[Coral-List] Responding to Coral Bleaching

Mon Sep 21 14:00:42 EDT 2015

Hi Austin and all coral listers,

As some of you may know, I write a Coral Triangle themed blog for The
Guardian. I approached listers a couple of weeks back re an article on
Indonesia's coral planting activities for a piece I'm preparing.

I would like to run a story about the current coral bleaching connected to
the ongoing El Nino episode, in relation to the Coral Triangle and wonder
if any of you would be available for a chat via Skype tomorrow?

I understand that it will be some time before there is full clarity about
extent of coral bleaching, but I'd like to get a sense of how it might
impact reefs within the bioregion and what action if any can be taken to
mitigate its effects.

I'm currently in London and will be online all day tomorrow.

Many thanks!

Johnny

On 16 September 2015 at 20:23, Austin Bowden-Kerby <abowdenkerby at gmail.com>
wrote:

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

-- 
Johnny Langenheim
+44(0)7427 312 760  (UK)
+62 (0) 8124 1555 949.  (INDONESIA)
www.johnnylangenheim.com
Skype: Johnny Langenheim