best,
>
> Austin
>
> Austin Bowden-Kerby, PhD
> Corals for Conservation
> P.O. Box 649 Samabula
> Fiji Islands
> abowdenkerby at gmail.com
> Facebook: Corals for Conservation
>
> On Thu, Sep 17, 2015 at 6:14 AM, Austin Bowden-Kerby <
> abowdenkerby at gmail.com
> > wrote:
>
> > Sorry, Gmail won't let me change the subject heading.
> >
> > Responding to Coral Bleaching
> >
> > Dear Friends,
> >
> > The reports of massive bleaching developing in both the Pacific and
> > Caribbean are quite concerning to us all.   Is there nothing we can do
> but
> > stand by and passively watch?  I propose and alternative approach.
> >
> > In Fiji, the massive bleaching event of 2000 killed 90% or more of the
> > corals on some of our Southern Reefs. The few surviving unbleached corals
> > provided hope that the reefs could adapt over time, however
> > *Acanthaster *(COTS) subsequently killed most of these surviving
> > corals on many of these reefs.  The probable explanation is simple:
> before
> > the bleaching, COTS were in a state of low relative abundance, but once
> > most of the corals were gone, their relative abundance became extremely
> > high and thus deadly for the surviving bleaching resistant corals,
> > particularly their favored prey *Acropora* and *Pocillopora*.   In the
> > Dominican Republic, we saw a similar post-bleaching scenario in 2005, but
> > with *Coraliophila* snails and *Hermodice* fire worms as the predators.
> >
> > Might this be the ideal time to mobilize community groups to conduct
> major
> > COTS removal programs in the Pacific- at least for reefs with high
> > recreational value?   The alternative is for concerned people to stand by
> > and watch in horror, as their precious reefs die of causes that (for the
> > most part) they are powerless to control.   If COTS removal were done in
> a
> > systematic manner, control reefs (without COTS removal) could be
> > established for comparative purposes.
> >
> > A single COTS can kill a fist-sized coral every day, and that translates
> > to massive amounts of corals consumed.  Every coral that survives this
> > massive bleaching event represents a genetic treasure vital for the
> future
> > survival of coral reefs on the planet.  Now I the time to act, to ensure
> > that these corals survive the post-bleaching predator plagues that can be
> > expected nearly everywhere.
> >
> > I recently submitted a proposal to USAID PACCAM that was turned down, to
> > assist Kiribati with their bleaching emergency.  The proposed strategy
> > involves three components:  1. Protecting surviving (bleaching resistant)
> > corals through a systematic coral predator removal program carried out on
> > specific reef patches, 2. Collection of small fragments of surviving,
> > non-bleached (heat-adapted) corals and establishment within coral
> nurseries
> > secure from predation, and 3. At one year and beyond the nursery corals
> > are trimmed to produce second-generation, bleaching resistant corals for
> > out-planting into selected reef patches. Where possible, the corals are
> > planted into no-take Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), to take advantage of
> > the greater ecological balance and lower abundance of coral predators
> > there. Communities should be very much a part of this process,
> > and should be engaged and mobilized. The result will be increased human
> > resources involved in nurturing pockets of exceptional coral reef health,
> > composed of corals that are bleaching resistant and that have a higher
> > probability of surviving into the future.
> >
> > All the best,
> >
> > Austin
> >
> > Austin Bowden-Kerby, PhD
> > Corals for Conservation
> > P.O. Box 649 Samabula
> > Fiji Islands
> > abowdenkerby at gmail.com
> > Facebook: Corals for Conservation
> >
> >
> >> Message: 3
> >> Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2015 06:10:56 -0400
> >> From: Shelly-Ann Cox <scox at cimh.edu.bb>
> >> Subject: [Coral-List] September Issue of the Caribbean Coral Reef
> >>         Watch   Bulletin Available!
> >> To: coralwatch at cimh.edu.bb
> >> Message-ID: <bc9ce0f518b1baf2af640c84d7756c25 at cimh.edu.bb>
> >> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed
> >>
> >> Dear Colleagues,
> >>
> >> We're pleased to announce the release of the latest issue of the Coral
> >> Reef Watch Bulletin.
> >>
> >> Notable observations include:
> >> - A strong El Ni?o has developed.
> >> - Alert level 1 issued for Central Bahamas and Northwest Cuba. Bleaching
> >> warnings issued for Belize, Turks and Caicos Islands and all the islands
> >> in the Greater and Lesser Antilles.
> >> - Reports of paling and disease outbreaks have begun in Florida. Partial
> >> bleaching signs observed in Mona Island, Puerto Rico.
> >>
> >> Read the full issue: http://bit.ly/CRW_Sept_Issue4
> >>
> >> Best wishes,
> >> Shelly-Ann
> >>
> >> --
> >> Shelly-Ann Cox
> >> Research Associate
> >> The Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH)
> >> Address: Husbands, St. James, Barbados
> >> Tel: 1(246)425-1362/3
> >> Fax: 1(246)424-4733
> >> Skype ID: shellyanncox
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
>
>
> --
> Austin Bowden-Kerby, PhD
> Corals for Conservation
> P.O. Box 4649 Samabula, Fiji Islands
> https://www.facebook.com/C4Conservation
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p009j6wb
>
> Sustainable Environmental Livelihoods Farm
> Km 20 Sigatoka Valley Road, Fiji Islands
> (679) 938-6437
>
> http://permacultureglobal.com/projects/1759-sustainable-environmental-livelihoods-farm-Fiji
> https://www.facebook.com/teiteifarmstay
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