From reefkeeper at earthlink.net Fri Aug 1 13:04:38 1997 From: reefkeeper at earthlink.net (Alexander Stone) Date: Fri, 01 Aug 1997 12:04:38 -0500 Subject: Puerto Rico research & monitoring Message-ID: <33E21749.6758@earthlink.net> Dear coral list subscribers: We are currently conducting quarterly coral reef monitoring surveys at selected Puerto Rico sites off La Parguera, Desecheo Island, and Punta Borinquen. It's likely we'll be adding other areas. We would like to hear from any one who is conducting, has conducted, or is planning to conduct any type of bottom cover survey activities in reef areas anywhere in Puerto Rico. Let us know who you are so we can communicate directly with you. Many thanks! Alexander Stone President ReefKeeper International From dbaker at tm.net.my Sun Aug 3 22:07:07 1997 From: dbaker at tm.net.my (Don E Baker) Date: Mon, 04 Aug 1997 10:07:07 +0800 Subject: Reef Health Indicator Species Message-ID: <33E5394B.1B27@tm.net.my> Dear CoralList, Can anyone give me a list and perhaps ref papers on various indicators species for reef health? Soft corals seem to be a type of indicator? Successful settlemt of certain types of hard corals may also be indicative of a reef's ability to adapt to water clarity and conditions? Any other species that would indicate reef adaptation to man-induced environmental changes - or reef degradation? R&D aspects currently underway and on-going field studies are also applicable and of interest to me. Please reply to my email address. Many thanks. Be advised that I have not received much return input concerning "accceptable" water quality parameters on waste loads on reefs from human developmt...= hence more research is needed in this subject? Cheers from Borneo, Don Baker From acohen at whoi.edu Tue Aug 5 10:13:45 1997 From: acohen at whoi.edu (Anne Cohen) Date: Tue, 05 Aug 1997 07:13:45 -0700 Subject: Growth rates of Atlantic Gorgonians Message-ID: <33E73519.1370@whoi.edu> Hello- Since my request for info about growth rates of Atlantic gorgonians, a number of you have asked me to share what I find. There doesn't seem to be much out there, but the following two refs were most useful: Yoshioka, P.M. and Yoshioka, B.B. 1991. A comparison of the survivorship and growth of shallow-water gorgonian species of Puerto Rico. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 69:253-260 Sterrer, Wolfgang. 1986. Marine flora and fauna of Bermuda. Wiley, Interscience Also, Don McAllister drew my attention to a "Bibliography of Octocorallia from Pliny to Present" on gopher://nmnhgoph.si.edu:70/00/.docs/octobib/about thanks for your help Anne ******************************************************************* Dr Anne L. Cohen Dept. Geology and Geophysics Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Woods Hole MA 02543 acohen at whoi.edu tel: (508) 289 2958 fax: (508) 289 2183 From Tom_Schmidt at nps.gov Tue Aug 5 10:55:58 1997 From: Tom_Schmidt at nps.gov (Tom Schmidt) Date: Tue, 5 Aug 1997 10:55:58 -0400 Subject: Growth rates of Atlantic Gorgonians Message-ID: <0001C590.1235@nps.gov> Anne, Since you requested any information on the Atlantic gorgonians, I came across in my Tortugas bibliography a 1914 article by L.R. Cary entitled "Observations upon the growth-rate and ecology of gorgonians" published by the Carnegie Institution of Washington (Publication Number 182), Papers Tortugas Laboratory 5:79-90 which provides a 3-yr record of growth for Gorgonia flabellum and Plexaura flexuosa on the reefs of Dry Tortugas Florida. Tom Schmidt Marine Biologist Everglades National Park, Dry Tortugas National Park 40001 SR 9336 Homestead, FL 33034 ______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________ Subject: Growth rates of Atlantic Gorgonians Author: acohen at whoi.edu (Anne Cohen) at NP--INTERNET Date: 8/5/97 7:13 AM Hello- Since my request for info about growth rates of Atlantic gorgonians, a number of you have asked me to share what I find. There doesn't seem to be much out there, but the following two refs were most useful: Yoshioka, P.M. and Yoshioka, B.B. 1991. A comparison of the survivorship and growth of shallow-water gorgonian species of Puerto Rico. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 69:253-260 Sterrer, Wolfgang. 1986. Marine flora and fauna of Bermuda. Wiley, Interscience Also, Don McAllister drew my attention to a "Bibliography of Octocorallia from Pliny to Present" on gopher://nmnhgoph.si.edu:70/00/.docs/octobib/about thanks for your help Anne ******************************************************************* Dr Anne L. Cohen Dept. Geology and Geophysics Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Woods Hole MA 02543 acohen at whoi.edu tel: (508) 289 2958 fax: (508) 289 2183 From garsal at mar.icmyl.unam.mx Tue Aug 5 12:36:39 1997 From: garsal at mar.icmyl.unam.mx (Garcia Salgado Miguel) Date: Tue, 5 Aug 1997 10:36:39 -0600 (CST) Subject: Boats in Reef's Areas Message-ID: Hi Could any body bring me information about what kind of boats are well recomended for use in this areas and what kind of control must be applied for these boats. It can be useful any reference or comentary. Thanks for your time. Greetings. Miguel Garcia Salgado Marine Sciences and Limnology Institute, UNAM Mexico. Hola Coasneter. Necesito informacion sobre el tipo de embarcaciones mas recomendables para areas arrecifales de interes turistico, como Cancun, Cozumel etc, tipo de calado, tama?o, en general caracteristicas que puedan aminorar el impacto a los arrecifes, estas embarcaciones se utilizaran para buceo, snorkel, y recorridos turisticos en general. Cualquier tipo de ayuda y cometarios sera muy util. Gracias Miguel A. Garcia Salgado garsal at mar.icmyl.unam.mx Laboratorio de Ecologia Costera Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnologia Universidad Nacional Autonoma de mexico From coral at aoml.noaa.gov Tue Aug 5 12:15:58 1997 From: coral at aoml.noaa.gov (Coral Health and Monitoring Program) Date: Tue, 5 Aug 1997 12:15:58 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Symposium on Marine Conservation Biology Message-ID: The following message is from the ECOLOG-L listserver, and has relevance to the coral-list listserver. There are two parts: a description of the symposium, and a "Troubled Waters" statement. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 31 Jul 1997 10:24:19 -0800 From: Aaron B Tinker Subject: Symposium on Marine Conservation Biology (sorry for any cross-postings) THE FIRST SYMPOSIUM ON MARINE CONSERVATION BIOLOGY LAUNCHES NEW SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINE After the successful completion of the first Symposium on Marine Conservation Biology, I'd like to share some observations for those who couldn't attend what one participant called "the Woodstock" of marine conservation biology. Held at the Society for Conservation Biology's Annual Meeting at the University of Victoria in Victoria, British Columbia, June 4-6, and organized by Elliott Norse, President of Marine Conservation Biology Institute (MCBI), this Symposium represented the largest gathering of scientific presentations on marine conservation biology ever assembled. Among the presenters and 1000-plus attendees from at least 30 nations were premier marine scientists including Bob Paine, Paul Dayton, John Ogden, Steve Palumbi, Tundi Agardy, Jon Lien, Jeff Levinton, Dick Strathmann, Stuart Pimm and other stars of marine sciences. A round of applause is in order for the Society for Conservation Biology (SCB) for recognizing the need to expand conservation biology research into the marine realm, and strengthening its commitment to making marine conservation a significant part of its focus (including its heightened interest in publishing manuscripts on marine topics in its superb journal Conservation Biology). Although this meeting served as the inaugural event for the new discipline of marine conservation biology, the hundreds of papers presented demonstrate that marine conservation biologists have already been looking at crucial marine conservation questions ranging from the value of marine protected areas to the impacts of harmful algal blooms. While previous SCB annual meetings have held only two sessions of talks on marine species and ecosystems, this meeting had 44 marine sessions on a wide range of marine topics, among them alien species, declining fisheries, conservation of coral reefs and coastal ecosystems, conservation of cetaceans, and genetics and conservation of marine organisms. The meeting began with a stirring Keynote call to action by marine ecologist Jane Lubchenco and ended with a sobering Plenary by marine paleoecologist Jeremy Jackson. Two central themes emerged from all of the presentations, panel discussions, speeches, and conversations. The first is that fishing is the greatest threat to marine ecosystems today. The second is the need for a dramatic increase in the number and effectiveness of marine protected areas - including more areas with no take zones to allow populations and habitats to recover from fishing pressures. This seems consistent with recent calls by Jane Lubchenco, Past President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and others, that 20% of the world's marine waters be included in marine reserves by the year 2020 -- a bold figure politically, given the minuscule percent of the sea currently protected and the weakness of many protections in these areas. Still, there were many marine conservation biologists claiming that this would not be enough if we want to sustain fisheries and protect marine biodiversity. To express their concern about the decline of marine ecosystems and the urgent need for citizen and government action to conserve them, over 400 scientists signed onto "Troubled Waters: A Call for Action" which will be released to the media after more have had a chance to sign on. MCBI urges all concerned scientists to read this statement and sign on by contacting me at MCBI's Redmond WA office via email at . The statement will be appearing on this listserver [e.g., ECOLOG-L], and also can be read at MCBI's web page (http://www.mcbi.org). ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 31 Jul 1997 10:24:30 -0800 From: Aaron B Tinker Subject: Troubled Waters Statement (sorry for any cross-postings) SCIENTISTS URGE DRAMATIC STRENGTHENING OF MARINE CONSERVATION EFFORTS When scientists speak with one voice, the media, the public and decision makers pay attention. The time is now ripe for scientists to make a public statement on threats to marine biodiversity and the need for action to conserve it. The following statement was drafted and sent to prominent scientists who offered many improvements and signed on. Marine Conservation Biology Institute is now circulating the statement for signatures to marine scientists and conservation biologists (senior scientists and scientists-in-training as well); upon gaining enough signatures, the statement will be released to the media. More than 400 marine scientists and conservation biologists have already signed (partial list follows the statement). Timing is very important in this effort, so please respond by email as soon as possible, and please include your NAME, TITLE, and AFFILIATION. A copy of the statement is also available from our website at http://www.mcbi.org - to sign, please send me an email (Aaron Tinker, MCBI Program Assistant - atinker at accessone.com). TROUBLED WATERS: A CALL FOR ACTION We, the undersigned marine scientists and conservation biologists, call upon the world's citizens and governments to recognize that the living sea is in trouble and to take decisive action. We must act quickly to stop further severe, irreversible damage to the sea's biological diversity and integrity. Marine ecosystems are home to many phyla that live nowhere else. As vital components of our planet's life support systems, they protect shorelines from flooding, break down wastes, moderate climate and maintain a breathable atmosphere. Marine species provide a livelihood for millions of people, food, medicines, raw materials and recreation for billions, and are intrinsically important. Life in the world's estuaries, coastal waters, enclosed seas and oceans is increasingly threatened by: 1) overexploitation of species, 2) physical alteration of ecosystems, 3) pollution, 4) introduction of alien species, and 5) global atmospheric change. Scientists have documented the extinction of marine species, disappearance of ecosystems and loss of resources worth billions of dollars. Overfishing has eliminated all but a handful of California's white abalones. Swordfish fisheries have collapsed as more boats armed with better technology chase ever fewer fish. Northern right whales have not recovered six decades after their exploitation supposedly ceased. Steller sea lion populations have dwindled as fishing for their food has intensified. Cyanide and dynamite fishing are destroying the world's richest coral reefs. Bottom trawling is scouring continental shelf seabeds from the poles to the tropics. Mangrove forests are vanishing. Logging and farming on hillsides are exposing soils to rains that wash silt into the sea, killing kelps and reef corals. Nutrients from sewage and toxic chemicals from industry are overnourishing and poisoning estuaries, coastal waters and enclosed seas. Millions of seabirds have been oiled, drowned by longlines, and deprived of nesting beaches by development and nest-robbing cats and rats. Alien species introduced intentionally or as stowaways in ships' ballast tanks have become dominant species in marine ecosystems around the world. Reef corals are succumbing to diseases or undergoing mass bleaching in many places. There is no doubt that the sea's biological diversity and integrity are in trouble. To reverse this trend and avert even more widespread harm to marine species and ecosystems, we urge citizens and governments worldwide to take the following five steps: 1. Identify and provide effective protection to all populations of marine species that are significantly depleted or declining, take all measures necessary to allow their recovery, minimize bycatch, end all subsidies that encourage overfishing and ensure that use of marine species is sustainable in perpetuity. 2. Increase the number and effectiveness of marine protected areas so that 20% of Exclusive Economic Zones and the High Seas are protected from threats by the Year 2020. 3. Ameliorate or stop fishing methods that undermine sustainability by harming the habitats of economically valuable marine species and the species they use for food and shelter. 4. Stop physical alteration of terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems that harms the sea, minimize pollution discharged at sea or entering the sea from the land, curtail introduction of alien marine species and prevent further atmospheric changes that threaten marine species and ecosystems. 5. Provide sufficient resources to encourage natural and social scientists to undertake marine conservation biology research needed to protect, restore and sustainably use life in the sea. Nothing happening on Earth threatens our security more than the destruction of our living systems. The situation is so serious that leaders and citizens cannot afford to wait even a decade to make major progress toward these goals. To maintain, restore and sustainably use the sea's biological diversity and the essential products and services that it provides, we must act now. **end of statement** A few of the over 400 endorsements gathered include: Jane Lubchenco, Michael Soule, Jim Carlton, Sylvia Earle, Jon Lien, Elliott Norse, Robert Paine, Winston Ponder, Stephen Palumbi, Carl Safina, Paul Dayton, Gary Meffe, John Ogden, Jeff McNeely, Victorin Mallet, Judith and Fred Grassle, George Rabb, Jeff Levinton, Les Watling, Liana and John McManus, Dee Boersma, Les Kaufman, Bruce Robison, Dennis Murphy, Paul Ehrlich, Elizabeth Flint, Julia Parrish, Richard Brusca, Don McAllister, Rod Fujita, Cheryl Ann Butman, Gary Davis, John Terborgh, Ed Bowlby, Joshua Sladek Nowlis, Michelle Paddack, Callum Roberts, Anson Hines, Chris Glass, Monte Hummel, JoAnn Burkholder, Andrew Cohen, Jeremy Jackson, Yuvenaly Zaitsev, Sabine Jessen, Deborah Crouse, Jack Sobel, Robert Spies, Katherine Ralls, Larry Dill, Judith Weis, Nancy Turner, Peter Auster, Michelle Wood, Timothy Werner, Stuart Pimm, Bruce Menge, Marjorie Reaka-Kudla, Bruce Leighty, David Schindler, Jack Williams, Devra Kleiman, Richard Harbison, Shao Kwang-Tsao, Tundi Agardy and many others. ------------------------------ From coral at aoml.noaa.gov Tue Aug 5 12:42:25 1997 From: coral at aoml.noaa.gov (Coral Health and Monitoring Program) Date: Tue, 5 Aug 1997 12:42:25 -0400 (EDT) Subject: "Coral Reef Conservation Act of 1997" Message-ID: Coral-listers may be interested in the text of the recently (July 23, 1997) introduced bill (H.R. 2233) to the U.S. House of Representatives, short-titled "Coral Reef Conservation Act of 1997". The Web URL is: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c105:H.R.2233: From acohen at whoi.edu Thu Aug 7 20:28:19 1997 From: acohen at whoi.edu (Anne Cohen) Date: Thu, 07 Aug 1997 17:28:19 -0700 Subject: more gorgonian growth rates Message-ID: <33EA6823.3B25@whoi.edu> Hello - more references to research on gorgonian growth rates have come to my attention via the coral-list. There seems to be substantial interest in this topic, so here's a summary: Mitchell, N.D., M.R. Dardeau and w.w. Schroeder. 1993. Colony morphology, age structure and relative growth of two gorgonian corals, Leptogorgia hebes and Leptogorgia virgulata, from the northern Gulf of Mexico. Coral Reefs 12: 65-70. West, J.M., C.D. Harvell and A.M. Walls. 1993. Morphological plasticity in a gorgonian coral (Briareum asbestinum) over a depth cline. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 94: 61-69. Jordan, E. and R Nugent. 1978. Evaluaci?n poblacionad de Plexaura homomalla en la costa Noreste de la Pen?nsula de Yucat?n. An. Inst. Cienc. Mar. Limnol. Univ. Nal. Auton. Mexico. 5: 189-200. Cary L.R. 1914. Observations upon the growth-rate and oecology of gorgonians. Carnegie Inst. Wash. Pub. 182: 79-99. (About Gorgonia flabellum and Plexaura flexuosa). Hinman, J.W. 1973. Studies of experimental harvesting and regrowth of Plexaura homomalla in Gran Cayman Waters. Reprint of the Offshore Technology Conference. Moreno, O., M. Merino y D.E. Jordan. 1982. Estimacion de la edad de un organismo colonial Plexaura homomalla (Esper) (Octocorallia: Plexauridae). An. Inst. Ciencias del Mary Limnol. UNAM 9(1): 345-358. Kiho Kim (kk60 at cornell.edu) recently published on growth rates of transplanted colony fragments in Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 1997, 215: 49-64 many thanks - Anne ******************************************************************* Dr Anne L. Cohen Dept. Geology and Geophysics Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Woods Hole MA 02543 acohen at whoi.edu tel: (508) 289 2958 fax: (508) 289 2183 From coral at aoml.noaa.gov Fri Aug 8 09:50:00 1997 From: coral at aoml.noaa.gov (Coral Health and Monitoring Program) Date: Fri, 8 Aug 1997 09:50:00 -0400 (EDT) Subject: "Suspend" Message-ID: Dear Coral-Listers, Please be advised that the majordomo listserver software, as we have implemented it, does not have a "suspend" command. If you wish to temporarily discontinue receiving messages, you must unsubscribe, then subscribe again later, as described in the attached original Welcome Message, which you should all have received upon subscribing. Also please note that messages for subscribing and unsubscribing must go to: majordomo at coral.aoml.noaa.gov and NOT to coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov; otherwise, your "unsubscribe" or "subscribe" message will go to all 714 members of the list. Thank you so much for your attention, patience and cooperation. Aloha, Jim Hendee coral-list administrator -------------- next part -------------- Welcome to the Coral Health and Monitoring List-Server! The purpose of the Coral Health and Monitoring list-server is to provide a forum for Internet discussions and announcements among coral health researchers pertaining to coral reef health and monitoring throughout the world. The list is primarily for use by coral health researchers and scientists. Currently, about 800 researchers are subscribed to the list. 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Al Gore) Title: Institution: (or N/A) Address Line 1: Address Line 2: Address Line 3: City: State or Province: Country: Business Phone: Business Fax: E-mail: Other info: (Add up to, say, 20 lines, if you'd like.) -- Etiquette -- 1) When responding to a posting to the list, do not respond *back* to the entire list unless you feel it is an answer everyone can benefit from. I think this is usually the case, but responses such as, "Yeah, tell me, too!" to the entire list will make you unpopular in a hurry. Double-check your "To: " line before sending. 2) Do not "flame" (i.e., scold) colleagues via the coral-list. If you feel compelled to chastise someone, please send them mail directly and flame away. 3) Please conduct as much preliminary research into a topic as possible before posting a query to the list. (In other words, you shouldn't expect others to do your research for you.) Please consider: o Your librarian (an extremely valuable resource) o The CHAMP Literature Abstracts area at the CHAMP Web: o The CHAMP Online Researcher's Directory (i.e., search for your topic, ask the experts directly) o The CHAMP (and other) Web sites' links page(s) But please *do* avail yourself of the list when you've exhausted other sources. 4) Please carefully consider the purpose of the coral-list before posting a message. This is a forum comprised primarily of researchers who devote major portions of their work time to the study of corals or coral-related issues. 5) Succinct postings are greatly appreciated by all. -- Problems -- If you have any problems concerning the list, please feel free to drop a line to: hendee at aoml.noaa.gov. We hope you enjoy the list! Sincerely yours, Jim Hendee Louis Florit Philippe Dubosq Ocean Chemistry Division Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 4301 Rickenbacker Causeway Miami, FL 33149-1026 USA From hreyes at calafia.uabcs.mx Fri Aug 8 10:09:42 1997 From: hreyes at calafia.uabcs.mx (Hector Reyes Bonilla) Date: Fri, 8 Aug 1997 09:09:42 -0500 (CDT) Subject: Returned mail: Host unknown (fwd) Message-ID: From: Hector Reyes Bonilla Subject: Bleaching in mexico Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Dear list-suscribers: I would like to know if any of you have noticed, or heard, about coral bleaching in the Pacific coast of America (especially Mexico) in the last months. We have noticed the beginnings of what seems to be a future and serious bleaching in three localities near the mouth of the Gulf of California, and want to follow this problem in detail. Thanks in advance for any comment. Hector Reyes UABCS, Depto. Biologia Marina La Paz, BCS, Mexico. From bcausey at ocean.nos.noaa.gov Fri Aug 8 11:31:49 1997 From: bcausey at ocean.nos.noaa.gov (Causey, B.) Date: 8 Aug 1997 10:31:49 -0500 Subject: Coral Bleaching in the Keys Message-ID: Greetings to Coral Listers: I apologize up front for a widely broadcasted message, but the problem we have observed may become wide spread in geographical scope. While diving in the inshore waters of the Florida Keys over the past two days (August 6 & 7), I have observed scattered bleaching of many species of head corals. Some of the colonies are partially bleached while others are extremely mottled or blotched. Small colonies are often entirely bleached. The inshore water temperature is very warm..... and we will be reporting the exact temperatures at a later posting. Additionally, I just got off the telephone with Captain Bill Wickers, a past member of our Sanctuary Advisory Council and a local native (Conch), who reported extensive bleaching to large coral heads in the Gulf of Mexico area of the Keys. He was diving in Boca Grande Channel, between Boca Grande Key and the Marquesas Keys, to the north or on the Gulf side of the Keys in the channel. He observed large coral heads that were bleached to varying degrees. He said the small colonies were completely bleached and the larger colonies varied from mottled to heavily bleached. He said the problem is wide spread in the area. Captain Wickers is a reliable source of information and an excellent source for personal observations. I will keep you posted as new observations are recorded. Billy Billy Causey, Sanctuary Superintendent Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary P.O. Box 500368 Marathon, FL 33050 305.743.2437 305.743.2357 fax From coral at aoml.noaa.gov Fri Aug 8 12:20:08 1997 From: coral at aoml.noaa.gov (Coral Health and Monitoring Program) Date: Fri, 8 Aug 1997 12:20:08 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Bleaching & spawning archives Message-ID: Greetings Coral-Listers, This is just a reminder that bleaching and spawning notices which are circulated to the list are also saved at our archival sites: Bleaching: ftp://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/pub/champ/bleach/ Spawns: ftp://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/pub/champ/spawns/ The format of the files is such that a "b" at the beginning of the filename denotes a bleaching record, or an "s" for spawns, with the remaining numbers representing approximate year, month and date (e.g., YYMMDD). If two records occur on the same day, a letter may be found at the end of the filename (e.g., b970808b.dat designates the 2nd report on this date, August 8, 1997). I encourage you to report any witnessing of these events (both types of which appear to be upon us in Florida, at this time), as the compilation should prove valuable to researchers in the future. If at all possible, please also include any records you may have which reflect existing environmental conditions up to and at the time of the events (e.g., temperature, salinity, moon phase, tide, species name(s), etc.) Thank you very much. Cheers, JCH From strong at nadn.navy.mil Fri Aug 8 19:03:40 1997 From: strong at nadn.navy.mil (Prof Alan E Strong) Date: Fri, 8 Aug 1997 19:03:40 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Returned mail: Host unknown (fwd) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Hector, As has been reported from Flordia and now the region off the Sea of Cortez...bleaching from high SSTs. Tuesday we had noted from the HotSpot product, being produced experimentally by NOAA/NESDIS from satellite data, exceptionally high sea surface temperatures...possibly being augmented by the incredible El Nino in the eastern tropical Pacific...might be causing some bleaching along the Mexican coast near Baja, etc. You can link to the site [at home, so do not have Hotspot URL committed to memory...yet!..sorry: http://wesley.wwb.noaa.gov/eileen/orad/const1.html thru "experimental Products" and "coral reefs" to the "New Coral Reef Hotspot" product. Let us know if the areas affected coincide with the yellow/orange regions depicted on this week's chart...updates on Tuesday/Saturday. Thanks, Al Strong **** <>< ******* <>< ******* <>< ******* <>< ******* <>< ******* <>< ***** Alan E. Strong Phys Scientist/Oceanographer Adj Assoc Professor NOAA/NESDIS/ORA/ORAD -- E/RA3 US Naval Academy NOAA Science Center -- RM 711H Oceanography Department -- US Postal Service -- -- UPS/FedEx -- Annapolis, MD 21402 4700 Silver Hill Road 5200 Auth Road 410-293-6566[V-mail] Stop 9910 Camp Springs, MD 20746 410-293-2137 [FAX] Washington, DC 20233-9910 strong at nadn.navy.mil Alan.E.Strong at noaa.gov 301-763-8102 FAX: 301-763-8108 On Fri, 8 Aug 1997, Hector Reyes Bonilla wrote: > > From: Hector Reyes Bonilla > Subject: Bleaching in mexico > Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII > > Dear list-suscribers: > I would like to know if any of you have noticed, or heard, about > coral bleaching in the Pacific coast of America (especially Mexico) in > the last months. We have noticed the beginnings of what seems to be a > future and serious bleaching in three localities near the mouth of > the Gulf of California, and want to follow this problem in detail. > Thanks in advance for any comment. > > Hector Reyes > UABCS, Depto. Biologia Marina > La Paz, BCS, Mexico. > > From strong at nadn.navy.mil Fri Aug 8 18:53:59 1997 From: strong at nadn.navy.mil (Prof Alan E Strong) Date: Fri, 8 Aug 1997 18:53:59 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Coral Bleaching in the Keys In-Reply-To: Message-ID: I am not surprised to hear of bleaching in the Keys....we just announced from observations on our NOAA/NESDIS HotSpot product that extremely high temps [SSTs] were developing this past week...possibly over some of the Bahamas as well. You can link to this experimental product from URL below: **** <>< ******* <>< ******* <>< ******* <>< ******* <>< ******* <>< ***** http://wesley.wwb.noaa.gov/eileen/orad/const1.html Thru experimental products...and coral reefs... Let us know what you think....the next update is 8/9/97 [Sat] Cheers, Al Strong NOAA/NESDIS/ORA/ORAD & US Naval Academy On 8 Aug 1997, Causey, B. wrote: > Greetings to Coral Listers: > > I apologize up front for a widely broadcasted message, but the problem we have > observed may become wide spread in geographical scope. > > While diving in the inshore waters of the Florida Keys over the past two days > (August 6 & 7), I have observed scattered bleaching of many species of head > corals. Some of the colonies are partially bleached while others are > extremely mottled or blotched. Small colonies are often entirely bleached. > The inshore water temperature is very warm..... and we will be reporting the > exact temperatures at a later posting. > > Additionally, I just got off the telephone with Captain Bill Wickers, a past > member of our Sanctuary Advisory Council and a local native (Conch), who > reported extensive bleaching to large coral heads in the Gulf of Mexico area > of the Keys. He was diving in Boca Grande Channel, between Boca Grande Key > and the Marquesas Keys, to the north or on the Gulf side of the Keys in the > channel. He observed large coral heads that were bleached to varying degrees. > He said the small colonies were completely bleached and the larger colonies > varied from mottled to heavily bleached. He said the problem is wide spread > in the area. Captain Wickers is a reliable source of information and an > excellent source for personal observations. > > I will keep you posted as new observations are recorded. Billy > > Billy Causey, Sanctuary Superintendent > Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary > P.O. Box 500368 > Marathon, FL 33050 > 305.743.2437 > 305.743.2357 fax > From C.Wilkinson at aims.gov.au Sun Aug 10 02:43:38 1997 From: C.Wilkinson at aims.gov.au (Clive Wilkinson) Date: Sun, 10 Aug 1997 16:43:38 +1000 Subject: Survey Manual reprinted Message-ID: <2.2.32.19970810064338.006d0d58@email.aims.gov.au> Announcement of reprinting of the Survey Manual for Tropical Marine Resources, 2nd Edition, eds English, S., Wilkinson, C. & Baker, V. Published by Australian Institute of Marine Science, July 1997 (a non-profit advertisement). The Survey Manual has been reprinted by AIMS as a contribution to the monitoring of coral reefs, mangrove forests, seagrass beds and soft sediment communities around the world. The coral reef methods in an earlier version of this Survey Manual were selected in 1992 as the basis for reef monitoring under IOC-UNEP-IUCN Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, but not the exclusive methods. The Survey Manual developed out an Australian aid project combining the expertise of scientists from Southeast Asia and AIMS over 10 years, starting in 1984. There are 12 year data archives from South East Asia, parts of the Pacific and Indian Oceans using these methods. The GCRMN has recommended the use of the manta tow, line intercept transect using lifeform categories and visual fish census methods (or equivalent methods) as the baseline for global monitoring. The Survey Manual also has techniques for permanent quadrats, assessing coral and fish recruitment and a new section on video transects. Monitoring via Reef Check is based largely on these methods. The updated and expanded second edition of the Survey Manual replaces the 1st edition that was printed in 1994 and has been out of print for 18 months. The methods are essentially the same, but the new edition contains colour plates of corals and other lifeform categories and several additional chapters. The Survey Manual is being distributed on a non-profit basis by AIMS, and other sponsors (World Bank and SIDA, Environment Agency of Japan, SPREP, IUCN, INTROMARC and EPHE/CRIOBE and Fondation Naturalia Polynesia) have assisted to make these methods available to developing countries. The Survey Manual for Tropical Marine Resources 2nd Edition is available, costing: Within Australia including postage Au$40.00 (approx. US$30) Outside Australia including postage Au$50.00 (approx. US$37.50) Over the counter Au$30.00 (approx. US$22.50) Bulk orders may be cheaper with reduced freight and postage costs. From: Science Communications Officer Australian Institute of Marine Science PMB No. 3, Townsville MC. Qld. 4810 Australia tel: +61 77 534 409 fax: +61 77 716 138 e-mail: w.ellery at aims.gov.au internet: www.aims.gov.au Clive Wilkinson, Coordinator Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network c/o Australian Institute of Marine Science Tel: +61 77 724314; Fax: +61 77 722808 or 725852 From reefchck at uxmail.ust.hk Mon Aug 11 00:52:06 1997 From: reefchck at uxmail.ust.hk (HODGSON GREGOR) Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 12:52:06 +0800 (HKT) Subject: Reef Check Update - August 1997 Message-ID: Reef Check Update - August 1997 August is the final month for Reef Check field surveys. Reef Check, as part of IYOR, has been extremely successful in achieving the first of two major goals - raising public awareness about the value of coral reefs. To achieve the second major goal - a scientific survey of human impacts on reefs - we need to receive your data in good order. If your team has completed one or more surveys - send us the data now. Please also send us topside and underwater video. We will need time to prepare for the International Press Conference, scheduled for Thursday 16 October. Please take careful note of the Reef Check protocols for categorizing data, especially the substrate codes for the line transects. It is important that you make sure that you only use Reef Check codes. In particular, make sure that if you have selected "Other" as a substrate, that it falls within the description given in the protocols. The Reef Check web site (http://www.ust.hk /~webrc/reef.html) has been updated with last minute registrations, as well as photographs of Reef Check teams on the "Faces and Places - Reef Check '97" page. Just added are photos of the Reef Check Hong Kong opening dive. We'd love to add your team pictures... so please send in some shots for our web site. A copy of the paper "How to handle the media" has been added to our web site on the "Funding and Public Relations" page. ****** REEF CHECK PARTY ****** Reef Check teams have expressed an interest in holding volunteer parties to celebrate the completion of their surveys. Team leaders have contacted us here at Headquarters to find out what plans or ideas other teams may have, to help them do some brainstorming. The idea of a Reef Check party for the individual teams is fantastic, it gives teams the opportunity to celebrate the successful completion of their part of the project. Ideally, it could be combined with a "survey completion" press conference to increase the PR value. So if you are planning to hold a party and have ideas on what form it may take please send us the details so we can post them on the web site to share with other groups. ****** PANAMA ****** Reef Check Headquarters would like to send a fond farewell to Peter Collinson, who has now departed Panama. Thanks to Peter for all his assistance in spearheading a Reef Check project in Panama! Peter was the Panama Coordinator for Reef Check, and now Angel Tribaldos has kindly stepped in to take over this role. All inquiries should now be directed to: Angel Tribaldos Fax: 507-226-2020 ****** SOUTHEASTERN USA ****** Florida Keys Update: To date 16 people have been trained as trainers. Another 22 divers have been trained to conduct the surveys. Currently over 15 additional volunteer divers are scheduled to be trained. Six Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Preservation Areas (SPAs) and one control area have been surveyed. We have good data on all seven sites. The program has appeared in several newspapers and magazines. In late July, an Orlando, Florida TV station will film a Reef Check survey. In addition, a program on The Learning Channel has shown an interest. Mary Enstrom ****** TAIWAN ****** The ReefCheck 97' for Taiwanese coral reef kicked off on 13 July, Sunday. Our society has executed Reef Check at two islands, both with wide media coverage. The first targeted reef was Hsiao-Liu-Chio, a coral reef island south-west near Taiwan (nearest distance is about 14 km). The second reef is Green Island which is located in the east coast of Taiwan. This team was lead by Prof. Keryea Soong from 14-18 July. At Hsiaoliuchiu 36 divers participated, and 9 divers participated at Green Island. A TV team was with us in Green Island, they plan to do a series report. The dates for Orchid Island, Nanwan and Penghu has been set on August 4-8, August 12-14 and August 15-18, respectively, each has a scientist in charge. We also plan to do it on our East coast and North-east coast, but a definite date not decided yet. Allen Chen Fax: 886-7-5255027 Keryea Soong Fax: 886-7-525-5100 ****** EASTERN AUSTRALIA ****** GREAT BARRIER REEF The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) is coordinating Reef Check 97 on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). We will have 8 teams on the GBR, lead mostly by GBRMPA and Department of Environment (DoE) staff, and 1 dive tour operator (Undersea Explorer). We hope to cover around 22 sites, including inshore and midshelf by reefs around Cairns (with Undersea Explorer, Lowe Isles Preservation Society, Nautilus Dive Club, James Cook University, Department of Primary Industries and DoE staff), Townsville (with the NQ Underwater Explorers Club), Whitsundays (with Order of Underwater Coral Heroes), Rockhampton (with Keppel Dive and Heron Is Resort) and even a few Coral Sea sites (Herald Cay with DoE and Osprey Reef with Undersea Explorer). Each area will have its own local launch where the media will be invited to a press conference. Launches will be staggered during the month of August. Wish us luck! Ray Berkelmans Fax: 61-77-72-6093 We in Australia are busy with the program right now out on the Great Barrier Reef. At present Undersea Explorer is in the Ribbon Reefs with our on board biologist David Wachenfeld leading a group of LIPS volunteer reefcheckers. We are coordinating this with the Low Isles Preservation Society (LIPS), a local community group who co-manage the environment with the marine parks. On Saturday 9th August a bunch of LIPS volunteers will work with Undersea Explorer to conduct ReefCheck surveys at Low Isles following on from the Undersea expedition. This will give us a useful cross shelf transect from Port Douglas to Low Isles, out to the Ribbon Reefs and into the remote Coral Sea at Osprey Reef. These are important sites as they are also research sites for many other Undersea Explorer projects so data can be linked and will be available into the future. Andy Dunstan Fax: 61-70-99-5914 ****** INDONESIA ****** So far 6 areas (Derawan, Taka Bonerate, Pulau Seribu, Sang Hyang, and Bunaken) have been surveyed, and data were compiled. Reefs around Derawan are in very good condition. Volunteers reported that during the check they encountered a school of Hammerhead sharks. In August (21 - 24), we plan to conduct training for dive operators in Bali using reef check monitoring form. We had media coverage for the Taka Bonerate, and some of the journalists and TV crews who joined the reef check had introduction experience on scuba diving for the first time. Gayatri Lilley Fax: 62-21-739-5907 ****** ISRAEL ****** Reef Check activities in Israel were a success!! We have completed our survey activities in Israel for the summer of 1997, and are in the phase of data processing and post-press coverage now. We received sponsorship from the Israeli Dive Federation, the University of Haifa, and one of the local scuba clubs. In addition we had support from NAUI Israel who provided us with video coverage, and the Nature Reserve Authority who participated in our pre-survey preparations. We are now preparing the final report to be sent to headquarters. We stayed at the InterUniversity Institute which has a dorm facilities right next to the Coral Beach Nature Reserve. Our small, but dedicated group of 10 diver-researchers were hand picked from the University of Haifa/Tel Aviv University Marine Studies graduate programs, and included specialists in Coral, Fish, and Invertebrate identification. As expected we saw the damaging effects of scuba diving and snorkeling on the coral reef communities of Eilat, and hope to use this information to promote community environmental awareness and conservation. The major TV channels have been contacted, and made copies of the video footage, and the two major diving magazines are writing full length, color-photo articles of the activities. Results are on the way soon! Joe Breman Fax: 011-972-4-824-0391 ****** SOUTH AFRICA ****** We have joined up with the South African Underwater Ecology Society (SAUES) and have already conducted a reef check survey in Ponto Douro Mocambique. A further reef check survey is being negotiated in Natal South Africa. In September a beach clean up and reef check will be held in Ponto Douro. A media awareness campaign is underway involving press, radio and television. A coral reef photographic competition is being organised - the winning photos to be used in a calendar. We are also negotiating an IYOR awareness weekend for divers and school children. Peta Hunter ****** SOUTHWESTERN USA ****** The Akumal Reef Check team lead by Dr. Judy Lang successfully completed surveys on four sites near Akumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico. There were no diveable 3 meter reefs so only 10 meter data was gathered. The volunteer team performed very well and came away from the experience more educated and much more concerned about the future of coral reefs. All volunteers expressed great interest in being a part of future Reef Checks and local community leaders have invited us back next year. The event was covered by "Advanced Created Productions" and will be included in an upcoming episode of "Caribbean Diving" which will air on Network One sometime in November (exact air date is unknown at the moment). The episode will include interviews with Judy and myself and underwater clips of the volunteer team collecting data. Shawn Brooks Fax: 972-680-7114 ****** RED SEA ****** The Red Sea Reef Check in Egypt has been running continuously over more than seven weeks now (since mid-June). Eight ReefCheck groups have been surveyed reefs in Egypt for approx. 2 weeks each! The team scientists, coming from several countries in the world, each had "shifts" of approx. two weeks and operated in co-operation with selected local facilities. More than 25 sites were surveyed by the beginning of August. Two cities received our main attention: Sharm el Sheikh and Hurghada. In addition a 2 week ReefCheck was conducted at Safaga, and also one week at Taba. The project will be running until the end of August: so after ten weeks of Reef Check we should have a good impression of the status of the reefs around our "ReefCheck areas". Gert Woerheide (Sharm) and Georg Heiss (Hurghada) were the first team leaders in June who brought the project smoothly on the run. They were both able to work from the beginning with volunteers, due to the support of the staff of the diving centres, who did a very good great job in making the project public to the guests! Since then Moshira, Friedhelm Grothe, Astrid Haas and Raquel Gomez have acted as group leaders in Sharm el Sheikh. In Hurghada: Anya Salih and Marcos Gektidis were very active! Michael Eisinger was in Safaga and also spent a week in the region of Taba. It was a great job of all the team leaders!!! Arriving at their ReefCheck site they had to recruit volunteers for the ReefCheck surveys from the diving tourists. Getting people, who are on vacation, to change their schedule and participate in ReefCheck required a lot of patience and motivation work. The team scientists gave slide shows, talked to the tourists again and again, as well as to the dive guides and instructors at the diving centres. They must have answered about a thousand interested questions. It was a "full time job", starting early in the morning, often lasting until 10 p.m. or later. Most of the time we enjoyed the work nevertheless; it is very rewarding when people get interested! In addition to the ReefCheck activities the team leaders gave weekly public slide shows about IYOR and ReefCheck: to spread the message of both IYOR and ReefCheck, and to motivate the people to participate as volunteers. Georg Heiss had prepared slides for this occasion: bilingual slides (German/English) about the general goals of IYOR, ReefCheck, as well as the detailed methods descriptions and species. We are very proud, that the Israeli ReefCheck group, led by Joe Breman, used these slides as well as our plastified identification cards for their ReefCheck at Eilat!! Gert Woerheide convinced Nikon Germany to sponsor us: They lent us 2 underwater cameras (Nikonos V with flash) for the site documentation. Georg got 30 films for free. Airaqua offered us flights at greatly reduced rates. Moshira had organized very generous conditions with local facilities: diving centers, hotels, dive shop and others: The Diving Centres offered free diving for the team scientists, often even for more than one scientist at a time. (Sinai Divers in SHARM EL SHEIKH; Jasmin Diving Centre in HURGHADA; Shams Safaga in PORT SAFAGA) Sinai Divers extended its generosity towards all dive guides or diving instructors in Sharm el Sheikh: Anybody working in the diving industry who wished to actively participate in ReefCheck could join one of the ReefCheck groups if there was room available. So in fact, often 4-5 people were doing ReefCheck for free! The group leaders had free accommodation and half board. The Ghazalla Hotel in Sharm often accommodated and fed 2 scientists, the Jasmin and Shams Safaga were even so generous as to give the team leaders full board for the group and reductions on all hotel bills. Despite some problems with one authority in Egypt, those who initially supported IYOR and ReefCheck stood by the word they had given Moshira. Also the diving centres, knowing of the difficulties we had encountered decided to proceed with ReefCheck and risk the displeasure of the government. It was solely trust in Moshira and the conviction that ReefCheck is a necessity if we want to save Egypt's coral reefs that led them to this decision. We are all very grateful for this support. A German TV team has been down in Sharm and made a 8 min feature about the Reef Check project with the co-ordinators. The feature was broadcasted in the German TV during a special show about the International Year of the Reef on July 13. The areas around Hurghada and Sharm el Sheikh became fast growing tourist centres since a couple of years and effects on the reefs are caused by the still increasing number of divers and also by the hotel construction activities. Reefs in Egypt are generally still in a comparably good state, but quick action is needed to protect them from further damage. There are local initiatives to conserve the reefs towards a positive and sustainable reef management. HEPCA in Hurghada are doing their best. The National Park has executive power over the entire region of Sinai and has achieved a lot over the last years. Nevertheless, it is a continuous battle of interests: fast money at the expense of the environment, versus sustainable use of the same. With ReefCheck scientists have endeavoured out and have taken up contact with some groups that have a stake in coral reefs. We are still collecting data. Our effort already achieved the "reaching out effect". Divers and the facilities we have co-operated with are already hoping for a new ReefCheck in 1998. They would like to participate in the next years and do all they can to support us. That is a success!! If you need more information about the Red Sea ReefCheck, please contact us. Moshira Hassan Fax: 49-431-600-2941 Gert Woerheide Fax: 49-(0)30-282-5406 or visit our homepage for a detailed project outline. http://www.geologie.uni-stuttgart.de/IYOR/infos/reefcheck_egypt.html *************************************************************** We apologize for any errors or omissions of news about your site. Please send us a brief report on work completed by August for the September update. To join Reef Check, please contact your nearest National or Regional Coordinator listed on the web site, or Reef Check Headquarters as soon as possible. Suzie Geermans, Assistant Reef Check Coordinator Institute for Environment and Sustainable Development Research Centre, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Clearwater Bay, Kowloon, HONG KONG Tel: (852) 2358-6906 Fax: (852) 2358-1582 e-mail: reefchck at uxmail.ust.hk Reef Check: http://www.ust.hk/~webrc/reef.html From nshashar at mbl.edu Mon Aug 11 17:02:46 1997 From: nshashar at mbl.edu (Nadav Shashar) Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 17:02:46 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Northeast Regional Animal Behavior Meetings- call for papers Message-ID: CALL FOR PAPERS: NORTHEAST REGIONAL ANIMAL BEHAVIOR MEETING Marine Biological Laboratory Woods Hole, MA 02543 October 3-5, 1997 Keynote Address: "Do Clark's nutcrackers have cognitive maps?" Dr. Alan C. Kamil University of Nebraska Local Hosts: Jennifer Basil, Frank Grasso, and Roger Hanlon Sponsored By: Boston University Marine Program and the Marine Biological Laboratory CALL FOR PAPERS/POSTERS: DEADLINE for RECEIPT of Abstraction and Registration Sept 3, 1997 We encourage you to contribute to the scientific sessions by presenting a talk or by preparing a poster. Anyone may present either type and we especially encourage student participation. The research reported at an Animal Behavior meeting is expected to adhere to all ABS animal care and welfare regulations. Mail Inquiries to: NERAB c/o Dr. Jennifer Basil Boston University Marine Program Marine Biological Laboratory Woods Hole, MA 02543 Or EMAIL us at: basil at acs.bu.edu REGISTRATION Participants are urged to pre-register by returning the form included with this announcement for receipt by Sept. 3rd. Registration fees are $20.00 for students and post-docs and $30.00 for faculty. A $5.00 charge will be added to on-site, and late registration (received after Sept. 3rd). A registration and information desk will be located in Swope Conference Center on Friday from 5-10pm, and in Lillie Auditorium from 8:00-8:45am on Saturday. Your registration package (received by us by September 3, 1997) must include: 1. Completed Housing and Pre-Registration Form, (below), 2. Non-refundable Check or Money Order for full registration amount, room and board, 3. 2 copies of your abstract(s) (see instructions) in hardcopy (one on reverse side of registration form, one on a separate piece of paper), 4. Abstract on 3.5" IBM compatible disk saved as Word For Windows or flat ascii text file. 5. Stamped, self-addressed postcard or envelope for acknowledgement of receipt. Please make checks payable to Jennifer Basil and Frank Grasso (with "NERABs" written on "Memo" line on check) Return registration/housing/abstract/disk to: NERAB c/o Dr. Jennifer Basil Boston University Marine Program Marine Biological Laboratory Woods Hole, MA 02543 NERABs 1997 Pre-Registration Form Registration Information: Name ____________________________________________________ (Your name as you would like it to appear on your name tag) Address ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ Telephone: Daytime:___________ Evening:____________________ e-mail address_______________________________________________ Presentation/AbstractTitle:_____________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ I would like to give a TALK______ POSTER______ Presentation Needs: ___ carousel slide projector __overhead projector ____video (circle VHS or PAL) ____other:______________________ Are you willing to chair a session? ______ Please enclose a self-addressed, stamped (if U.S.) postcard or your e-mail address so we can notify you of the status of your talk or poster. Pre Registration -Fees: Faculty Students/PostDocs Amount Registration: $30.00 $20.00 =_______ Housing: (Choose one) ___ Full Package $200.00 $180.00 (Shared Room: Fri and Sat night; 6 Meals: Fri dinner-Sun lunch) -OR- ___ 1 night Package: $100.00 $90.00 Check one: __Fri __Sat (Each includes 3 meals, see below)=_______ Meals Only (No Housing): Per day: $60.00 $60.00 X ____days =_______ If one day only, check one: __Fri Dinner-Sat lunch __Sat Dinner-Sun Lunch) ENCLOSED TOTAL: _______ ___ Check here if you prefer vegetarian meals. Checks should be made to: Jennifer Basil and Frank Grasso (with NERAB in "memo"). All checks/ payments are Nonrefundable Onsite registration and registration received after Sept 3 will be subject to the following rates: Faculty Post-docs/Students Registration: $35.00 $25.00 Housing Package: $220.00 $220.00 Housing 1 night: $110.00 $110.00 Meals Only/day: $60.00 $60.00 Tentative Schedule Friday Registration 5-10pm Swope Center Cocktail/Dinner 5-7pm Swope Center Reception 7-whenever Meigs Room,Swope Saturday Breakfast 7-8:30am Swope Center Registration 8:00-8:45 Lilly Auditorium Lobby Contributed Papers 9-10:20 Lilly Auditorium Break 10:20-11 Lilly Auditorium Lobby Contributed Papers 11-12:00 Lilly Auditorium Lunch 12:00-1:00 Swope Center Contributed Papers 1:00-2:30 Lilly Auditorium Break 2:30-3:00 Lilly Auditorium Lobby Keynote Address 3:00-4:15 Lilly Auditorium Al Kamil "Do Clarke's Nutcrackers Have Cognitive Maps" Lab Tours/Poster Setup 4:15-5:30 Labs/Swope Cocktail/Dinner 5-7pm Swope Center Posters/Reception 7-whenever Swope/Meigs Room Sunday Breakfast 7-8:30am Swope Center Contributed Papers 9-10:20 Lilly Auditorium Break 10:20-11 Lilly Lobby Contributed Papers 11-12 Lilly Auditorium Lunch 12-1 Swope Center Excursion 1-whenever (TBA) ABSTRACT SUBMISSION INFORMATION: All oral papers will be 20 minutes (15 min for presentation and 5 minutes for questions and discussion). Posters should be legible from a distance of at least 4 feet. Pre-registration and payment must accompany an abstract. Please check the appropriate space for oral talk or poster on the registration form. Abstracts are required for both oral papers and poster papers (see instructions below). Abstracts will be compiled in a booklet form for all registrants. Note that the deadline for receipt (not postmark!) of the abstracts is September 3, 1997. Direct ALL inquiries to: Dr. Jennifer Basil, (508) 289-7506, basil at acs.bu.edu. No FAXED or LATE abstracts will be accepted Instructions for preparing an abstract: All portions of the abstract must be typed entirely within a 3" x 7" rectangle, such as the one below. Single space, leaving no top or left margins. Use a minimum of 10 pt type. Please send (1) two hard copies and (2) the identically formatted abstract on a 3.5" IBM-compatible disk, with your name, the title of your paper clearly printed on the label. Your abstract(s) should be saved to this disk as an MS-Word for Windows v.6.0 or lower file, or a flat ascii text file. A good abstract accomplishes several objectives. First, it gives the purpose of your research so that others not familiar with your area of research will understand why you did what you did and be able to put your work into a broader context. Second, your methods are briefly summarized. Third, your key findings are provided. Finally, your conclusions and ideas about their implications are presented. The abstract is the only exposure that many people, including NERAB participants in other session, will have to your work. Make it as informative as you can. ACCOMODATIONS AND MEALS Housing is available at Swope Conference Center, right on the Marine Biological Laboratory campus (see housing forms). There are also a number of hotels within walking distance of the Marine Biological Laboratory (Sands of Time: (508) 548-6300; Nautilus Motor Inn: (508) 548-1525; Sleepy Hollow Motor Inn: (508) 548-1986). A bit further out in Falmouth (you'll need a car) are the Quality Inn (508) 540-2000, and Admirality Inn (508) 548-4240. Meals will be available at the Swope Conference Center (see housing forms) but you must register for the meal plan in advance to receive the meeting rates. In addition, there are also a number of restaurants in Woods Hole that, of course, serve seafood, but they also serve vegetarian food, burgers, etc. There is also a great pub in town, the Captain Kidd. Onsite registration and registration received after Sept 3 will be subject to the following rates: Faculty Postdocs/Students Registration: $35.00 $25.00 Housing Package: $220.00 $220.00 Housing 1 night: $110.00 $110.00 Meals Only/day (no housing) $60.00 $60.00 TRAVEL INFORMATION Car: See attached maps and instructions. Parking areas are outside the Swope center, where participants can be house and meals are served (see attached map of the Marine Biological Laboratory). Parking is free in MBL lots for participants, and permits can be picked up with housing materials. Air: Woods Hole is approximately 1.75 hours from Boston (Logan Airport) and 1.5 hours from Providence, RI (T.F. Greene Airport). There is regular bus service directly from Logan to Woods Hole via Bonanza Buslines. There are also small flights from Boston and Providence to Hyannis airport, 25 miles from Woods Hole. If you fly to the meeting, we suggest taking the Bonanza Bus to and from Logan. It is convenient (they take you right to your terminal) and costs about $22.00 for a round-trip ticket to Woods Hole. DIRECTIONS to NERABs 1997 TO THE BOURNE BRIDGE: From The North: Take Interstate 95 South which will take you around Boston. South of Boston take Route 24 South Towards Taunton and Fall River to Interstate 495. Follow Route 495 to the Bourne Bridge (It becomes route 25 two exits before the bridge). From the West: Take the Mass Turnpike (Interstate 90) to Route 495 South. Follow Route 495 to the Bourne Bridge (It becomes route 25 two exits before the bridge). From the South: Take Interstate 95 North to Interstate 195 East. At the end of Interstate 195 take Route 25 East to the Bourne Bridge (do not take 495 North). FROM THE BOURNE BRIDGE: Take the Bridge across the Cape Cod Canal. Follow Route 28 South to Falmouth. In Falmouth Rt 28 becomes a local route. When Rt 28 bears left into Falmouth continue on Woods Hole Road. You will see a sign that says "Woods Hole 4 Miles". When you reach Woods Hole bear right at the Bank of Boston (away from the Ferries) and continue across the drawbridge. After the Drawbridge your first right (if you don't count parking lots) will be MBL St. The Swope center is at the end of the street. Park along MBL street (metered) and enter the Swope. At the front desk you can ask for a parking pass and directions to the appropriate parking lot. Meeting registration will be handled in the Swope on Friday Evening. Later registration will be in the Lillie Auditorium Lobby. From PEARSME at tsa.si.edu Tue Aug 12 16:41:08 1997 From: PEARSME at tsa.si.edu (Meg Pearson) Date: Tue, 12 Aug 1997 16:41:08 -0400 Subject: Announcement for the list!! Thanks.. Message-ID: An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: not available Url: http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/pipermail/coral-list-old/attachments/19970812/87a05e62/attachment.pl From arielk at post.tau.ac.il Wed Aug 13 02:38:24 1997 From: arielk at post.tau.ac.il (Ariel Kushmaro) Date: Wed, 13 Aug 1997 09:38:24 +0300 (IDT) Subject: Coral Bleaching Message-ID: Object: Coral Bleaching Dear coral-list members I am working on bacterial ecology of corals and coral bleaching of corals by bacteria. Our findings show that Vibrio AK1, previously shown to be the causative agent of bleaching of the Mediterranean coral Oculina patagonica, caused bleaching at 20 C, 23 C, 25 C and 29 C , but not at 16 C. This is consistent with the observation that the bleaching occurs naturally in the summer when seawater temperature rise to 26 C and exceed to a maximum of 29 C, and disappears during winter, when water temperature decreases to 16 C. (Kushmaro, A., Y. Loya, M. Fine, and E. Rosenberg. 1996. Bacterial infection and coral bleaching. Nature. 380: 396, and Kushmaro, A., E. Rosenberg, M. Fine, and Y. Loya. 1997. Bleaching of the coral Oculina patagonica by Vibrio Ak-1. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 147: 159-165). In order to determine if we dealing with a vibrio infection we asking for help: 1. Try to streak mucous from bleached and non bleached corals on TCBS ( Difco ) plates and look for yellow colonies. (89g in 1 liter distilled water, do not add salt) 2. send by express mail : a. samples of bleached and non bleached corals. b. Freeze-dried Samples of mucous and tissue from bleached and non bleached coral in viles . c. The mucous streaked onto Marine Agar ( 18 g marine broth MA 2216 Difco, 9 g NaCl and 18 g Bacto agar, Difco per 1 liter of deionized water) and TCBS plates. Based on this we should be able to determine if we dealing with a vibrio infection. Sincerely yours, A. Kushmaro Ariel Kushmaro Department of Zoology Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Israel 69978 arielk at zoot.tau.ac.il Tel: 972-3-6407683 Fax: 972-3-6407682 From eakin at ogp.noaa.gov Thu Aug 14 09:23:07 1997 From: eakin at ogp.noaa.gov (Mark Eakin) Date: 14 Aug 1997 09:23:07 U Subject: Major El Nino Brewing Message-ID: Subject: Time: 8:58 AM Major El Nino Brewing Date: 8/14/97 For those of you who are not aware, a major El Nino event is brewing in the Pacific. Temperature anomalies and other variables in the Pacific are much higher than they have been this time of year for any prior event in the last 50 years. Whether it peaks early or continues to grow is uncertain. However, most forecasts call for continued warm conditions into early next year. This could have dramatic effects on many marine and coastal ecosystems. For more information on the event, you can track it at: http://www.ogp.noaa.gov/enso/ and can read a good article for general audiences in the latest Time Magazine through a link on: http://www.ogp.noaa.gov/enso/press.html Cheers, Mark __________________________________________________________ C. Mark Eakin, Ph.D. NOAA/Global Programs, 1100 Wayne Ave., Suite 1210 Silver Spring, MD USA 20910-5603 Voice: 301-427-2089 ext. 19 Fax: 301-427-2073 Internet: eakin at ogp.noaa.gov From lesk at bio.bu.edu Fri Aug 15 23:55:49 1997 From: lesk at bio.bu.edu (Les Kaufman) Date: Fri, 15 Aug 1997 23:55:49 -0400 (EDT) Subject: coral death marks Message-ID: Is there somewhere an illustrated encyclopedia of predator lesions on corals and the organisms that produced them? I once produced such a thing for Jamaica, am now having to do it in Hawaii (since so much is known this is not terribly difficult), and continually feel like this is reinventing the wheel. Or could we just pool our information so the resource WOULD exist, say, on the WWW. The same would be useful for responses to stressors that might be mistaken for bleaching. From carlson at soest.hawaii.edu Sat Aug 16 00:55:41 1997 From: carlson at soest.hawaii.edu (Bruce Carlson) Date: Fri, 15 Aug 1997 18:55:41 -1000 (HST) Subject: coral death marks In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Les, I can give you photos for scars produced by Exallias brevis and Chaetodon ornatissimus. Both produce similar, superficial scars which are easily recognizable on Porites spp. I do not have photos of the deeper scars produced by Arothron meleagris and Cantherhines dumerilii and other similar coralivores. Bruce ************************************************************************ On Fri, 15 Aug 1997, Les Kaufman wrote: > Is there somewhere an illustrated encyclopedia of predator lesions on > corals and the organisms that produced them? I once produced such a thing > for Jamaica, am now having to do it in Hawaii (since so much is known > this is not terribly difficult), and continually feel like > this is reinventing the wheel. Or could we just pool our information so > the resource WOULD exist, say, on the WWW. The same would be useful for > responses to stressors that might be mistaken for bleaching. > > From jogden at seas.marine.usf.edu Tue Aug 19 15:14:32 1997 From: jogden at seas.marine.usf.edu (John Ogden) Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 15:14:32 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Strobe Message-ID: Can anyone advise me on a good UW strobe to go with my Nikonos III and 15mm lens? Something small and rugged, but with some power and coverage for the lens. Please reply just to me. Thanks. *******PLEASE NOTE NEW PHONE AND FAX BELOW*********************** John C. Ogden Director Phone: 813/553-1100 Florida Institute of Oceanography Fax: 813/553-1109 830 First Street South St. Petersburg, Florida 33701 From smiller at gate.net Wed Aug 20 16:11:26 1997 From: smiller at gate.net (Steven Miller) Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 13:11:26 -0700 Subject: Graduate Fellowship: Funding for coral reef research Message-ID: <33FB4F6E.78CF@gate.net> International Society for Reef Studies Graduate Fellowship for Coral Reef Research Research Studies: 1998 Announcement SUBMISSION DEADLINE IS OCTOBER 15, 1997. Coral reefs are among the most diverse ecosystems on the planet, they are globally distributed, and they support various aspects of coastal economies. Yet coral reefs are widely recognized to be in decline and studies are needed to provide information to manage and understand processes that cause coral reef change. Funds are available, approximately US$13,500, to support one student to work toward a Ph.D. in the general area of coral reef ecosystem research. The focus of the Fellowship is to understand and predict coral reef response to management or disturbance-caused change (human-caused or natural). Research supported by the fellowship should emphasize an ecosystem approach, recognizing the complex interplay among many processes that shape the way coral reefs look and function. Work that identifies controls on productivity, biodiversity, abundance, biotic interactions, nutrient dynamics, carbonate accretion or erosion, fisheries recruitment, or utilization of other coral reef resources are examples of suitable topics. Work is not restricted to these topics, but controls should be emphasized because this information is important in construction of models that predict reef response to disturbance. Studies that include development or testing of such models are a priority. Who can apply? The Fellowship is available to students, worldwide, who are already admitted to a graduate program at an accredited university. The intent of the fellowship is to help students develop skills and to address problems related to relevant applications of coral reef ecosystem research and management. The fellowship can be used to support salary, travel, fieldwork, or laboratory analyses. Renewal of the fellowship is possible, but is based on annual resubmission. The student can work entirely at the host university, or can split time between developed and developing country universities. Priority in 1998 will be given to a student based at a university located in a less developed country with significant coral reef resources. Application materials A four page proposal, double spaced, in English, is required from prospective fellowship candidates that outlines the research program, emphasizing the mix of applied and basic issues addressed in the program. The proposal should include an overview, methods, expected results, and a budget; it is important that proposals follow this format exactly. Eight copies of the proposal must be provided. The student?s major professor is required to submit a CV (maximum length 3 pages) and a support letter, in English, that details cost sharing and facility support. If work will be conducted at a second university, a support letter is required from the sponsoring professor. Application materials will be reviewed by an ISRS/CMC panel; evaluation criteria include scientific merit, feasibility, cost sharing, and relevancy to the Fellowship guidelines. SUBMISSION DEADLINE IS OCTOBER 15, 1997. Submit proposals to the ISRS Recording Secretary, UNC-Wilmington, 515 Caribbean Drive, Key Largo, Florida 33037. For additional information contact SMiller at gate.net. SUBMISSION DEADLINE IS OCTOBER 15, 1997. Information about ISRS and CMS The Society (ISRS) and the Center (CMC) support the Fellowship through professional and administrative contributions. The mission of the ISRS is to promote for the benefit of the public, the production and dissemination of scientific knowledge and understanding concerning coral reefs, both living and fossil. The mission of the CMC is to protect ocean environments and conserve the abundance and diversity of marine life. Its programs focus on eliminating four major threats to the health of the marine environment: pollution, physical alteration of marine ecosystems as a result of human activity, overexploitation of marine resources, and loss of marine biodiversity. From Roger.B.Griffis at noaa.gov Wed Aug 20 15:12:32 1997 From: Roger.B.Griffis at noaa.gov (Griffis, Roger B) Date: Wed, 20 Aug 97 15:12:32 EDT Subject: NEWS YORK TIMES: Mysterious New Diseases Devastate Coral Reefs Message-ID: FYI _______________________ August 19, 1997 NEWS YORK TIMES: Mysterious New Diseases Devastate Coral Reefs Mysterious New Diseases Devastate Coral Reefs By CAROL KAESUK YOON [T] wo coral researchers were asked to examine the reefs off the island of Bonaire in January after divers noticed strange white lesions on the star and brain corals in waters considered to be among the most pristine in the Caribbean. Under water, the researchers, Dr. Thomas J. Goreau and James Cervino, found something they had never seen before, huge patches of dead coral, bright white where the skeleton had been exposed after tissue had died; the skeleton itself was crumbling away. "We were quite horrified," said Goreau, who along with Cervino is with the Global Coral Reef Alliance, a nonprofit organization for the protection and management of reefs. "It looks like someone poured acid over the top of the coral. The skeleton itself is dissolved. I've been looking at reefs in the Caribbean probably longer than anyone else alive and I'd never seen it before. It's attacking at a speed and with a level of damage that is unprecedented." The researchers say rapid wasting disease, so named because it can spread several inches across a coral head in a single day, is all over the reefs of Bonaire and since January has been spotted in Mexico, Aruba, Curacao, Trinidad, Tobago, Grenada and St. John's in the Virgin Islands, an area spanning 2,000 miles. But more alarming than the spread of rapid wasting disease is the fact that it is only one among many mysterious new diseases that have been discovered attacking corals around the world. In what they are describing as an epidemic, researchers say that in the last few years corals, some centuries old, from the Florida Keys through the Caribbean to places as distant as the Philippines, are quickly succumbing to diseases never before seen. Unlike the many other stresses on corals with which scientists and the public have become quite familiar, including bleaching, sedimentation, pollution and rising sea temperatures, the rash of new diseases has taken researchers by surprise. "We're all stunned at the rapidity with which these new diseases are occurring," said Dr. James W. Porter, a marine ecologist at the University of Georgia in Athens who last year discovered a new disease known as white pox. "The problems are occurring at all depths, and the numbers of species affected is increasing as well as the number of individuals. It's definitely on the rise." Dr. Drew Harvell, an ecologist at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., whose graduate student in the Philippines, Laurie Raymundo, recently found a disease in all her study areas that they have been unable to identify, said: "There seem to be more diseases than anyone can keep up with. There are a lot of new names and attempts to correlate symptoms with names and with causes, but so far, heaven only knows what's going on." Fewer than a dozen of the new diseases even have names and those with names are still in the process of being documented, leaving biologists to rely on word of mouth to keep the growing number of maladies straight. As a result, simply recognizing whether a coral is healthy or sick can be extremely difficult, even for practiced researchers. Last month at a meeting of the Association of Marine Laboratories of the Caribbean held in San Jose, Costa Rica, Goreau spoke at a special daylong session devoted to coral diseases, one of the first chances researchers have had to exchange information on the problem. "I showed about 50 pictures" of coral diseases, said Goreau, "but it wasn't nearly enough. Most people are saying, 'We're seeing all of these but we just didn't know it before.' " For example, rapid wasting disease, which exposes a white, crumbling skeleton, is easily and often mistaken for anchor damage or parrotfish bites. Scientists say they have no idea why diseases are exploding on corals now. Some speculate that multiple stresses, like bleaching, sedimentation and pollution, have pushed corals to the breaking point so that they are now unable to fend off diseases that they have fought off in the past. With the scant and scattered information researchers have so far on where the diseases are, there seems to be little sense to their spread, with some pristine reefs succumbing to disease while other much more polluted reefs remain healthy. "It's a baffling situation," Goreau said. "Most diseases are new. They don't correlate with each other or any known environmental stress. In Bonaire, rapid wasting disease is having a devastating impact, yet the reefs there are so clean." Others have suggested that perhaps erosion and the dumping of sewage and other wastes into the sea has brought a whole host of new pathogens in contact with corals and some are taking hold. While the notion that terrestrial pathogens might begin underwater attacks on corals might seem far-fetched, researchers say there is evidence that at least one of the newly emerging diseases, sea fan disease, is caused by an organism that invaded from land. Discovered just four years ago, this disease of soft corals is now widespread in the Caribbean and has been shown to be caused by a highly opportunistic fungus called Aspergillus. Adhering to sediment that has washed into the sea, the fungi begin to grow when they encounter a sea fan. Researchers say they are sure it is a fungus brought from land because it cannot complete its life cycle in the ocean. "It's a terrestrial organism that has crossed the land-sea barrier," Harvell said. Researchers suspect a fungus is behind rapid wasting disease and various bacteria are implicated in other new coral diseases. But for the most part, definite causes remain unknown. Scientists say even corals in aquariums, like the Waikiki Aquarium in Honolulu and the National Aquarium in Baltimore, are being hit. In order to make identification of diseases more straightforward, some researchers are trying to develop molecular tests for coral diseases. Dr. Harvell and colleagues are working on a test for sea fan disease, trying to develop a sort of DNA fingerprint of the pathogen that would allow researchers who suspect that a coral has the disease to test DNA from the infected area and find out definitively if the fungus that causes sea fan disease is present. As scientists struggle to identify illnesses, cures for sick corals appear to be a long way off. Some have suggested simply applying antibiotics to the reefs. Scientists warn, however, of the unknown hazards of dispensing into the seas a drug that can destroy useful bacteria as easily as harmful bacteria and that may not do any good if the pathogens that are involved turn out not to be bacteria at all. Researchers have had the most luck treating black band disease by vacuuming off the diseased band of tissue that gives the illness its name. But the work is extremely time-consuming, and that type of approach is practically impossible for the most quickly spreading and worrisome diseases. "I couldn't imagine going out and treating a disease like that," said Dr. Laurie Richardson, an aquatic microbiologist at Florida International University in Miami who studies white plague type 2, a disease that swept through the upper Florida keys in 1995. In just four months, it spread more than 100 miles, jumping from one to 17 species of corals. But while scientists lament having to stand back and watch these diseases ravage coral populations, they note that sometimes no treatment can be the best cure. Once a disease is allowed to rage through an area, any healthy, resistant individuals left behind can begin to rebuild a tougher population. Other inhabitants of reefs are beginning to come down with diseases as well. Dr. Goreau said sponges, coralline algae and sea urchins were also succumbing to new illnesses, further threatening the health of reef communities. Coral reef biologists say they are further frustrated by a lack of money for such quickly unfolding research. "We've tried getting money from the National Science Foundation," said Dr. Goreau. "You send a proposal and wait a year or two for the review. You can't deal with this kind of emergency science that way." Researchers are now scrambling to document the extent of these emerging diseases, the numbers and types of corals attacked, and the level of virulence of these pathogens. But with such basic information still largely unknown, they are left with a mixture of dread and hope. Cervino, for one, is soliciting reports of new outbreaks of coral diseases from observers around the world. His e-mail address is: cnidariaearthlink.net. "There are places where there are 200- and 300-year-old coral colonies being devastated," said Dr. Esther Peters, senior scientist at Tetra Tech, an environmental consulting company in Fairfax, Va., "and there are places where the corals are fine. I'm afraid it is getting worse, but all is not lost yet." Home | Sections | Contents | Search | Forums | Help Copyright 1997 The New York Times Company From Tsai.Sin at jcu.edu.au Wed Aug 20 19:46:14 1997 From: Tsai.Sin at jcu.edu.au (Tsai Sin) Date: Thu, 21 Aug 1997 09:46:14 +1000 (EST) Subject: statistical packages Message-ID: Guys, I was wondering if there's anyone out there who knows of a stats package that does decent h-plots and bi-plots for multivariate analysis? At the moment, I'm doing the plots manually in either Excel or Sigmaplot but it's taking too much time (7 separate plots for a Canonical Correlation Analysis). Thanks for the information, tsai Tsai Sin Department of Marine Biology James Cook University Douglas, Townsville QLD 4811 Australia email: Tsai.Sin at jcu.edu.au From plbentos at kin.cieamer.conacyt.mx Wed Aug 20 21:06:52 1997 From: plbentos at kin.cieamer.conacyt.mx (Bentos) Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 19:06:52 -0600 Subject: CORAL REEFS OF MEXICO Message-ID: COMMUNICATION ADDRESSED TO MARINE SCIENTISTS INVOLVED WITH THE ASSESSMENT OF THE STATUS OF MEXICO'S CORAL REEFS: One of the major difficulties to implement the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) in Mexico, is the lack of a national assessment of the status of coral reefs. As a first step to implement the ICRI, an overview of the current methodologies employed for the assessment of coral reefs is necessary. The definition of the best available methodologies for Mexico will enable to establish baselines to initiate management and a national monitoring network. Given that the best methodology for each coral reef depends on its environmental particularities, different methodologies will prove adequate in each region of the country. If you have been involved with the coral reefs in Mexico, your cooperation by answering the following quest will be very useful to begin the implementation of this initiative *: 1. Name and university or place of employment. 2. Survey area in Mexico where your research has been conducted. 3. Human impacts influencing coral reefs in the surveyed area. 4. Reef type (i.e., coastal reef) to which your study area corresponds. 5. Physiographic, oceanographic, and ecological description of the surveyed area. 6. Dominant coral genera (or species) observed in the surveyed area. 6. Purposes of your research on the Mexico' coral reefs. 8. Survey method (s) used in your research. 9. Adequacy of the method (s) selected for your surveys (in the light of the particular features of the study area). 13. Publications issued from your research. 14. Comments. Thanks in advance. * Please, be aware of responding directly to our email address. PhD Pedro Ardisson Biol. Juan Jose Duran Oceanol. Alfonso Cuevas Laboratorio de Bentos CINVESTAV-IPN-Unidad Merida Antigua Carretera a Progreso Km. 6 Apartado Postal 73, Cordemex C.P. 97310 Tels: (99) 81-29-73 ext. 292 FAX: (99) 81-29-17 From dbucher at scu.edu.au Thu Aug 21 00:11:14 1997 From: dbucher at scu.edu.au (Daniel Bucher) Date: Thu, 21 Aug 1997 14:11:14 +1000 Subject: its happening again Message-ID: Dear all, It seems that our friends at solwarra.gbrmpa.gov.au have produced another infinite mail loop. Would whoever fixed the problem last time please help us again. --------------------------------------------------- * * * + DANIEL BUCHER * Associate Lecturer in Biology/Ecology Centre for Coastal Management SOUTHERN CROSS UNIVERSITY P.O. Box 157, Lismore, N.S.W. Australia, 2480 Phone: +61+66 203665 Fax: +61+66 212669 E-mail: dbucher at scu.edu.au ----------------------------------------------------- From prtaylor at nsf.gov Fri Aug 22 10:39:34 1997 From: prtaylor at nsf.gov (prtaylor at nsf.gov) Date: Fri, 22 Aug 97 09:39:34 EST Subject: NEWS YORK TIMES: Mysterious New Diseases Devastate Coral Message-ID: <9707228722.AA872268089@yrelay.nsf.gov> 22 August 1997 FYI, Thanks go to Roger Griffis over at NOAA for distributing the NY Times piece (by Carol Yoon) on coral disease in the western tropical Atlantic Ocean. This important article has been, no doubt, widely read. It will hopefully bring further attention to ecological problems in the world's coral reefs, as well as the difficulty of studying the etiology of diseases in natural marine ecosystems. One piece of untruth in the article is particularly troublesome. It is found in the following quote: "We've tried getting money from the National Science Foundation," said Dr. Goreau. "You send a proposal and wait a year or two for the review. You can't deal with this kind of emergency science that way." I won't debate why any of Dr. Goreau's attempts to secure funding for basic research related to the biology/ecology of coral diseases were not successful. I will simply point out that the U.S. National Science Foundation is indeed fully capable of making very rapid awards to respond to time-dependent opportunities for scientific discovery. Commitments are sometimes made on time-scales of less than a week after complete internal review of the proposal science. As a very appropriate example, Dr. Drew Harvell (Cornell University) received last year a rapid-response award from the Division of Ocean Sciences, NSF for studying disease in tropical Atlantic gorgonians and has just received supplemental, rapid-response support for additional studies. At the same time, Dr. Harvell is attempting to secure longer-term funding via peer-reviewed science proposals to the NSF and perhaps other funding agencies. Dr. Harvell was one of the scientists interviewed for Ms. Yoon's article. Another example relevant to the ecology of reefs and their responses to perturbations comes with agreement earlier this year to support Dr. Gerard Wellington's (University of Houston) request for rapid-response funding. Dr. Wellington, who is supported by the NSF for other studies on reef ecology, will use the rapid-response funding to look at the impact of the coming ENSO (El Nino-Southern Oscillation) on the population ecology of reef fishes in the Galapagos and to compare the impact of this ENSO to the intense one experienced in the 1982-83 time frame. Some current predictions suggest that the coming ENSO will be even more intense than that of 1982-83. And again, last year Dr. Deborah Brosnan (Sustainable Ecosystems Institute) received a rapid-response award from the NSF for studying the response of coral reef ecosystems to the volcanic eruptions on Montserrat. By three examples of very many, this should show that the U.S. National Science Foundation is very capable of responding to time-dependent scientific research opportunities. And it welcomes and supports such requests routinely. Brief proposals showing high scientific merit -- an important problem, an appropriate scientific approach that will likely yield rigorous results, investigators with evidence of strong scientific credentials and experience - do yield success. And these successful exploratory efforts are often followed with additional support of proposals that have entered the usual, 4-to-6-month, full peer-review process. Respectfully Phil Taylor ********************************* Phillip Taylor, Director Biological Oceanography Program Division of Ocean Sciences National Science Foundation 4201 Wilson Blvd. Suite 725 Arlington, VA 22230 prtaylor at nsf.gov phone 703-306-1587 fax 306-0390 From strong at nadn.navy.mil Fri Aug 22 10:37:11 1997 From: strong at nadn.navy.mil (Prof Alan E Strong) Date: Fri, 22 Aug 1997 10:37:11 -0400 (EDT) Subject: El Nino on NPR (fwd) Message-ID: Choose your favorite NPR station... **** <>< ******* <>< ******* <>< ******* <>< ******* <>< ******* <>< ***** Alan E. Strong Phys Scientist/Oceanographer Adj Assoc Professor NOAA/NESDIS/ORA/ORAD -- E/RA3 US Naval Academy NOAA Science Center -- RM 711H Oceanography Department -- US Postal Service -- -- UPS/FedEx -- Annapolis, MD 21402 4700 Silver Hill Road 5200 Auth Road 410-293-6566[V-mail] Stop 9910 Camp Springs, MD 20746 410-293-2137 [FAX] Washington, DC 20233-9910 strong at nadn.navy.mil Alan.E.Strong at noaa.gov 301-763-8102 FAX: 301-763-8108 ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 22 Aug 1997 09:30:43 -0400 (EDT) From: Assoc Prof Mario EC Vieira To: Prof Alan E Strong , Assoc Prof David R Smith Subject: El Nino on NPR (fwd) FYI ************************************************************************* Mario E. C. Vieira, Ph.D. Telephone: (410) 293-6567 Associate Professor Fax: (410) 293-2137 Oceanography Department Email: vieira at nadn.navy.mil US Naval Academy http://www.nadn.navy.mil/Oceanography/ Annapolis, MD 21402-5026 ************************************************************************* ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 22 Aug 1997 09:27:43 -0400 (EDT) From: Barbara B Yoakum To: Assoc Prof Mario EC Vieira Cc: Barbara B Yoakum Subject: El Nino on NPR Hi Mario, One of my colleagues informed me that today on NPR (88.5 FM) at 2:00 pm the Talk of the Nation:Science Friday show will include a discussion of this year's El Nino event (during the first hour of the program). Further information on this can be found under NPR's Science Friday Web page at http://www.sciencefriday.com/ Guests on this portion of the show will include John Kermone, Visiting Scientitst, Office of Global Programs, NOAA; Antonio Moura, Director, International Research Institute for Seasonal to Interannual Climate Prediction; Stephen Zebiak, Senior Research Scientist, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University. Please pass this information on to any of your colleagues who may be interested in it. Thanks very much. Barbara From loras at una.ac.cr Fri Aug 22 16:10:12 1997 From: loras at una.ac.cr (Programa de Tortugas Marinas) Date: Fri, 22 Aug 1997 14:10:12 -0600 (CST) Subject: your mail In-Reply-To: Message-ID: On Wed, 23 Jul 1997, Programa de Tortugas Marinas wrote: > > Doctor Williams, Ernest H., Jr, PhD. > Reciba usted un cordial y respetuos saludo. > Mi nombre es Carlos Mario Orrego Vasquez,soy medico veterinario egresado > de la Universidad de Antioquia, Medellin-Colombia. > Actualmente participo como asistente en el proyecto de monitoreo > poblacional con la tortuga lora (Lepidochelys olivacea) en la playa de > Nancite, Costa Rica. > En 1992, tuve la oportunidad de participar como asistente de campo en un > proyecto on los delfines rosados del Amazonas en Puerto Nari?o, Colombia. > > He recibido la informacion de parte de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, > centro Mayaguez, donde ofrecen el phd. en biologia marina, en el cual > estoy seriamente interesado aplicar, dentro de este paquete de informacion > hay una lista con los profesores del departamento y sus lineas de > investigacion, al leerlo detenidamente me interesa establecer contactos > con usted con miras a la tutoria necesaria para la aplicacion y desempe?o > mio dentro del centro como futuro estudiante de doctorado. Quisiera poder > trabajar a nivel de parasitos en organismos acuaticos, este tema se > ajusta a uno de los que aparecen dentro de sus lineas de trabajo. > Durante esta semana se esta realizando en Costa Rica la reunion de > laboratorios marinos del Caribe y he tenido la oportunidad de estar > presente, en este congreso encontre representacion de la Universidad de > Puerto Rico, he estado conversando con algunos profesores de > los que > asistieron y ellos se ofrecen a llevarme la aplicacion directamente, pues > el plazo se vence ahora en septiembre para comenzar el proximo a?o en el > mes de enero. La verdad es que estoy muy interesado en ser admitido en > este programa de estudios para lo cual solicito su ayuda como posible > tutor, quiero decirle que debo enviar la aplicacion lo mas pronto posible > con miras a empezar a buscar entidades a nivel de mi pais o el exterior > que puedan ayudarme a financiar los estudios. > Estare atento a cualquier informacion que pueda brindarme, agradezco de > antemano su valiosa colaboracion, muchas gracias. > Cordialmente. > Carlos Mario Orrego Vasquez Dr. Williams, hetenido ahora oportunidad de intercambiar por e-mail a traves del Dr. jose Lopez su direccion electronica a la cual le estoy enviando nuevamente este mensaje, pues desde el mes pasado de julio, una vez concluyo el congreso de Laboratorios Marinos aca en Costa Rica, en la Universidad de Costa Rica he tratado de hacer contacto con usted. Como le mencionaba en el primer parrafo de esta carta, estoy actualmente vinculado en un proyecto de investigacion on la tortuga lora, en la playa de Nancite, donde permanezco interno durante 20 dias de cada mes, hasta que llega la luna llena, que es la epoca en que normalmente las tortugas no llegan a la playa a desovar, por tanto solo puedo tener acceso al e-mail en cada luna llena, estare aca hasta el proximo 30 de agosto. Agradezco cualquier informacion, que me pueda brindar y estare atento a establecer nuestra comunicacion porque quiero iniciar estudios en su recinto. Muchas gracias nuevamente, mucha suerte. Carlos Mario Orrego vasquez From Tsai.Sin at jcu.edu.au Sat Aug 23 20:29:54 1997 From: Tsai.Sin at jcu.edu.au (Tsai Sin) Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 10:29:54 +1000 (EST) Subject: statistical packages Message-ID: Just to say thanks to everyone who replied regarding the programs for doing bi-plots and h-plots. I'll sort through the options and get back to anyone who;s interested. tsai Tsai Sin Department of Marine Biology James cook University Douglas, Townsville QLD 4811 Australia From dbaker at tm.net.my Mon Aug 25 08:12:41 1997 From: dbaker at tm.net.my (Don E Baker) Date: Mon, 25 Aug 1997 20:12:41 +0800 Subject: Fires Of Indonesia & Reef Affection? Message-ID: <340176B9.2585@tm.net.my> Hello Coral-L, We have been experiencing smoke haze in the Kota Kinabalu / P. Gaya area [if not all of Sabah] for the past few weeks. Visibility is less than 5 kilometres at times. It appears that this may be causing a type of "greenhouse" affect, whereas air & sea temperatures may be on the rise. Some of the shallow water corals at P. Gaya are fading in color as well. Though the nations of Indonesia & Malaysia are "talking" about this potentially serious ecological problem, no action has yet been prescibed upon. Any other subsribers to this List wish to comment? Prior experiences in , say, volcanic haze over extended periods of time and coral reef affection? Don Baker Sabah/Malaysia From strong at nadn.navy.mil Mon Aug 25 10:29:23 1997 From: strong at nadn.navy.mil (Prof Alan E Strong) Date: Mon, 25 Aug 1997 10:29:23 -0400 (EDT) Subject: BLEACHING REPORT (fwd) Message-ID: FYI -- Appreciate any further info on this activity as SSTs show hint of increase in western Caribbean over past week...a few more tenths of a degree in the Caymans and bleachiung may be close at hand. HotSpots can be seen at: http://psbsgi1.nesdis.noaa.gov:8080/PSB/EPS/SST/climohot.html or http://psbsgi1.nesdis.noaa.gov:8080/PSB/EPS/SST/climo&hot.html Cheers, Al **** <>< ******* <>< ******* <>< ******* <>< ******* <>< ******* <>< ***** Alan E. Strong Phys Scientist/Oceanographer Adj Assoc Professor NOAA/NESDIS/ORA/ORAD -- E/RA3 US Naval Academy NOAA Science Center -- RM 711H Oceanography Department -- US Postal Service -- -- UPS/FedEx -- Annapolis, MD 21402 4700 Silver Hill Road 5200 Auth Road 410-293-6566[V-mail] Stop 9910 Camp Springs, MD 20746 410-293-2137 [FAX] Washington, DC 20233-9910 strong at nadn.navy.mil Alan.E.Strong at noaa.gov 301-763-8102 FAX: 301-763-8108 ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sat, 23 Aug 1997 14:02:57 -0400 From: Raymond Hayes To: Prof Alan E Strong Subject: BLEACHING REPORT Al, Spoke with Tom [Goreau] last night. He has just returned from the Phillipines. He reports that bleaching has begun in Mexico off Porto [Puerto] Moreles, according to Bob Trench's student, Iglesias. How does this compare with the current SST anomaly map? Tom would like you to send him a current SST map, if available.... Will be in touch next week about other possible sites of bleaching during this season. Ray From jlang at uts.cc.utexas.edu Mon Aug 25 11:19:06 1997 From: jlang at uts.cc.utexas.edu (Judith C. Lang) Date: Mon, 25 Aug 1997 10:19:06 -0500 (CDT) Subject: Disclaimer Message-ID: Re: Brighter Prospects for the World's Coral Reefs? Science, 25 July 1997 To anyone who might be thinking that Bob Stenck and I are of the delusion that we invented the Rapid Assessment Protocol, let me please clarify that what we are really doing is helping Phil Kramer and many others try to realize Bob Ginsburg's goal of developing protocols for rapidly screening the present health of Caribbean-area reef corals and coral reefs. More generally, the view presented in this article--that midway through the International Year of the Reef, "some coral reef scientists are beginning to suspect that reefs may not be quite as widely imperiled as they once thought" (p. 489)-- really isn't an accurate presentation of my understanding of what at least some of us were trying to articulate. Surely we all agree that many reefs near large human populations have declined. A genuine sense of alarm for what might happen if present trends continue inspires much of everyone's current research, monitoring, management and/or educational efforts. Where we have differed is in our respective levels of confidence at guesstimating the global-scale future of reefs over the next century. As expressed by Bob Steneck (pers. comm.) several months ago, "our concern is not whether some reefs are in trouble, it's whether all reefs are in trouble and, if not, which ones are and which ones are not". One of IYOR's primary goals is: "A better assessment of the health of the world's reefs, as a result of research and monitoring programmes, and identification of those reefs in greatest need of conservation and management." Hence, it's unfortunate that we were collectively characterized as having overlooked how narrowly reefs had been surveyed in our so-called "frenzy to convey the severity of the problem" (p. 492). Oh well, at least valid concerns about the world's coral reefs are getting some positive play in the scientific press! Judy Lang From REEF003 at aol.com Mon Aug 25 12:01:51 1997 From: REEF003 at aol.com (REEF003 at aol.com) Date: Mon, 25 Aug 1997 12:01:51 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Montastrea spawning Message-ID: <970825115825_1614062467@emout19.mail.aol.com> Dear spawning enthusiasts!, Havn't seen much come accross the list about spawnig yet, so I thought I'd start the ball rolling! Last night, Aug 24, Montastrea sp. colonies were observed spawning in Key Largo, FL. Volunteer diverswitnessed the first bundles, still inside the polyps, at 11:06pm. At 11:15 the first spawning release was seen and both fast and slow release from different colonies continued through 11:48. The majority of the activity took place between 11:20 and 11:40pm. The spawning activity witnessed by our group took place on the shoreward side of Key Largo Dry Rocks in approx 12 feet of water. Sea conditions were less than 1 foot, wind out of the east at approx 5-10 kts, skies clear to partly cloudy, water temp approx. 86-87 degrees, very slight current to the north (probably tidal). Though many colonies were observed spawning last night, there were a number of colonies that did not appear to have spawned. I expect additional spawning to occur tonight. I'll keep you posted. Laddie Akins REEF From coral at aoml.noaa.gov Mon Aug 25 13:33:08 1997 From: coral at aoml.noaa.gov (Coral Health and Monitoring Program) Date: Mon, 25 Aug 1997 13:33:08 -0400 (EDT) Subject: GCRMN Report Message-ID: Please excuse cross-postings. The GCRMN Report to IOC-UNESCO (July, 1997), and Report on Suva, Fiji, 17-18 July, 1997 meeting, has been placed at the GCRMN Web site: http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/gcrmn/ From coral at aoml.noaa.gov Mon Aug 25 13:33:08 1997 From: coral at aoml.noaa.gov (Coral Health and Monitoring Program) Date: Mon, 25 Aug 1997 13:33:08 -0400 (EDT) Subject: GCRMN Report Message-ID: Please excuse cross-postings. The GCRMN Report to IOC-UNESCO (July, 1997), and Report on Suva, Fiji, 17-18 July, 1997 meeting, has been placed at the GCRMN Web site: http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/gcrmn/ From rcgregor at usthk.ust.hk Mon Aug 25 22:52:39 1997 From: rcgregor at usthk.ust.hk (Gregor Hodgson) Date: Tue, 26 Aug 1997 10:52:39 +0800 Subject: Brighter Prospects Message-ID: <340244F7.52CD@usthk.ust.hk> Re: Brighter Prospects for the World's Coral Reefs? It is great that Science is devoting space to coral reefs, however, no doubt a majority of us do not agree with the headline for this story, which simply reflects the bias of the news writer who clearly tried hard to fit the available info into her own rosy view of the world. That job was not easy, hence, there are many logic gaps and contradictions in the story. When juxtaposed with the headline, the best is, "By any criterion, though, there has been little progress toward stemming the decline of reefs." p. 493. If you agree that this story was a poorly written, confused misrepresentation of the prevailing scientific view on the prospects for the health of coral reefs and coral reef fish, please send a note to Christine Gilbert, letters editor of Science at: science_letters at aaas.org -- Gregor Hodgson, PhD Institute for the Environment and Sustainable Development Research Centre, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Clearwater Bay, Kowloon, HONG KONG e-mail: rcgregor at usthk.ust.hk tel: (852) 2358-8568 fax: (852) 2358-1582 Reef Check: http://www.ust.hk/~webrc/reef.html From pdustan at zeus.cofc.edu Tue Aug 26 09:08:45 1997 From: pdustan at zeus.cofc.edu (Phillip Dustan) Date: Tue, 26 Aug 97 09:08:45 EDT Subject: Disclaimer Message-ID: <3.0.16.19970826091419.299ff7ae@zeus.cofc.edu> I would second JudyLang's thoughts and add that I felt that Liz( Science) diluted the Caribbean and western Atlantic with the Pacific. I spoke with her at length about the Caribbean and western Atlantic but the issues of nutrification, lack of herbivory, bleaching, coral diseases, watershed effluent, and nested levels of stress that are so important for this region somehow seemed to get lost and bound into a quote about '''"if you stop the stress the reefs will heal themselves (or some such). And anyway, the Pacific is OK so its still an open issue... right? Anyone who has been diving inthe Florida Keys, Jamaica, or a host of other locales throughout the Caribbean cannot ignore their own observations but might want to ignore Science. My hat is off to Dr. Bob who came up with the idea of IYOR and to Gregor who has pushed so hard for ReefCheck. But lets also get real and stop kidding ourselves that everything is OK. Phil Dustan Phil Dustan pdustan at zeus.cofc.edu Department of Biology telephone 803-953-8086 University of Charleston fax 803 953-5453 Charleston S.C. 29424 From jlang at uts.cc.utexas.edu Tue Aug 26 10:53:47 1997 From: jlang at uts.cc.utexas.edu (Judith C. Lang) Date: Tue, 26 Aug 1997 09:53:47 -0500 (CDT) Subject: Disclaimer-pt.2 Message-ID: Re: Brighter Prospects for the World's Coral Reefs? Gregor Hodgson wrote: >It is great that Science is devoting space to coral reefs, however, no >doubt a majority of us do not agree with the headline for this story, >which simply reflects the bias of the news writer who clearly tried hard >to fit the available info into her own rosy view of the world. In defence of the reporter: not knowing how much of the article, including its headline, was written or rewritten by an editor, we really aren't privy to her world view. On another matter, and in Gregor's defence: I've received a most moving letter from a recreational diver which ends, "I find myself wanting to learn more in the hope I can better explain things to those around me." If Reef Check is having a similar transformational effect on other volunteers, his goal of raising public awareness of the value of coral reefs and of threats to their health is definitely being achieved. Judy Lang From gussman_o at usp.ac.fj Wed Aug 27 07:56:54 1997 From: gussman_o at usp.ac.fj (gussman_o at usp.ac.fj) Date: Wed, 27 Aug 1997 11:56:54 +0000 Subject: carbonate budgets Message-ID: <01IMXLVFLFC28ZDXCL@usp.ac.fj> Dear Coral-Listers, I am working on Halimeda calcium carbonate budgets on Fijian reefs for my PhD dissertation. Combing through the literature of sedimentation and carbonate production, I developed a couple of questions concerning carbonate budgets in general, which I hope one of you might answer: 1. In bioerosion and deposit feeding activities carbonate material is often reduced in size (muds). While these activities produce sediment and add to the reef budget initially (or at least may not affect it, as by deposit feeders), it is also more likely to be washed out during extreme (and normal?) weather conditions. Is it generally assumed that any bioeroded material is lost to the system (bioerosion = loss to carbonate budget?), or is there an indication as to what proportion is retained within the reef? In addition, bioerosion is thought to make substrates more prone to mechanical erosion. Is there any qualitative/ quantitative data on this process? The only one I found so far is in a study on barnacles, quoted in Orme (see below for reference). 2. This raises the question of rates of cementation. Are there any published rates of cementation of loose material, by e.g. the often quoted red coralline algae? Or is it their growth rates that indicates cementation? Orme (1977, in Biology and Geology of Coral Reefs, Jones and Endean eds., Volume 4, Geology 2; "Aspects of coral reef sedimentation" ) states that "enourmous blocks are quickly cemented to the reef on which they come to rest", which is the only (qualitative) information I could find. I hope my request is appropriate for this list. Please respond to me personally . Looking forward to discussions. Sincerely, Oliver Oliver Gussmann (PhD Student) Department of Marine Science University of Otago P.O. Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand fax: +643-479-8336 oliver.gussmann at stonebow.otago.ac.nz (in Fiji until end-November at) c/o Marine Studies Programme University of the South Pacific P.O. Box 1168, Suva, Fiji fax: +679-301-490 gussman_o at usp.ac.fj From t04mak at abdn.ac.uk Wed Aug 27 08:36:21 1997 From: t04mak at abdn.ac.uk (Michael Keller) Date: Wed, 27 Aug 1997 13:36:21 +0100 (BST) Subject: A request for a little help Message-ID: Hello there coral-listers, Please excuse my impertinense in asking for the following. I will shortly depart for Malaysia to join the team conducting the extensive survey of the reefs of eastern Malaysia. I will be joining them to survey the relatively pristine reefs of Pulau Layang Layang, however the storm season is rapidly approaching and will make work more or less impossible from the end of september onwards. I am using this as an excuse to go to visit some family members in Australia and while I am there I would very much like to visit the Great barier reef and see for myself some of the work that is being done there. I am particulary interested in sustainable management strategies for the use reefs for tourism, fishing, etc. I therefore have the folowing request: does anyone out there know of anybody who would not mind to much if I came to learn a little bit about their work on the Great Barrier Reef? Thanks in advance for your help, and sorry for putting such a personal request on the list yours mike ---------------------- Michael Keller @abdn.ac.uk From cnidaria at norway-c.it.earthlink.net Wed Aug 27 09:16:46 1997 From: cnidaria at norway-c.it.earthlink.net (James M. Cervino) Date: Wed, 27 Aug 1997 06:16:46 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Coral Diseases on The Rise! Message-ID: Dear Colleagues, I am currently tracking and epizootic in the Caribbean, tearmed Rapid Wasting Disease and Yellow Blotch or Band. My data confirms that YB is now in Bonaire, Aruba, Curacao, Cayman. I have not seen it in Grenada, or Tobago. Does anyone have info reguarding this epizootic?? Also I am looking for a striking fast spreading disease that is affecting M.annularis and C.natans. Dr. Tom Goreau and I have been tracking this new disease for the past 7 months, and has slowed down for now, however Yellow Band Disease has increased. RWD is seen in shallow depths no deeper that 72 ft and seen predominantly between 20 and 50 ft. The distruction starts on the tops of the multi-lobate M.annularis coral heads, and starts around the edges of C.natans. Last month I returned to my study sites and witnessed the 90% of all the tops of these species are wiped out by RWD. It either kills the whole coral colony or stops half way for the Yellow Band Disease to finish the killing mission. Or the opposite. I have been sending samples to Dr. Garriet Smith of University of South Carolina, and is now culturing the samples on a preferred media. The histology of fixed samples has been conducted by Dr. Ray Hayes, he completed microscopic examinations of both species. Sections reveal a filamentous fungus which appears as a meshwork of individual hyphae organized into mycelia. The mycelium covers the surface of and impregnatesn the coral epidermis, excess mucoid production appears to be disrupting the arrangment. The fungus appears to be disolving the skeleton, the septa and calix are severly depressed. Whereas the Yellow Band Disease leaves the skeleton (septa and calix) intact and not depressed. See Science June 27th under Random Samples, Ocean Realm summer issue. Any help would help a great deal?? Also does any one have photos?? I will announce a lecture and slide presentation that will be held in Woods Hole, at the MBL or WHOI the latter part of Sept., any one interested in epizootics should try to make this. I will be showing the detailed spread of this fast spreading disease, along w/ other diseases in the field, along w/ video. please let me know if anyone is interested?? James M. Cervino ****************************** James M. Cervino Marine Biologist Global Coral Reef Alliance 124-19 9th ave, College Point NY 11356 Phone/Fax 718-539-8155 ******************************* From loras at una.ac.cr Wed Aug 27 12:39:09 1997 From: loras at una.ac.cr (Programa de Tortugas Marinas) Date: Wed, 27 Aug 1997 10:39:09 -0600 (CST) Subject: your mail In-Reply-To: Message-ID: On Fri, 22 Aug 1997, Programa de Tortugas Marinas wrote: > On Wed, 23 Jul 1997, Programa de Tortugas Marinas wrote: > > > > > Doctor Williams, Ernest H., Jr, PhD. > > > Reciba usted un cordial y respetuos saludo. > > Mi nombre es Carlos Mario Orrego Vasquez,soy medico veterinario egresado > > de la Universidad de Antioquia, Medellin-Colombia. > > Actualmente participo como asistente en el proyecto de monitoreo > > poblacional con la tortuga lora (Lepidochelys olivacea) en la playa de > > Nancite, Costa Rica. > > En 1992, tuve la oportunidad de participar como asistente de campo en un > > proyecto on los delfines rosados del Amazonas en Puerto Nari?o, Colombia. > > > > He recibido la informacion de parte de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, > > centro Mayaguez, donde ofrecen el phd. en biologia marina, en el cual > > estoy seriamente interesado aplicar, dentro de este paquete de informacion > > hay una lista con los profesores del departamento y sus lineas de > > investigacion, al leerlo detenidamente me interesa establecer contactos > > con usted con miras a la tutoria necesaria para la aplicacion y desempe?o > > mio dentro del centro como futuro estudiante de doctorado. Quisiera poder > > trabajar a nivel de parasitos en organismos acuaticos, este tema se > > ajusta a uno de los que aparecen dentro de sus lineas de trabajo. > > Durante esta semana se esta realizando en Costa Rica la reunion de > > laboratorios marinos del Caribe y he tenido la oportunidad de estar > > presente, en este congreso encontre representacion de la Universidad de > > Puerto Rico, he estado conversando con algunos profesores de > > los que > > asistieron y ellos se ofrecen a llevarme la aplicacion directamente, pues > > el plazo se vence ahora en septiembre para comenzar el proximo a?o en el > > mes de enero. La verdad es que estoy muy interesado en ser admitido en > > este programa de estudios para lo cual solicito su ayuda como posible > > tutor, quiero decirle que debo enviar la aplicacion lo mas pronto posible > > con miras a empezar a buscar entidades a nivel de mi pais o el exterior > > que puedan ayudarme a financiar los estudios. > > Estare atento a cualquier informacion que pueda brindarme, agradezco de > > antemano su valiosa colaboracion, muchas gracias. > > Cordialmente. > > Carlos Mario Orrego Vasquez > > Dr. Williams, hetenido ahora oportunidad de intercambiar por e-mail a > traves del Dr. jose Lopez su direccion electronica a la cual le estoy > enviando nuevamente este mensaje, pues desde el mes pasado de julio, una > vez concluyo el congreso de Laboratorios Marinos aca en Costa Rica, en la > Universidad de Costa Rica he tratado de hacer contacto con usted. > Como le mencionaba en el primer parrafo de esta carta, estoy actualmente > vinculado en un proyecto de investigacion on la tortuga lora, en la playa > de Nancite, donde permanezco interno durante 20 dias de cada mes, hasta > que llega la luna llena, que es la epoca en que normalmente las tortugas > no llegan a la playa a desovar, por tanto solo puedo tener acceso al > e-mail en cada luna llena, estare aca hasta el proximo 30 de agosto. > Agradezco cualquier informacion, que me pueda brindar y estare atento a > establecer nuestra comunicacion porque quiero iniciar estudios en su > recinto. > Muchas gracias nuevamente, mucha suerte. > Carlos Mario Orrego vasquez > > From korrubelj at math.unp.ac.za Thu Aug 28 06:05:07 1997 From: korrubelj at math.unp.ac.za (Jan Korrubel) Date: Thu, 28 Aug 1997 12:05:07 +0200 Subject: "Yellow-Band" Disease.....(was Coral Diseases on The Rise!) Message-ID: Dear Dr Cervino and fellow Coral-Listers, I am currently tracking and epizootic in the Caribbean, tearmed Rapid Wasting Disease and Yellow Blotch or Band. My data confirms that YB is now in Bonaire, Aruba, Curacao, Cayman. I have not seen it in Grenada, or Tobago. Does anyone have info reguarding this epizootic?? >> I, and a colleague have a 'reef site' paper in press at this moment with CORAL REEFS on a coral disease that we named 'yellow-band disease' (obviously because of it's striking colour!). At the end of this message, I attached the entire text of this paper for your information. The paper mentions coral species infected, and rates of spread (this thing is fast!!). >> At this stage we do not know what causes this disease. >> We found the disease in the southern Arabian Gulf, off the coast of the United Arab Emirates. It appears that I may have another trip coming up fairly shortly, so if you, Dr Cervino, would like to contact me with regards to getting some samples, please get in touch. >> I also have many pictures - mainly print, very few slides unfortunately, but I'd be willing to scan them them in for anybody who might be interested. Regards, Jan Korrubel University of Natal South Africa ----- Attached MS due to appear in CORAL REEFS -------------------- ----- Please do cite (yet) without the authors permission ------------- A NEW CORAL DISEASE FROM THE SOUTHERN ARABIAN GULF (Coral Reefs - Submitted 5/9/96) During an ecological survey of coral communities at Jebel Ali in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, a high incidence of coral diseases was observed. Although a coral disease has been reported from the Gulf of Oman (Coles 1994), this is a first report for coral diseases in the Arabian Gulf. The encountered diseases were the well described Black Band and White Band Diseases (Antonius, 1995) and a hitherto undescribed disease, which we refer to as Yellow-Band Disease. It manifests itself as a broad yellow band moving across healthy coral tissue in a manner similar to the Black Band disease (Rutzler, Santavy and Antonius, 1983) insofar as where the yellow band actively moves into healthy tissue areas, a band of decaying and sloughing off tissue is observed. However, the entire area denuded by the infection can retain the characteristic yellow colour. The Yellow Band Disease appears to be in no way similar to the Aggressive Orange Band recently described by Littler and Littler (1994), which attacks coralline algae. Investigations into establishing the pathogen are underway. Preliminary measurements indicate that within colony spreading rates (on Acropora clathrata) are faster in summer (x = 19.7 q 4.9 mm per week, measured mid October), than in winter (x = 9.4 q 3.9 mm per week, measured beginning February). Disease spread is significantly different between these seasons (Mann-Whitney U-Test, Z = 2.67, P < 0.001). Species found to be affected by Yellow Band Disease were: Acropora clathrata, A. pharaonis, A. tenuis, A. valida, A. florida, Porites lutea, P. lichen, P. nodifera, Turbinaria reniformis, Cyphastrea microphthalma. Acknowledgements: We acknowledge funding assistance by the Dubai Municipality and Charles Martin of Martin Mid East for the opportunity to work in Gulf waters, and for logistical support. Antonius A (1995). Pathologic syndromes on reef corals: a review. In: Geister J, Lathuillere B (eds) Coral reefs in the past, the present and the future. Proc 2nd Europ Regional Meeting, ISRS. Publ Serv Geol Lux, 29: 161-169. Coles, S. L. 1994. Extensive coral disease outbreak at Fahl Island, Gulf of Oman, Indian Ocean. Coral Reefs 13: 242. Littler MM, Littler DS (1994) A pathogen of reef-building coralline algae discovered in the South Pacific. Coral Reefs 13(4): 202. Rutzler K, Santavy DL, Antonius A (1983) The Black Band Disease of Atlantic reef corals. III Distribution, Ecology, and development. PSZNI Marine Ecology 4(4): 329-358. Jan L. Korrubel. Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, University of Natal, Private Bag X01, Scottsville, 3209 Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Bernhard Riegl. Institute for Palaontologie, Universitats-straBe 7, 1010 Vienna, Austria. ------------------------------------ From T.M.Daw at newcastle.ac.uk Thu Aug 28 14:00:47 1997 From: T.M.Daw at newcastle.ac.uk (Tim Daw) Date: Thu, 28 Aug 1997 14:00:47 GMT0BST Subject: Reefs of Massawa Expedition Homepage Message-ID: <1DAF1179A5@TOWN1.ncl.ac.uk> Hi List members, Sorry for cross postings. The Reefs of Massawa Expedition to Eritrea homepage has moved and is now located at http://www.ncl.ac.uk/~nrome. Regards, Tim Daw. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Just to let everyone know that the Reefs of Massawa Expedition > (RoME)1997 leaves for Eritrea this Saturday for 2 months research. > > RoME'97 is an IYOR expedition from Newcastle University to examine > anthropogenic impacts on corals around Massawa where human activity > on the coast of Eritrea is concentrated. > > Please look at our webpage at http://www.ncl.ac.uk/~n4052302 for > more information, a full proposal and updates on our field > activities. > > Any links from coral reef conservation pages would be very much > appreciated. We also want to set up links to other IYOR activity > webpages. > If you would like a link put in please contact mgsmith at kbnet.co.uk > who will be managing and updating the site while we are in the > field. > > sincerely, > > Tim Daw & the RoME team. ******************************************************** Tim Daw Reefs of Massawa Expedition (RoME) 1997 Department of Marine Sciences and Coastal Management University of Newcastle Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU UK Tel. (0191) 222 6661 Fax. (0191) 222 7891 -------------------------------------------------------- Visit the Reefs of Massawa Expedition 1997 web site at http://www.ncl.ac.uk/~nrome -------------------------------------------------------- ******************************************************** From miriam at system.ecology.su.se Thu Aug 28 14:45:01 1997 From: miriam at system.ecology.su.se (Miriam Huitric) Date: Thu, 28 Aug 1997 14:45:01 GMT+1 Subject: coral degradation and shrimp farming Message-ID: <143C9B257BE9@system.ecology.su.se> I am interested in knowing if there has been any research done linking coral degradation and shrimp farming (in the mangroves and other coastal areas). I have found a great deal regarding nutrient effects and eutrophication, and sedimentation effects on corals but nothing regarding the outputs from shrimp farming. The outputs are nutrient-rich, so I suppose the nutrient and sedimentation effects must occur, however supposing/assuming is not scientifically acceptable. The effluents also contain pesticides, piscicides, herbicides, antibiotics and a whole myriad of other chemicals whose presence is bound to have an effect on the corals, however I need something concrete (in terms of evidence). I would greatly appreciate any information and can be contacted directly at: miriam at systems.ecology.su.se Thank you. From jogden at seas.marine.usf.edu Thu Aug 28 15:14:52 1997 From: jogden at seas.marine.usf.edu (John Ogden) Date: Thu, 28 Aug 1997 15:14:52 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Don't shoot the messenger Message-ID: Gregor Hodgson quite appropriately airs his views on Elizabeth Pennisi's article in the July 25 issue of Science. Many people talked to her during the preparation of the article and it is my opinion that the article accurately reflects the diverse and often contentious opinions of reef "health" and its causes in our community. Let us continue the debate and plan the kinds of studies that may resolve the points of contention. Let's not flood Ms Pennisi's supervisor with complaints and accusations. *******PLEASE NOTE NEW PHONE AND FAX BELOW*********************** John C. Ogden Director Phone: 813/553-1100 Florida Institute of Oceanography Fax: 813/553-1109 830 First Street South St. Petersburg, Florida 33701 ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 26 Aug 1997 10:52:39 +0800 From: Gregor Hodgson To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov Subject: Brighter Prospects Re: Brighter Prospects for the World's Coral Reefs? It is great that Science is devoting space to coral reefs, however, no doubt a majority of us do not agree with the headline for this story, which simply reflects the bias of the news writer who clearly tried hard to fit the available info into her own rosy view of the world. That job was not easy, hence, there are many logic gaps and contradictions in the story. When juxtaposed with the headline, the best is, "By any criterion, though, there has been little progress toward stemming the decline of reefs." p. 493. If you agree that this story was a poorly written, confused misrepresentation of the prevailing scientific view on the prospects for the health of coral reefs and coral reef fish, please send a note to Christine Gilbert, letters editor of Science at: science_letters at aaas.org -- Gregor Hodgson, PhD Institute for the Environment and Sustainable Development Research Centre, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Clearwater Bay, Kowloon, HONG KONG e-mail: rcgregor at usthk.ust.hk tel: (852) 2358-8568 fax: (852) 2358-1582 Reef Check: http://www.ust.hk/~webrc/reef.html From jlang at uts.cc.utexas.edu Thu Aug 28 16:41:01 1997 From: jlang at uts.cc.utexas.edu (Judith C. Lang) Date: Thu, 28 Aug 1997 14:41:01 -0600 Subject: Don't shoot the messenger Message-ID: <199708282039.PAA28109@curly.cc.utexas.edu> Dear All, >Let us continue the debate and plan the kinds of studies that may resolve >the points of contention. Let's not flood Ms Pennisi's supervisor with >complaints and accusations. Since I was guilty of starting this, let me quickly endorse John Ogden's two requests. Judy Lang From rcgregor at usthk.ust.hk Fri Aug 29 01:58:23 1997 From: rcgregor at usthk.ust.hk (Gregor Hodgson) Date: Fri, 29 Aug 1997 13:58:23 +0800 Subject: Brighter Prospects or Dim Future? Message-ID: <340664FF.7CF5@usthk.ust.hk> Brighter Prospects or Dim Future? With all due respect to Judy Lang and John Ogden whose views I hold in high esteem, it seems obvious that the 25 July Science article (p. 491) showed gaps in logic and was biased as reflected in the headline and statements in the first few paragraphs. I may be wrong, but I don't believe that the majority of coral reef scientists and coral reef managers (many of whose views were presented in the story) agree with Science that the prospects for coral reef health are very bright. A careful review of the article suggests that the writer/editors became confused about revised views on the effects of global warming on reefs and current views on anthropogenic impacts on reefs. The lack of separation of these two possible impacts on reefs causes much of the confusion. When a major scientific journal gives a rare bit of space to the subject of coral reefs, one would hope that they would present a logical, objective view. This is not Newsweek. A couple of examples of problems from the article are: para. 2 ".."some coral reef scientists are beginning to suspect that reefs may not be quite as widely imperiled as they once thought. Increasingly scientists are wondering whether the decline may be local or regional rather than global in scope." My comment: This has meaning for global warming but doesn't make sense with respect to anthropogenic impacts. Can we write off the Caribbean, but globally reefs are OK? para 3. "But new research indicates that some of the more tractable problems such as simple overfishing, may be playing a larger role in reef decline...." My comment: Is overfishing really a simple, easily solvable problem therefore reefs have a bright future? Overharvesting is a major impact. As coordinator of Reef Check, I have been receiving anecdotal progress reports from dozens of teams around the world as they carry out surveys of human impacts on reefs. Many teams are surveying reefs they are familiar with. Few teams have come back and said that reefs they previously saw damaged by human impacts are now in good shape. Many teams have reported evidence of increasing human impacts (include overharvesting) in areas previously believed by many of us at Bob Ginsburg's 1993 Miami conference to be reasonably pristine such as eastern Indonesia and Borneo. One of the greatest difficulties for Reef Check is finding "pristine" reefs to use as a baseline. I believe many reef workers agree with Jeremy Jackson's statement, "We don't need one more bit of science to know there is a crisis. (p. 493)" However, as John Ogden suggests, we do need additional studies ---- particularly to characterize the rate of and reasons for the decline of the increasing number of reef communities that are suffering damage so that solutions can be selected and implemented. The intent of my suggestion was not to "nail" the writer and editors, who seem to have been confused by the facts and quotes, many of which disagreed with the headline, but simply to alert coral-listers to have a look and decide for themselves if a letter was warranted. If at least one of these is printed, then Science readers, including funding agency staff, will be appraised that decreased worries about the effects of global warming on reefs does not mean that globally reefs have a bright future with respect to human (and other) impacts. At the Fiji meeting of ISRS in July, the members present agreed that ISRS should provide a more activist role for the reef research community. If ISRS members don't comment on a somewhat slanted, confused article in Science, who will? Gregor Hodgson, PhD Institute for the Environment and Sustainable Development Research Centre, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Clearwater Bay, Kowloon, HONG KONG e-mail: rcgregor at usthk.ust.hk tel: (852) 2358-8568 fax: (852) 2358-1582 Reef Check: http://www.ust.hk/~webrc/reef.html From cbingman at netcom.com Fri Aug 29 03:28:39 1997 From: cbingman at netcom.com (Craig Bingman) Date: Fri, 29 Aug 1997 00:28:39 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Brighter Prospects or Dim Future? In-Reply-To: <340664FF.7CF5@usthk.ust.hk> Message-ID: On Fri, 29 Aug 1997, Gregor Hodgson wrote: > Brighter Prospects or Dim Future? > > With all due respect to Judy Lang and John Ogden whose views I hold in > high esteem, it seems obvious that the 25 July Science article (p. 491) > showed gaps in logic and was biased as reflected in the headline and > statements in the first few paragraphs. I may be wrong, but I don't > believe that the majority of coral reef scientists and coral reef > managers (many of whose views were presented in the story) agree with > Science that the prospects for coral reef health are very bright. > A careful review of the article suggests that the writer/editors became > confused about revised views on the effects of global warming on reefs > and current views on anthropogenic impacts on reefs. The lack of > separation of these two possible impacts on reefs causes much of the > confusion. > When a major scientific journal gives a rare bit of space to the subject > of coral reefs, one would hope that they would present a logical, > objective view. This is not Newsweek. No, it isn't Newsweek, but I'm not sure why that particular publication was singled out as the exemplar of things negative. The community of individuals interested in the future health and survival of coral reefs needs to consider this instance of perhaps confused reporting Very Carefully. I've made mistakes in my time, and I will attempt to say the right words at this juncture. First, it is wonderful that a major scientific journal has devoted space to the subject of the health of, and major anthropogenic impacts on coral reef ecosystems. This is a good thing in and of itself, and the coral reef community is to be commended for this positive outcome from IYOR. Secondly, you will be heard more clearly if you omit as completely as possible any critique of the edtioral staff of Science, or the individual who wrote up this news item. That person was bombarded by data and sometimes dissonant opinions. I feel secure in contending on their behalf that they did the best they could in the time that they had to present a balanced opinion. They might have looked at the web sites ehcoing information related to coral reefs, they might have heard the plea for attention implicit in all of the press releases. So please be kind. The people proximally involved think that they have done you a service. This must be considered and acknowledged. Finally, it might be a good idea for any letter in response to this news item to be aired here before a segment of the community interested in this topic before it is sent. In this way, we might avoid contentious language and statements. Everyone here cares about reefs, and it is time for us to sing in harmony. What you need to avoid is arousing any feeling in the editorial staff of science that the coral community is an unruly bunch of rough folk who will criticize anything that is said on the topic of coral reefs. Make this as nice as possible. If people get the impression that it is impossible to please you, they will rapidly stop caring about pleasing you. Coral reefs are a long way away from many people, even though they are very close to the heart of probably everyone on this list. Not everyone is a scientist studying coral reefs, not everyone has had the opportunity to dive on a coral reef, not everyone has invited a square meter or so of coral reef community into their living room in the form of a reef aquarium. I think that a certain part of the public, and the general scientific community, really wants to care about this topic. As personally upset as anyone might be, as enraged as they might be at the percieved inaccuracies in the reporting, please keep in mind that this is a rare opportunity to direct the attention of a public who might want to care about reefs, but has a very distant connection to them. There are statements that could be made that essentially everyone interested in these communities would agree upon. We need to find those statements and the correct phrasing. It is also time to focus on the wide-scale impacts that emperil reefs. Over-harvest of herbiverous fish, runoff from land and agricultural activities, the health of mangrove communities.... Craig Bingman Columbia University From korrubelj at math.unp.ac.za Fri Aug 29 06:58:16 1997 From: korrubelj at math.unp.ac.za (Jan Korrubel) Date: Fri, 29 Aug 1997 12:58:16 +0200 Subject: Pictures of Yellow Band Disease Message-ID: Hi Coral-List'ers, My posting about the Yellow Band Disease has drawn a few requests for pictures. I have scanned a few and placed them in a sub-directory called YBD in my FTP directory. The pictures are in .GIF format and range between 400 and 130k. Sorry they are little on the large size - I trust that it won't impact on folks' access time. In the directory also resides the text of the paper (CR_YBD.doc - same as I posted yesterday, but now in WinWORD 7 document format) and the file SCANTEXT.txt, an ASCII text file with descriptions pertaining to the individual scans. My machine can be reached by FTP'ing to: jan.math.unp.ac.za or 143.128.79.156 This will place you in the root of my FTP directory, so change directory into YBD to get the goods. Please note that my machine is a mere 486 running Windows NT 4.0 and therefore there is a limit of 2 simultaneous FTP sessions (read the welcome message for more info). If the limit has been reached when you try access, please try again...... Today being Friday, I'll leave my machine on for the weekend. Enjoy. Any comments / observations are welcomed. Jan Korrubel University of Natal South Africa. From kelmo at ufba.br Fri Aug 29 06:16:48 1997 From: kelmo at ufba.br (Francisco Kelmo O dos Santos) Date: Fri, 29 Aug 1997 08:16:48 -0200 (GRNLNDDT) Subject: scleropathology?? Message-ID: Dear All, Have you ever heard anything on bad-formation, atrophy, or degeneration of the coral skeleton due to environmental or man-made stress? Thanks for your attention, Regards, Francisco. ******************************************************************* ** Francisco Kelmo ** ** Laboratorio de Estudos Costeiros ** ** Instituto de Geociencias ** ** Universidade Federal da Bahia - Campus de Ondina ** ** Av. Adhemar de Barros s/n. Salvador-Bahia-BRAZIL ** ** cep. 40170-290 ** ** e-mail:Kelmo at ufba.br ** ******************************************************************** From cnidaria at italy-c.it.earthlink.net Fri Aug 29 09:54:16 1997 From: cnidaria at italy-c.it.earthlink.net (James M. Cervino) Date: Fri, 29 Aug 1997 06:54:16 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Yellow Band on the Rise! Message-ID: Thanks colleagues for the replys on Rapid Wasting Disease! Diseases of scleractinian corals have increased significantly over the last decade, affecting greater numbers of species around the world, (see Santavy DL, Peters EC., Microbial Pests: Coral Disease In The Western Atlantic 1996. Coral Reef Symp. in press. Pathogens on corals are becomming more apparent, many attribut this to fish grazing. The video and slides that I am showing is not fish grazing. Some think that this has been occuring for some time, and a normal process of coral reef dynamics. How long does it take Montastrea and C. natans to grow?? Some of these REEF BUILDING coral heads are extremely massive and can take a hundred years to grow, if diseases have been prevalent why is it that these massive coral heads have not been wiped out 20 years ago?? It is possible that when some scientists refer to "diseases being a normal process and have been around" they mean thousands of years. But at this frequency??? Cant be. All sites are riddeled w/disease (not just one), and show signs of, either high level eutropication or begining the signs of eutropication. All of the sites that I am visiting show cyanobacteria overgrowing and sometimes smothering the coral skeleton. The video and slides of reefs that I have been looking at of the Pacific and Caribbean from the 60s 70s and 80s donot look like the reefs that I am seeing today today. Goreau and I have been logging approx 300 dives or more per year, in the Pacific and Caribbean and see a drastic change. When was the last time you heard someone say: "the reefs are getting better" I went diving at that site during the early 80s and its better now" "the fish are coming back, larger than before" "The algae is gone" I think this is the year of the troubled reef! And funding the reef mission instead of the MARS mission I think deserves immediate attention. Questions to ask: Why are there high nutrient loads in reef areas increasing in recent years? Are these excess nutrient loads stressing cnidarians? What causes oligotrophic reefs to become eutrophic?? Is the deep water up-welling of nutrients causing reefs to become eutrophic?? We have visited reefs where there are no signs of human development or sewage, that show signs of eutropication, however we are seeing many more sites that show sewage pipes dumping waste directly into the water, along w/leaky septic tanks. Are anthropogenic sources the cause of these nutrients? After bleaching events the corals are stressed, are these excess nutrients lowering the metabolic activity of the coral, preventing it from producing the mucus to protect itself from invading pathogens (UFOs)? Are these diseases the result of endolithic pathogens, then during stressful conditions they multiply expressing a leasion?? Can past cores reveal skeletal malformities in corals?? Maby it is time to conduct core analysis? I have recently heard of a Yellow Band affecting Acroporid species in the Red Sea, Jan Korrubel of the University of Natal South Africa is tracking this epizootic in the Red Sea. Yellow band was first spotted and tracked by Creg Qurillo of Reef Relief (Fl. Keys), and I and Dr. TJ Goreau have now tracked it in Aruba, Curacao, Bonaire, Cayman, and Panama. I will be checking the Virgin Islands next week for RWD and YB, and hopfully getting the permits in time for sample collection. Fast action and emergency funding is needed when tracking coral diseases in the field. Reguarding Yellow Band, I have been tracking the YB here in the Caribbean since Jan. I wonder if we are looking at the same epizootic? I have not seen it on any other species other than Montastrea (all morphs). This is a slowly expanding leasion, possibly mm per week. And never see it on Acroporid species. The YB at my sites are affecting 90% of all morphs of Montastrea! When you get a chance to see the video and slides of this particular epizootic it will shock you. These are clearly large yellow blotches and bands that are increasing in growth month after month. Characterictics of Yellow Blotch or Band 1) there is healthy tissue with no visual evidence of expulsion of zoox. 2) bordering healthy tissue there is a sharp yellow band or blotch, septa and caylix is intact w/no distruction of the skeleton. The skeleton structure is up-right w/no depression like in the RWD. 3) in some cases there is tissue attached when the tissue is yellow, as the tissue dissapears the skeleton turns bright white. Inside that ring or blotch there is algal tufts, directly in the middle. (Healthy-yellow-slight white line-dead tissue w/algaltuft) 4) I will be looking at the comparison of zoox. in the healthy tissue then in the yellow tissue. Is the bacterial pathogen in YB causing the expulsion?? No one knows, not yet. 5) Circles or bands on the coral head are incipient at first, then become severe. Meaning one band or circle then 5 or six. I have detailed video and slides of of this increase in a 7 month time frame. 6) Finally it kills the entire coral colony that it attacks. 7) We have no idea if it is abiotic or biotic, bacterial aggregates present. No fungi, no visual mucus response from the coral. 8) Some sites show RWD and YB on the same coral colony. Dr Goreau and I will have this up on a Web Site This Year. Also an underwater ID card will be available for divers and scientists for data analysis by the end of the year. And hopfully we can confirm the RWD and YB slide and lecture that will take place in Woods Hole and RSMAS during late Sept. ****************************** James M. Cervino Marine Biologist Global Coral Reef Alliance 124-19 9th ave, College Point NY 11356 Phone/Fax 718-539-8155 ******************************* From howzit at turtles.org Fri Aug 29 15:49:58 1997 From: howzit at turtles.org (Ursula Keuper-Bennett) Date: Fri, 29 Aug 1997 15:49:58 Subject: Yellow Band on the Rise! In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <3.0.1.16.19970829154958.2bd7afa0@pop.vex.net> James M. Cervino wrote: >I have recently heard of a Yellow Band affecting Acroporid species in the >Red Sea, Jan Korrubel of the University of Natal South Africa is tracking >this epizootic in the Red Sea. Yellow band was first spotted and tracked by >Creg Qurillo of Reef Relief (Fl. Keys), and I and Dr. TJ Goreau have now >tracked it in Aruba, Curacao, Bonaire, Cayman, and Panama. I will be >checking the Virgin Islands next week for RWD and YB, and hopfully getting >the permits in time for sample collection. Fast action and emergency >funding is needed when tracking coral diseases in the field. Hi James, I have read your post regarding Yellow Band disease with great interest particularly in light of your references to eutrophication and related anthropogenic activities on land. My interest is in a disease of sea turtles called fibropapilloma (FP) which I continue to believe is related to the decline of our ocean environment. See: http://turtles.org/honohist.htm which summarizes the conditions at our dive site in Hawaii (from which we have just returned less than 24 hours ago). You mention eutrophication, sewage, run-off, drastic changes related to human activities on land. This has been our Hawaiian experience as well. As a fellow diver I sympathize with your concern for the marine environment. You mentioned several island nations in the Caribbean (that I know have turtles with FP) experiencing Yellow Band Disease. A while back I did a run down on the environmental concerns of several of the Caribbean Island nations and yes, sewage, run-off, over-fishing were certainly concerns. You mention you'll be visiting the Virgin Islands next week. They have turtles with fibropapillomas there too. I would be interested in knowing the extent high incidence of Yellow Band in corals is correlated to the prevalence of FP in turtles. (So would a bunch of other people I hang out with) I know right now there isn't an answer to this question. I would appreciate information regarding specific sites where Yellow Band is high because I would like to try and match them up with known high turtle fibropapilloma sites. Thanks for your help and vigilance. I believe the coral reseachers are really important for green sea turtles and their foraging habitat. Any info re. high Yellow Band sites would be appreciated from you or anyone else reading this message. Best wishes to your corals and reefs. I got some good green friends who sun themselves all day long on them. All the best ----------------------------------------------- ^ Ursula Keuper-Bennett 0 0 Email: howzit at turtles.org /V^\ /^V\ /V Turtle Trax V\ http://www.turtles.org / \ When you study members of another species, when you habituate them in the wild, when you begin to understand the intimate details of their private lives, and then you learn that the population or whole group is sliding towards extinction, what do you do? In good conscience, you must defend them... \ / / \ / \ --- Birute M.F. Galdikas /__| V |__\