[Coral-List] Video: Coral Bleaching, Recovery, Succession & Obliteration. Fiji: 2000-2016

[Bruce Carlson]

Video:  “Coral Bleaching, Recovery, Succession & Obliteration.  Fiji:  Vunavadra Fringing Reef, 2000-2016”  

https://youtu.be/npMWFPlTDds <https://youtu.be/npMWFPlTDds>

This 13-minute video focuses on the island of Vunavadra, Fiji, beginning during a coral bleaching event in 2000 and ending in 2016 after a Cat 5 Cyclone named “Winston" obliterated the reef.  Winston was the most powerful and destructive storm ever recorded in the southern hemisphere.  

This program will not win awards for production quality, but that is not the point.  It is a visual science report that incorporates data and images to highlight patterns of reef succession.  Some of these data have been published, but these videos may be of greater instructional value than just another publication on coral bleaching and recovery.  Ultimately, it is a visual depiction of our worst fears for all coral reefs facing future threats of more frequent and severe storms and bleaching events.  (Note:  The starting and endpoints for the transect are the same every year, except for 2016, when nothing recognizable remained.  However, the middle section of the transect line often drifted by a meter or more. We do not believe that this significantly affected the counts of coral numbers and coral cover).  

We mention that this reef could be a candidate for a coral restoration project, but this suggestion might be controversial because this shallow reef is susceptible to catastrophic storm events.  Is the effort of restoration worth the time and cost?  Conversely, one could argue that knowing the original diversity and density of corals on this reef could validate a restoration effort, especially if the selection of new corals approximates the original diversity.  Moreover, restoration efforts would give the corals a head-start of a year or two to reach maturity and reproduce, which might become a critical factor if the frequency of storms and bleaching events increase in coming years. 

What has happened to Vunavadra since 2016 is unknown to us.  Returning to Fiji has been problematic, especially with recent COVID travel restrictions.  Someday we hope to return and re-evaluate the Vunavadra transect and seven more transects on other Fiji reefs.