[Coral-List] Parrotfish (and Urchin Introductions)

[eugeneshinn]

Dear, Martin and John, I did a large study of elements in surface 
sediment  in Florida Bay some years ago. 250 samples from the entire 
bay. Never published because  funding  was based on runoff from the 
everglades...big sugar etc. The basic finding was that the central bay 
where there is no tidal flow is where Fe, Hg, Au, Cu, phosphate, pb was 
concentrated. These are all elements common to the 1 micron size 
particles in African dust. Since all attention and frunds depended on 
upstream sources I knew publication would be difficut. (there was no 
evidence of an upstream source based on contours of concentration) It 
now occurrs to me that the source of toxicants, possibly retarding 
Diadema growth, (and all the other things that were dying in central Fla 
bay at that time) might be dropping out of the sky It is a land-based 
source you know). Hopefull I can get up enough nerve to submit the data 
for publication some day. No,we did not examine the surface sediment for 
microbes and endocrine disrupters. Clearly microbes were present. The 
atmospheric dust is loaded with them. Gene