[Coral-List] Transformation of Caribbean reefs

[Risk, Michael]

   Thanks, Joe. Depressing indeed.

   I had a quick look at the Roatan one. Some spectacular (if you like
   that sort of thing) colonies of Cliona delitrix, a fecal bioindicator:
   3:39 and 8:34 show some good examples. The yellow tubes of
   Siphonodictyon (now known as Aka) are also everywhere: e;g. 9:30 and
   11:42.

   Seems less of these denizens on the seamount.
     __________________________________________________________________

   From: Coral-List <coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> on behalf of
   Pawlik, Joseph via Coral-List <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
   Sent: Tuesday, February 23, 2021 7:24 AM
   To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>;
   PORIFERA at JISCMAIL.AC.UK <PORIFERA at JISCMAIL.AC.UK>
   Subject: [Coral-List] Transformation of Caribbean reefs

   Colleagues,
        Because of the pandemic, many of us are not doing field-work,
   traveling, or diving. For those of us who work on reefs in the
   Caribbean, many have missed the accelerating loss of the remaining
   stony corals, particularly at fore-reef depths >10 m.
   This link provides video surveys from January 2021 of reefs on the NW
   and SW sides of the island of Roatan, Honduras, and a seamount between
   the island and mainland.
   [1]https://youtu.be/507OpUfd3Mc
   You can see the final stages of coral loss due to recent bleaching
   events and disease. Seaweeds, sponges, and octocorals now dominate the
   benthos. Near-shore and seamount reefs have been similarly affected,
   suggesting that local run-off and point-sources of pollution are not
   the primary causes of coral loss.
        A video from a year ago documents the final stages of coral loss
   on the fore-reefs of the Turks and Caicos. The pace of coral loss
   appeared more rapid there, but the outcome was the same.
   [2]https://youtu.be/11ywGm33wnM
   The purpose of these posts is not to depress the heck out of everyone
   (however likely), but to raise awareness of the reality of Caribbean
   reefs at the present time. It is one thing to look at a graph of
   declining percentage cover of stony corals (with the most recent data
   from several years ago), and another to see the current state of the
   reefs.
   Regards,
   Joe
   **************************************************************
   Joseph R. Pawlik
   Frank Hawkins Kenan Distinguished Professor of Marine Biology
   Dept. of Biology and Marine Biology
   UNCW Center for Marine Science
   5600 Marvin K Moss Lane
   Wilmington, NC  28409
   Office:(910)962-2377; Cell:(910)232-3579
   Website: [3]http://people.uncw.edu/pawlikj/index.html
   PDFs: [4]http://people.uncw.edu/pawlikj/pubs2.html
   Video Channel: [5]https://www.youtube.com/user/skndiver011
   **************************************************************
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References

   1. https://youtu.be/507OpUfd3Mc
   2. https://youtu.be/11ywGm33wnM
   3. http://people.uncw.edu/pawlikj/index.html
   4. http://people.uncw.edu/pawlikj/pubs2.html
   5. https://www.youtube.com/user/skndiver011
   6. https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list