[Coral-List] Toward a New Era of Coral Reef Monitoring

Fri Apr 21 18:46:08 UTC 2023

Jianna,

I found this TED talk by Kai uplifting, and something we need to hear 
just that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bH9Jk7sdJdA

Tom

On 2023-04-19 5:39 pm, jianna wankel via Coral-List wrote:
> "Everyone is focusing on restoration but corals will never thrive in
> polluted water."
> This stood out to me... The coral isn't the problem. It is the water. 
> We
> should be working on *water* restoration. It feels very hopeless. What 
> can
> I do as a young scientist?
> 
> Jianna
> 
> On Wed, Apr 19, 2023 at 10:23 AM Douglas Fenner via Coral-List <
> coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:
> 
>> Phil,
>>      THANK YOU!!!  You hit the nail on the head.  Scientists and 
>> agencies
>> want to get attention and funding, and the way to do that is with 
>> shinny
>> toys.  Preferably expensive.  In other words, technology.  But the 
>> things
>> that must be changed to save reefs require hard work with humans that 
>> don't
>> want to change the things they are doing that are destroying the 
>> reefs.
>> The big exception is probably global warming, where big technology, 
>> not
>> having to do with coral reefs is needed to make the changes.  Things 
>> like
>> renewable energy, electric cars, etc.
>> Cheers, Doug
>> 
>> On Tue, Apr 18, 2023 at 4:59 AM Phillip Dustan via Coral-List <
>> coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:
>> 
>> > Hi Amy,
>> >  Your team is organizing an amazing array of instrumentation to dial in
>> > coral reef condition. The real question is what is going to be done
>> about a
>> > degrading reef when it is revealed.
>> > In general, when people hear that a reef is being monitored they think
>> some
>> > remedial action will be triggered to "fix the problem".
>> > As valuable as reefs are to humankind you'd think this might be the case
>> > but in fact, history shows it has not been.
>> > Take the Florida Keys for example. This reef system has been under attack
>> > by humans for at least 100 years.
>> > John Pennekamp's work got a small section of Key Largo "protected" which
>> > resulted in hoards of divers dissenting upon the reefs.
>> > In the 1970's thousands of anchors were ravaging the reefs and it took
>> the
>> > work of individuals to create serviceable moorings buoys.
>> > The creation of a Marine Sanctuary increased business.
>> > But we all knew it was the increasing sewage that was causing the major
>> > problems but
>> > Then the major herbivores dropped out and the weeds, fertilized by
>> sewage,
>> > began to over grow the reef.
>> > Individual people started monitoring in the 70's and a Keyswide
>> monitoring
>> > system was put in place in the mid 1990's
>> > The investigators measured a 38 percent loss of coral cover and 400%
>> > increase in stations with disease in 4 calendar years.
>> > Coral cover on reefs where monitoring had begun in the 1970's was
>> showing a
>> > 90%+ loss in coral cover.
>> > Business continued to BOOM and the reefs continued to die.
>> > Now the loss is blamed on climate change whereas, truth be told, most of
>> > the death happened before climate change began to be a factor.
>> > The sewer system that was installed is a failure because fresh wastewater
>> > is buoyant.
>> > New diseases are so virulent the corals must be placed in rescue aquaria
>> > away from the reef.
>> > Everyone is focusing on restoration but corals will never thrive in
>> > polluted water.
>> > A few years ago I was visiting DIscovery Bay where I had worked years
>> > before.
>> > ( see https://biospherefoundation.org/project/coral-reef-change/)
>> > I told Leslie I was interested in how the reef had changed and he said,
>> > "Phil, you don't have to dive to see the reef is dying, just look out and
>> > see it's dark brown when it used to be golden".
>> > So while we can build better gizzies to follow the dying reefs in ever
>> > greater detail, unless we generate the political will to act it is all in
>> > vain.
>> > Maybe we should spend our energies and ever decreasing budgets on
>> altering
>> > human behaviors instead of building newer, faster, better resolving
>> > platforms to watch the war in ever greater detail.
>> > Most nations do not have the resources of a Wood's Hole or Scripps
>> > Institute of Oceanography, or the need for nextgen monitoring platforms.
>> > They need help with food, healthcare, sewage treatment, and education.
>> > My friends and colleagues know I love technology and was one of the first
>> > to monitor coral reefs using lines,video, and even satellites, but this
>> is
>> > not going to help the reefs anymore.
>> > They are way past needing monitoring.
>> > They need simple help: clean water, reduced pollution, reduced fishing
>> > pressure, less tourists, and a cooler, higher pH ocean.
>> > So congrats on developing a nexgen monitoring system but you may be
>> wasting
>> > your energy on something that is necessarily over complex and will not
>> > accomplish what is needed.
>> > Simply put, the very adaptations that have enabled coral reefs to thrive
>> in
>> > the clear, nutrient poor tropical seas makes them vulnerable to human
>> > activities.
>> > They are complex processes operating at levels of ecological efficiency
>> > humans should strive to emulate- That would be true  sustainability!
>> > But, sadly, coral reefs will probably not thrive again until humans are
>> > gone.
>> > Phil
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > Leslie, the retire gardener and I were sitting in the
>> > breezeway reliving old times
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > On Sat, Apr 15, 2023 at 9:19 AM Amy Apprill via Coral-List <
>> > coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:
>> >
>> > > Hello Coral List,
>> > >
>> > > Our team is pleased to share a new open-access perspective paper titled
>> > > ‘Towards a New Era of Coral Reef Monitoring’ published in Environmental
>> > > Science & Technology (2023, 57, 5117-5124).
>> > >
>> > > Link: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acs.est.2c05369
>> > >
>> > > Abstract: Coral reefs host some of the highest concentrations of
>> > > biodiversity and economic value in the oceans, yet these ecosystems are
>> > > under threat due to climate change and other human impacts. Reef
>> > monitoring
>> > > is routinely used to help
>> > > prioritize reefs for conservation and evaluate the success of
>> > intervention
>> > > efforts. Reef status and health are most frequently characterized using
>> > > diver-based surveys, but the inherent limitations of these methods mean
>> > > there is a growing need for
>> > > advanced, standardized, and automated reef techniques that capture the
>> > > complex nature of the ecosystem. Here we draw on experiences from our
>> own
>> > > interdisciplinary research programs to describe advances in in situ
>> > > diver-based and autonomous reef monitoring. We present our vision for
>> > > integrating interdisciplinary measurements for select “case-study”
>> reefs
>> > > worldwide and for
>> > > learning patterns within the biological, physical, and chemical reef
>> > > components and their interactions. Ultimately, these efforts could
>> > support
>> > > the development of a scalable and standardized suite of sensors that
>> > > capture and relay key data to assist in categorizing reef health. This
>> > > framework has the potential to provide stakeholders with the
>> information
>> > > necessary to assess reef health during an unprecedented time of reef
>> > change
>> > > as well as restoration and intervention activities.
>> > >
>> > > Best wishes,
>> > > Amy Apprill, Yogesh Girdhar, T. Aran Mooney, Colleen M. Hansel, Matthew
>> > H.
>> > > Long, Yaqin Liu, W. Gordon Zhang, Jason Kapit, Konrad Hughen, Jeff
>> > Coogan,
>> > > and Austin Green
>> > > Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > _______________________________________________
>> > > Coral-List mailing list
>> > > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
>> > > https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
>> > >
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > Phillip Dustan PhD
>> > Charleston SC  29424
>> > 843-953-8086 office
>> > 843-224-3321 (mobile)
>> >
>> > "When we try to pick out anything by itself
>> > we find that it is bound fast by a thousand invisible cords
>> > that cannot be broken, to everything in the universe. "
>> > *                                         John Muir 1869*
>> >
>> > *A Swim Through TIme on Carysfort Reef*
>> > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCPJE7UE6sA
>> > *Raja Ampat Sustainability Project video*
>> >
>> >
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RR2SazW_VY&fbclid=IwAR09oZkEk8wQkK6LN3XzVGPgAWSujACyUfe2Ist__nYxRRSkDE_jAYqkJ7A
>> > *Bali Coral Bleaching 2016 video*
>> >
>> > *https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxOfLTnPSUo
>> > <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxOfLTnPSUo>*
>> > TEDx Charleston on saving coral reefs
>> > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwENBNrfKj4
>> > Google Scholar Citations:
>> > https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=HCwfXZ0AAAAJ
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Coral-List mailing list
>> > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
>> > https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
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