[Coral-List] Fwd: 100 Yards of Hope Documentary Premiere on April 27

Damien Beri damienberi at gmail.com
Sat Apr 24 04:07:13 UTC 2021


I think we are being a bit too critical. Besides, this project is meant to inspire children and the public. It was not designed to impress us Coral nerds. We should be supporting these efforts. The more we bash coral restoration efforts, the less unified we appear as a community. 

All too often we are quick to criticize the flaws in coral restoration. Nothing is perfect. If you think you can do it better than go for it. 

I can also guarantee that the “learning experiences” associated with this project will explain to students that global warming, ocean acidification, runoff, overfishing etc... all need to be addressed for coral reefs to recover. If they don’t, then yes the project has suffered a fatal flaw in addressing the overarching issues.

Additionally, to say coral restoration won’t work because you have addressed to underlying threats is not true on all cases. While it is the right thing to do (address overarching threats) I don’t think you can stop global warming, and ocean acidification over night. So, do we do nothing? No, we do a media friendly Coral restoration project that attracts the hearts and minds of the younger generations. To me, that’s the most valuable aspect to any coral restoration project. 

I am not saying I support this project, but I am also not going to bash it in front of all the other aspiring coral biologists attached to this thread. 

Now, why NOAA needed to contribute their limited funds to an NFL project... that just sounds odd. The NFL has more funding than NOAA when you consider all the people being paid. 

Warm regards,
Damien Beri

National Marine Fisheries Service
Observer Program

Founder of Reefined Arts Coral Restoration LLC

Masters In Marine Conservation and Policy
Stony Brook University









> On Apr 23, 2021, at 7:31 AM, Jon slayer via Coral-List <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:
> 
> Noted the valid criticisms below and no doubt there are more. A question - how many coral reef research publications were showcased at the last two Superbowls? Force Blue were.
> https://www.nfl.com/causes/nfl-green/
> https://blog.padi.com/2020/01/29/force-blue-to-kick-off-100-yards-of-hope-at-super-bowl-liv/
> https://www.cbs42.com/sports/the-big-game/with-super-bowl-nearby-force-blue-on-a-mission-to-clean-oceans/
> 
> How many will be showcased at the upcoming NFL Draft? Force Blue will be there.
> https://www.greaterclevelandaquarium.com/100-yards-of-hope/
> 
> How do you engage the 18 million US Veterans and broader US population in coral reef conservation and environmental issues? Force Blue reaches people that otherwise would not hear about these issues.
> 
> It may be easy to pick holes in the content of these media releases and the approach of Force Blue purely from an academic perspective but as a tool for communicating with our society Force Blue should be embraced by the Coral List community. I would encourage you to work with these guys, they have a lot to offer. Then you can help them get the messaging right too. They can help with your projects and help communicate them to people that would otherwise not hear, or care, about them.
> 
> I am a veteran and Force Blue team member. Unusually for a veteran I have a background approaching 30 years of involvement in coral reef research and conservation. Force Blue bring veterans to a place where they can hear about and invest themselves in your work in the oceans. Engage with them https://forceblueteam.org/
> 
> 
> Jon Slayer
> 
> 
> British Stunt Register<http://www.thebritishstuntregister.com/>
> 
> IMDB<https://www.imdb.com/name/nm9081535/>
> 
> Instagram<https://www.instagram.com/jonslayer>
> 
> Force Blue<https://forceblueteam.org/team-one/>
> 360bubble<https://360bubble.co/>
> Linkedin<https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-slayer-a9a62226/>
> 
> ________________________________
> From: Coral-List <coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> on behalf of Douglas Fenner via Coral-List <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
> Sent: 22 April 2021 22:13
> To: coral list <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
> Subject: [Coral-List] Fwd: 100 Yards of Hope Documentary Premiere on April 27
> 
> This message is too long, so here is an abstract:
> 
> Robin's message is exciting sounding.
> 
> But, Florida's reefs are not barrier reefs.
> 
> The US actually has other barrier reefs in Hawaii, but they are very small.
> 
> This project sounds to me like it is treating the symptoms of the problem,
> not the causes.  If we don't treat the causes, our projects are doomed to
> failure, sooner or later, wasted time, effort, and money.  Shouldn't we at
> least acknowledge that???
> 
> Scale: such projects are necessarily minute in scale compared to the
> world's reefs.  100 yards of reef will not save reefs that are the size of
> the Great Barrier Reef, 2500 MILES long, not 100 yards.  It's a start, BUT
> reefs are too big, vastly too big.
> 
> There are reasons the corals have been dying in Florida, from what I read,
> this project doesn't tackle any of them.  Coral disease has probably caused
> the most coral mortality in the western Atlantic, and is still killing
> lots.  We don't have good tools to stop it yet.  The latest and best
> research shows that Florida's water over it's reefs has way too many
> nutrients, which is killing the corals.  A restoration project's own
> published data shows that most of the corals they planted out die over
> time.  Why would we expect planted out corals to live any longer than those
> that are already naturally out there?  Yes, breeding for heat resistance
> can help.  But if we don't get greenhouse gas emissions, we're heading full
> speed towards a world so hot no coral will be able to survive, selective
> breeding or not.  Meantime, almost all corals planted out are doomed to die
> due to bad water quality and/or disease.
> 
> OK, now the lengthy version:
> 
> Robin,
> Wow, that's exciting!!  I guess it was written to be exciting.
> 
> A couple of technical details.  The Florida reefs are not a barrier reef,
> although some people like to call them that.  Everybody wants to call their
> reef a barrier reef, presumably because the Great Barrier Reef is so
> famous.  The "Mesoamerican Barrier Reef" is not a barrier reef north of
> Belize, it is a fringing reef there.  Belize indeed has a barrier reef.
> Florida's living coral reefs, what are left of them, are tiny little
> things, most of which you'd need GPS to find.  They're not a barrier to
> anything.  The Florida Keys are indeed a string of islands that are very
> much of a barrier.  The shallow water around them is as well, ships have
> gone aground at times.  The Florida coral reefs have long been called the
> "Florida Reef Track."
> 
> Second, actually, the U.S. does have some barrier reefs, Hawaii has a
> couple of quite small barrier reefs, one is on the north shore of Oahu at
> Kaneohe Bay, and the other on the north shore of Kauai.
> 
> Your post says that this project will "lay the groundwork for future coral
> restoration worldwide".  Sounds like nobody else has been doing any coral
> restoration.  I'm told Fiji alone has 50 reef restoration projects.  Recent
> post on coral-list announced a new book with lots of chapters by people
> doing coral restoration, I presume some of the authors are scientists and
> that something is known about reef restoration already.
> 
> More seriously:
> 
> A major question is whether projects like this, particularly in Florida but
> also surely some other places (but just as surely not all), are treating
> the symptoms instead of the disease.  If you don't tackle what caused the
> loss of corals, planting corals will not "save a portion of the reef."
> 
> May I commend people to an article by Mumby and Steneck, 2008, in
> particular Box 1, which is entitled "Active reef restoration: Great
> Expectations or Field of Dreams?"  It points out two problems: scale, and
> treating symptoms.
> 
> Scale:  "To date, the largest active restoration project treated an area of
> 0.07 km2, which is six orders of magnitude less than the estimated global
> area of damaged coral [72]."  "100 Yards of Hope" when the Great Barrier
> Reef is 2500 miles long with about 2500 reefs, as long as Maine to
> Florida??  Yes, restoration can work on some small high-value reefs.  But
> you can't restore all the damaged reefs.  Is raising unrealistic hopes
> instead of tackling the real problems, a good idea??
> 
>     For treating symptoms, it says "Treating the symptoms versus the
> causes of an unhealthy reef" and "A reef is considered unhealthy if it
> lacks the resilience needed for natural processes of recovery."  (does that
> sound like Florida?) and "The system can be so hostile to coral that the
> transplants die rapidly." and "As Edwards points out [72], active
> restoration has the greatest potential to stimulate recovery in systems of
> intermediate health."  That is, if a reef is in great health, there is no
> need for restoration, it hasn't lost.  And if it is in terrible shape, that
> means something damaged it.  Unless the causal factor is removed, whether
> it be mass coral bleaching, disease, bad water quality, overfishing,
> whatever, then "restoring" a reef will be a very temporary exercise, the
> corals planted out will die at rates similar to the natural coral.  A lot
> of money and effort will have been wasted with no permanent benefit.  Are
> the Florida reefs in great health, intermediate health, or terrible
> health???  I'm no expert, I don't study them, but from what I read it does
> NOT sound good, I doubt they are in intermediate health.  More likely they
> are in their final death throes.  But maybe I've been reading too much
> exaggerated alarmist reports.
> 
> Which reminds me of a recent paper from Florida by Ware et al.  Their
> abstract states "Survivorship among projects based on colony counts ranged
> from 4% to 89% for seven cohorts monitored at least five years. Weibull
> survival models were used to estimate survivorship beyond the duration of
> the projects and ranged from approximately 0% to over 35% after five years
> and 0% to 10% after seven years."  Does that sound like success to
> people??  How should success be measured, by number of corals planted out
> (even if most or all will die?), is 90% survival success?  50%?  35%?  10%
> 0%???  There is an old saying about yachts, that the definition of a yacht
> is a hole in the water you pour money into (maintenance, no doubt).
> 
> So how about that Florida water?  Does that have anything to do with the
> decline of the reefs there?  Granted, coral disease has had a major impact
> in Florida and the Caribbean, and the new disease is killing much of what
> is left.  And a cure-all for coral disease is surely not at hand and seems
> a long way off.  But a coral-list post not that long ago pointed to a study
> documenting in great detail the problems with Florida water in the keys.
> My understanding is that millions or probably 10's of millions or more is
> being spent to build wastewater treatment plants on the Florida Keys, where
> until they are built, sewage water is pumped into wells down into the
> highly porous carbonate rock under everything, some of which eventually
> comes out nearer the reefs.
> 
> Anybody who wants to see what Florida looks like underwater, Joe Pawlick
> has posted on coral list links to several videos taken there.  Lots of
> gorgonians, some sponges, and precious few live corals.  Very sad and
> disheartening.
> 
> 
> I must acknowledge that many project leaders realize if we don't get the
> threats that cause the loss of corals fixed, coral restoration will not
> bring the reefs back.  In some or many restoration sites, the water quality
> is good.  Some projects outplant corals that are more heat tolerant than
> other corals (but if we continue business as usual, emissions and global
> warming will kill any "supercoral" anybody can breed.)  I also acknowledge
> that there is a good argument for buying time for major threats like global
> warming and water quality to be reduced.  But don't we need to do some
> critical thinking and be realistic about the continuing causes of loss of
> corals and our chance of restoring badly degraded reefs??
> 
> I have full sympathy.  We are ALL incredibly frustrated.  The problems that
> HAVE to be solved are so large and great, and there is SO much resistance
> to solving any of them, a single person or small project is way too tiny.
> And I agree, we have to try things, sometimes against great odds, when we
> are as desperate as we are now.  I like the idea of presenting sucess
> stories as well as gloom and doom stories.  But is planting out thousands
> of corals in Florida and then they almost all die, a success story????
> 
> Mumby and Steneck.  2008.  Coral reef management and conservation in light
> of rapidly evolving ecological paradigms.  Trends in Ecology and Evolution
> 23(10)
> https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fciteseerx.ist.psu.edu%2Fviewdoc%2Fdownload%3Fdoi%3D10.1.1.475.2137%26rep%3Drep1%26type%3Dpdf&data=04%7C01%7C%7C1b4a3dfea7ee4831e3dd08d90644a734%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637547714195223404%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=Y%2Fam1y5kFRPSJCph4Z6%2B29LRrMifFg3ArUA40WLhCSA%3D&reserved=0
> 
> Ware et al  Survivorship and growth in staghorn coral *(Acropora
> cervicornis)* outplanting projects in the Florida Keys National Marine
> Sanctuary
> https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fjournals.plos.org%2Fplosone%2Farticle%3Fid%3D10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0231817&data=04%7C01%7C%7C1b4a3dfea7ee4831e3dd08d90644a734%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637547714195223404%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=6a5AnqNhHspIrL6lgXTmdFenkoGn5vZcaxFMkPL2lt4%3D&reserved=0
> 
> Thirty years of unique data reveal what's really killing coral reefs
> https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fau.edu%2Fnewsdesk%2Farticles%2Flooe-key-study.php&data=04%7C01%7C%7C1b4a3dfea7ee4831e3dd08d90644a734%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637547714195223404%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=IDDkP6RZjn8J1UigmpHBA%2Fs79YVnbbYkWFDEi4zEiTY%3D&reserved=0
> 
> Anthropogenic nutrient enrichment of seagrass and coral reef communities in
> the lower Florida Keys: discrimination of local versus regional nitrogen
> sources
> https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sciencedirect.com%2Fscience%2Farticle%2Fabs%2Fpii%2FS0022098104000875&data=04%7C01%7C%7C1b4a3dfea7ee4831e3dd08d90644a734%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637547714195223404%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=qQHSJgoNXp4yxZzegs5nK42zurFEkfUqdfe3L5wJQ%2BA%3D&reserved=0
> 
> Cheers, Doug
> 
> 
>> On Mon, Apr 19, 2021 at 1:56 PM Robin Garcia - NOAA Affiliate via
>> Coral-List <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:
>> 
>> The world premiere of 100 Yards of Hope,a documentary about the unique
>> Super Bowl restoration of a football field-sized coral reef, will debut
>> during NFLDraft week in Cleveland, the host city of this year’s Draft.The
>> film features the work of FORCE BLUE, a team of retired Special
>> Operations military
>> divers dedicated to saving America’s only barrier coral reef. NFLGreen
>> teamed
>> up with FORCE BLUE, scientists, natural resource managers and NFL partners
>> who came together to save a portion of the reef off the coast of Miami and
>> lay
>> the groundwork for future coral restoration worldwide. The Greater
>> Cleveland Aquarium will host the world premiere virtually on Tuesday, April
>> 27, 2021 at 10AM EDT.
>> 
>> Those who are interested in watching the world premiere can register to
>> receive the link to watch for free on the Greater Cleveland Aquarium’s
>> website at https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.greaterclevelandaquarium.com%2F100-yards-of-hope%2F&data=04%7C01%7C%7C1b4a3dfea7ee4831e3dd08d90644a734%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637547714195223404%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=asY0v7%2BgbHB%2F1trXywOKJiAeoWnjZpxweGmbF414%2BGE%3D&reserved=0.
>> 
>> Students from the Cleveland area will be featured following the premiere as
>> they direct questions to marine scientist Dalton Hesley and former Navy
>> SEAL Steve “Gonzo” Gonzalez. Schools who register for the premiere will
>> also receive coral education learning links and the chance to win a Greater
>> Cleveland Aquarium virtual field trip for a future date.The National
>> Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Coral Reef Conservation Program
>> (NOAA CRCP) worked with FORCE BLUE and provided funding for the creation of
>> the100 Yardsof Hope documentary to increase awareness of the threat to
>> coral reefs and this unique collaboration to address it.
>> 
>> *Robin Garcia*
>> Communications Director, NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program
>> Pronouns: she/her/hers
>> CSS employee as part of Lynker/CSS Team
>> On contract to OCM
>> Office: 240-533-0776
>> Cell: 202-256-6615
>> Web <https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcoralreef.noaa.gov%2F&data=04%7C01%7C%7C1b4a3dfea7ee4831e3dd08d90644a734%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637547714195223404%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=wrYqlYvfDLRfclSOBdO5%2BPHF1%2FEStWrI2rxU%2FczgFSM%3D&reserved=0> | Facebook
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>> *The NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program's mission is to protect,
>> conserve, and restore coral reef resources by maintaining healthy ecosystem
>> function.*
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