[Coral-List] Ship wrecks and reefs??

[Keven Reed]

Dear coral-listers,

    Throughout this thread of corals growing on man made hard substrates and their chemical effects on both coral growth and zooxanthellate densities, it seems to me more attention should be paid to detailing what the metal alloy's composition really is:  for example,
the fabric covering of a WW II F4U Corsair aircraft vice the aluminum skin of a WW II Mustang P-51 aircraft?, the metal alloy of the legs to an offshore modern gas/oil rig vice the hull of seventy year old metal ship vice a large contemporary pleasure yacht wreck.  ??

    Don't we need some chemical analysis of the manufactured hard substrate before all the generalizations about the underwater junkyard's effect on coral colonization?

Cheers,
Keven

Fleming Island, FL


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Greg Challenger 
  To: mtupper at coastal-resources.org 
  Cc: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov 
  Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2012 3:39 PM
  Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Ship wrecks and reefs??


  Perhaps it would be better to start with people's observations of iron wrecks without coral as opposed to those with coral.  It seems we have all seen them covered in coral.  

  Sent from my iPhone

  On Nov 28, 2012, at 8:09 PM, "Mark Tupper" <mtupper at coastal-resources.org> wrote:

  > I would have to agree with Alina. I cannot reconcile the quote in the ISME article with the wreck dives I have done in Micronesia (Chuuk or Peleliu, for 
  > example). Also, people have been sinking metal structures (ships, planes, cars, oil rigs)for decades to make artificial reefs. Many of these are in 
  > oligotrophic environments that should also be iron-limited, at least to some extent. 
  > 
  > I note that Enric Sala's blog on National Geographic stated that "The science team found similar black reefs in other coral atolls and islands in the 
  > central Pacific". So the question is, why has this black reef phenomenon not been found earlier in other remote areas that are more regularly dived (like 
  > the Caroline Islands)? Is it because iron is less limiting in those areas, or is there a specific suite of taxa in the central Pacific that exhibit a much 
  > greater response to iron input? 
  > 
  > Dr. Mark Tupper, Board of Directors
  > Coastal Resources Association
  > 16880 87 Ave., Surrey, BC, Canada V4N 5J4
  > www.coastal-resources.org
  > Email: mtupper at coastal-resources.org
  > Tel. 1-604-576-1674; Mobile: 1-604-961-2022
  > 
  > Philippines Office: c/o Ricky Mijares
  > Poblacion, Sagay, Camiguin, Philippines 9103
  > Tel. 63-927-921-9915
  > 
  > 
  > On Wed Nov 28 13:54 , John Ware  sent:
  > 
  >> A quote from: Black reefs: iron-induced  phase shifts on coral reefs.
  >> Linda Wegley Kelly et al., ISME, Mar 2012
  >> 
  >> "Here we use a combination of benthic surveys, chemistry, metagenomics 
  >> and microcosms to investigate if and how shipwrecks initiate and 
  >> maintain black reefs. ...   Together these results demonstrate that 
  >> shipwrecks and their associated iron pose significant threats to coral 
  >> reefs in iron-limited regions."
  >> 
  >> Contrasted with this from Alina Szmant's e-mail of 26Nov:
  >> 
  >> "FYI, every place I dive where there is metal structure (old ship hulls, navigation pilings etc) they are covered with nice looking corals of all
  > species."
  >> 
  >> Am I the only one that sees some sort of disconnect here??
  >> John
  >> 
  >> 
  >> -- 
  >>   *************************************************************
  >>   *                                                           *
  >>   *                      John R. Ware, PhD                    *
  >>   *                         President                         *
  >>   *                      SeaServices, Inc.                    *
  >>   *                     302 N. Mule Deer Pt.                  *
  >>   *                    Payson, AZ 85541, USA                  *
  >>   *                       928 478-6358                        *
  >>   *                      jware at erols.com                      *
  >>   *                 http://www.seaservices.org                *                 
  >>   *                                                           *
  >>   *                   Member of the Council:                  *
  >>   *            International Society for Reef Studies         *
  >>   *                                          _                *
  >>   *                                         |                 *
  >>   *   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *
  >>   *                                        _|_                *
  >>   *                                       | _ |               *
  >>   *        _______________________________|   |________       *
  >>   *     |\/__       Untainted by Technology            \      *
  >>   *     |/\____________________________________________/      *
  >>   *************************************************************
  >> 
  >> If you are a coral-reef scientist and you are not a member
  >> of the International Society for Reef Studies, then
  >> shame on you.
  >> Become a member of the International Society for Reef Studies
  >> http://www.coralreefs.org
  >> 
  >> 
  >> _______________________________________________
  >> Coral-List mailing list
  >> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
  >> http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
  > 
  > _______________________________________________
  > Coral-List mailing list
  > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
  > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
  _______________________________________________
  Coral-List mailing list
  Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
  http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list