[Coral-List] Newly discovered reef (?) is taller than a skyscraper

tomascik at novuscom.net tomascik at novuscom.net
Mon Nov 9 18:44:09 UTC 2020


Hi everyone,

The term “coral reef” and “reef” are being used very interchangeably 
these days and it does create a certain degree of confusion, especially 
for those who are working for their sustainable management and 
conservation. The recent explosion of various new “international 
journals” has also created a credibility issue since “coral reef” papers 
are still coming out that almost resemble fiction. The “coral reefs” of 
St. Martin’s Island (Bangladesh) are a god example. This amazing island 
close to the world’s largest delta system sustains a relatively diverse 
coral community, but because of its geological origins and its past and 
present environmental setting coral reefs have never developed. That has 
not stopped publication of many scientific papers talking and describing 
the “coral reefs” of St. Martin’s Island, widely known in Bangladesh as 
their “Coral Island”. Just like “coral reef” the term “coral island” 
does have a geological definition, but this does not seem to matter even 
in science publications. I think the start of this “coral reef” tale 
probably started with the publication of:

Fattah, Q. A. (1979). Protection of marine environment and related 
ecosystems of St. Martin’s Island. Proceedings of the. National Seminar 
Protection Mar. Env. Rel. Ecosystems, Dhaka, 27-29 November. pp. 
104-108.

This was followed by:

UNEP/IUCN (1988). Coral Reefs of the World. Volume 2: Indian Ocean, Red 
Sea and Gulf. UNEP Regional Seas and Bibliographies. IUCN, Gland, 
Switzerland and Cambridge, U.K./UNEP, Nairobi, Kenya. pp. 389.

Here is a quote from the UNEP/IUCN (1988) report:

“A general description of the marine environment of Bangladesh is given 
in UNEP (1986a). The only known coral reef in Bangladesh occurs around 
St Martin's Island (20°37'N, 92°18'E), an island of about 6 sq. km, in 
the Bay of Bengal, 13 km from the south-east mainland coast and 95 km 
south of Cox's Bazaar. It is reputed to be a submerged reef but 
scientific knowledge of the area is still very limited. The island is 
inhabited by about 3000 people, most of whom are fishermen. Parts of the 
reef are said to be completely destroyed due to shell and coral 
collection, but it is possible that domestic and industrial effluents, 
dynamite fishing and recreational pressure have added to the problem 
(Fattah, 1979). Scientific expeditions to the island took place in 1973 
and 1979 (UNEP, 1986a). St Martin's Island is being surveyed as a 
potential marine park as it is also an important wintering ground for 
wildfowl and a nesting site for marine turtles (Khan, 1985; UNEP, in 
prep.).”

When I decided to work on “The Ecology of the Indonesian Seas”  I 
contacted many well know coral reef scientists and asked them for their 
contributions by including a “Box” section in the books where each 
scientists could write a short “Box” addressing an issue of their choice 
that would fit with the theme of the chapter. One of these kind people 
was the late J. van der Land from the National Museum of Natural History 
in Leiden, Netherlands (now Naturalis Biodiversity Center) who agreed 
wrote a 4 page “Box” on “What is a coral reefs” in Chapter 4 
“Introducing Coral Reefs”. Anyone who is interested to read this 
succinct discussion of “What is a coral reef?” can visit the following 
link and find the “Box” on page 128.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301883199_Tomascik_T_A_J_Mah_A_Nontji_M_K_Moosa_1997_Chapter_Four_Introducing_Coral_Reefs_In_The_Ecology_of_the_Indonesia_Seas_Part_I_pp_109-144_Editions_HK_Ltd

Tom



On 2020-11-09 00:52, Mário Cachão via Coral-List wrote:
> Dear All
> 
> It's always with a clear surprise in their faces (well, before
> COVID19, now with the masks I can't tell anymore) that my geology
> students (on Paleontology classes) or my biology students (on General
> Geology classes) apprehend that reef is not a biological driven term,
> synonymous of coral reef.
> I always tell the story that in the Brazilian coastal city of "Recife"
> (the Portuguese name for reef) there are no coral reefs (only beach
> rock outcrops that acted as such). In fact, locals call "reefs" to
> beach pockets with exposed rock surfaces covered with calcareous algi
> crusts and rhodoliths. Not sure if they are conscious of the original
> term or if is just a touristic strategy.
> 
> Cheers,
> Mario
> 
> _________________________________________________________
> Mario Cachao |Associate Professor (w/ Habilitation) | t: +351 217 500 
> 362
> Dep. Geology, Fac. Sciences, Univ. Lisbon, Portugal  |  www.fc.ul.pt/dg


More information about the Coral-List mailing list