[Coral-List] Sign On: Science Community Letter for Florida Keys Restoration

[Eugene Shinn]

With so many jumping in on the issue of expanding the Florida Keys 
National Marine Sanctuary and plans to transplant coral and increase 
boundaries it is impossible for me keep quiet. Below is what I sent 
various NOAA and State officials that included more that 50 references.  
I include here just two references, One of my first papers and our most 
recent book.

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Those of you involved with the proposed expansion of the Florida Keys 
Marine Sanctuary will likely remember I served on numerous NOAA and 
Coral Reef Sanctuary committees. I was born in Key West (1933) and began 
diving on Keys reefs in the mid 1950s. Beginning in the late 1950s I 
began research and published more than 50 peer-reviewed research papers 
concerning Florida Keys coral reefs. After NOAA and the Marine 
Sanctuaries were formed (1972) I worked closely with NOAA/sanctuary 
personnel on several projects and served on numerous Keys committees. In 
1975 I became a GS 15 research employee of the U. S. Geological Survey. 
During my tenure FKS along with the US EPA funded several of my 
geological research projects. During that time I cooperated with and 
worked with the many Sanctuary managers and personnel that cycled 
through the Florida Keys. In an early self-funded study (1966) I 
transplanted Staghorn coral (A. /cervicornis/) to determine growth rate 
and the reasons why this species does not live near shore in the Florida 
Keys. I clearly recall when disease began affecting Staghorn and Elkhorn 
coral both in the Keys and most of the Caribbean. The peak year of coral 
death was 1983. Black Band disease in massive corals began later in 
1986. Together with several colleagues I unsuccessfully lobbied the 
Sanctuary Program to fund research into the causes of coral diseases. 
During that time sanctuary management remained focused mainly on anchor 
and boat damage. Since those early days coral both on Florida reefs and 
the Caribbean continued to decline. Today live corals only occupy 
approximately 2 percent of the Florida reef tract. I watched and 
photographed the decline each year from 1960 to 2015 as shown at: 
<https://archive.usgs.gov/archive/sites/coastal.er.usgs.gov/african_dust/images/CoralSequencePoster.jpg>

The live corals remaining are generally referred to as small, “weedy 
species.” The huge 100-to 200-year-old massive species are essentially 
gone. They are presently being consumed and converted to reef sand by 
boring sponges and Parrott fish.

The various causes of coral decline in the Keys remain controversial but 
can be correlated with increasing keys-wide population growth. Remember 
correlation is not causation but sometimes it is. My USGS groundwater 
studies conducted during the early 1990s most everywhere in the keys 
revealed net seaward movement through the permeable island limestone. 
Our analysis also discovered fecal bacteria in the groundwater being 
upwelled mainly on the Atlantic side of the keys. Our studies also 
confirmed the reason why groundwater moves seaward. During low tide 
Florida bay remains approximately 12 inches higher than water on the 
coral reef side of the keys. Groundwater flows downward toward the 
Atlantic for a few hours during each tidal cycle. Rate of movement was 
determined to be 1 to 2 meters/day.

I am gratified that our monitoring studies helped justify installation 
of the sewage system and additional treatment plants some of which are 
still under construction. However, it concerns me that treated fresh 
water based effluent from treatment plants is being injected into the 
underlying saline water table through disposal wells little more than 
100 ft. deep. That effluent, and all it contains, floats back up to the 
shallow water table just below the surface and moves seaward on the 
underlying saline water. In summary, if one flushes a toilet, takes a 
shower, or fertilizes a lawn nutrients (including chemicals such as 
Oxybenzone from sunscreens and other cosmetics) moves seaward and 
eventually upwells offshore. This shallow ground water also contains 
pollutants from the atmosphere such as mosquito sprays and African dust. 
African dust contains living bacteria and a variety of heavy metals and 
pesticides. The Sanctuary program cannot prevent these bacteria and 
toxic chemicals from entering our coral reef areas. For that reason I 
suggest continued management of reef fish and lobster without enlarging 
management areas. Enlarging boundaries will not rectify the situation 
described above. Resources should therefore be focused mainly on 
determining which toxins and microbes have caused coral 
diseases.Excellent research into causes of coral disease is currently 
being conducted at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine 
and Atmospheric Science. Dr. Baker and his team are conducting the kind 
of science under controlled conditions that some of us lobbied for in 
the 1970s. We are very pleased that such research is now being 
conducted. Such research is needed before Corals are transplanted to the 
offshore waters in the Florida Keys. Coral transplanted under present 
conditions (including rising temperatures) will likely succumb to the 
same diseases and chemicals that led to their demise in the first place. 
In addition, justifying coral transplanting to encourage more tourism 
and residents seems counterproductive. The Florida Keys I know so well 
has been, and remains, overpopulated. Do we need more people? *Eugene A. 
Shinn PhD, 4727 Paradise Way S. St. Petersburg, FL 33705*

*Two references our of more than 50:*

Shinn, E.A., 1966, Coral growth rate, an environmental indicator: 
Journal of Paleontology, v. 40, no. 2, p. 233-240.
Eugene A. Shinn, Barbara H. Lidz, 2018, Geology of the Florida Keys, 
University Press of Florida, ISBN 978-0-8130-5651-7 pp.176.


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No Rocks, No Water, No Ecosystem (EAS)
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E. A. Shinn, Courtesy Professor
University of South Florida
College of Marine Science Room 221A
140 Seventh Avenue South
St. Petersburg, FL 33701
<eugeneshinn at mail.usf.edu>
Tel 727 553-1158
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