[Coral-List] Post

[Judith Lang]

Hi Skip and Julian,

I knew THE BOOK had been published. Stacey Williams had a photo of the cover in her short bibliography slide after a general introduction to Diadema restoration in a talk she gave one night last week to folks in the Caribbean (there were over 60, with her assistant Manual Olmeda providing simultaneous Spanish translation). 

Sadly news came yesterday that they might now really be sick in Florida; and this morning there’s some documentation off Rodriguez Key, S Key Largo. Here are the coordinates:
North White Bank Dry Rock site: 25.04395 -80.36993
South White Bank Dry Rock site: 25.04018 - 80.37137

If you want, you can see Andy Kough's video clips at  https://www.dropbox.com/sh/d7kmh6pdo5byxef/AAAwSIb85lMxbL-rudiCPlfQa?dl=0 <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.dropbox.com_sh_d7kmh6pdo5byxef_AAAwSIb85lMxbL-2DrudiCPlfQa-3Fdl-3D0&d=DwMFaQ&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=u8YkG0tmxJbnT4cf21M5EfpeKjTkJlB8L9t3iHop3H0&m=0ziBXQSFsI7FQ-ZyYC8rlgyWLpnGpkVdv4YIboQu-1hP-syop7ToccdPMF2ZXliR&s=-DzYYvSoalB4VvUdx9uym7HlQ-_vfTe05251jWw9YXw&e=>

The Diadema Response Network is setting up a Diadema "rescue for eventual restoration” team. Either or both of you are warmly invited to participate at any level you find appropriate.

Best to you both and please stay healthy,
Judy


> On May 20, 2022, at 7:18 PM, Martin Moe via Coral-List <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:
> 
> 
> Hello Coral List,
> 
> When working with coral reef restoration, it is important torealize and consider that a coral reef is not just a few coral species existingtogether on the bones of previous coral growths. When healthy, a coral reef isa marine ecosystem composed of many thousands of different species, frommicroscopic to huge, living in biological cooperation and conflict that formsand maintains a spectacular tropical oceanic ecosystem of marine life. It is animmensely important part of oceanic ecology and human existence as well.  We are in grave danger of losing the veryessence of coral reefs in many regions, and it may well be that the end timesfor coral reefs as we knew them are already here.
> 
> But if we give up, then we have lost any opportunity we mayhave had to preserve the heart of our oceans. Optimistically, preserving coralreefs can be accomplished, but it will require much more than we have already done,and it may take much longer than we imagine. When the plague of 1983 destroyedthe ecological function of herbivory on western Atlantic coral reefs, which wasprovided by the long-spined sea urchin, Diadema antillarum, the decline ofcoral reefs in this region accelerated rapidly. Loss of herbivory is by far notthe only problem that affects our coral reefs, but it is fundamental. I workedfor pretty much 20 years to develop the technology for the mass culture ofDiadema and my efforts were basically successful. 
> 
> My book, the Diadema Culture Manual, published by RicordeaPublishing, Miami Gardens, FL, USA, will soon be available. You can findinformation about it here: https://twolittlefishiesstore.com/
> 
> This is the first paragraph of the Prologue to the book.
> 
> “There is an obvious truism in our language today, ‘Youdon’t know, what you don’t know’. In science, this phrase is much moremeaningful than just a clever observation. Knowing, identifying, and definingwhat is unknown is the beginning of a serious effort, the scientific method, tomove something from the category of the unknown, to that of the known. And theobjective in doing so is to solve problems, gain real knowledge, and improveand create new technologies. In marine biological science, we are working withplants and animals that live in a medium foreign to us, and in many ways, it ismore difficult to experience and analyze this life than the life in our own dryearth sphere of existence. In my project to work out the basic technology formass culture of Diadema antillarum sea urchins, this adage was especiallyappropriate because mass culture of this urchin had never been accomplished.The problems I encountered in a small, limited laboratory were varied, many,and interrelated.” 
> 
> The science and technology of coral reef ecological restorationis as complex as life can be, and it is still in the early stages. Theliterature is already immense, it ranges from complex science tosemi-scientific speculation, to basic education, to fundraising publicrelations, to proclamations of death and disaster, and more. There is much moreto do before we can identify, publicize, and create a way forward that willprepare us for the future.  If we can’tdo this, then the future will, to use a common expression, eat us alive. Theanswer may be in that simple and obvious axiom, “You don’t know, what you don’tknow.” It’s difficult and time-consuming to build a science and develop a planaround what you don’t know, especially when there is disagreement as to what itis that you don’t know.
> 
>  All of this is to saythat restoration of coral reefs is an endeavor that is evolving, and a centralpart of that effort for Caribbean and Atlantic coral reefs is the restorationof populations of Diadema antillarum. Corals and coral reefs in the regiondepend on them. Ironically, as many of you know, the publication of my book is coincidingwith what appears to be another plague affecting Diadema. Hopefully, Diademarestoration work involving lab-based culture can overcome these events andreduce their long-term impact.
> 
> Martin Moe
> 
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