[Coral-List] Florida bleaching threatens coral; trying to save corals in nurseries

[Phillip Dustan]

Dear Listers,
  The Florida Keys are pretty much gone having lost over 95% of their coral
cover BEFORE 2000.
The fuse was lit before Global Warming reared its head when the enlarged
water pipeline and new bridges were built in the 1980's, maybe even before
that when the Army Corps "ditched" South Florida and Diadema died. The
Sanctuaries Program was a good idea but it was never really implemented,
nor meant to protect the reefs. It supported the economic growth of
tourism. The massive influx of tourists DOUBLED the flush rate in Key West
during the "mini" lobster harvest in August. Nutrients and fecal matter
flowed into the sea. Overdevelopment generated massive amounts of water and
aerial-bourne fine sediments and the slaughter of fish and crustaceans only
increased as the Tourist Board kept screaming "Come on Down".
We know this, we watched it happen. we measured it from space to
underwater.......It was a triumph of economic interests over biological
principles. Now, there is great concern over saving the very last bits and
pieces when we should have been concerned with saving the ecosystem. Saldy,
SCLD and hot water are now simply mopping up what's left. There were
Iconic Reefs in the Keys but no longer. But these funding efforts begin to
support a "scientific" economy. Humpty Dunpty can't simply be put back
together again without restoring the environmental conditions that
supported the original development: clean water, intense sunlight, high
rates of herbivory, complex food webs........ The idea that we can restore
the Keys is hubris with a heavy dash of politics, a "Let them eat cake"
approach..
Sadly, the plague of humanity has spread into the far reaches of the
Caribbean and the region is looking more and more like the Florida Keys.
Perhaps we should begin to realize that there are no safe refugia for coral
reefs in the Caribbean and efforts should begin to save the region, not
simply the Keys.
Phil

On Wed, Aug 16, 2023 at 8:04 AM Douglas Fenner via Coral-List <
coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:

>
> https://www.yahoo.com/news/floridas-coral-reef-danger-scientists-090340658.html
>
> Cheers, Doug
>
> --
> Douglas Fenner
> Lynker Technologies, LLC, Contractor
> NOAA Fisheries Service
> Pacific Islands Regional Office
> Honolulu
> and:
> Coral Reef Consulting
> PO Box 997390
> Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799-6298  USA
>
> One recent study estimates over 61,000 people died from heat during
> Europe's record-breaking summer last year.
>
> https://www.yahoo.com/news/record-breaking-heat-bakes-us-014459083.html
>
> 1 million Florida buildings will be overrun by sea-level rise, new study
> shows, at a cost of $261-624 BILLION
>
>
> https://www.yahoo.com/news/1-million-florida-buildings-overrun-091203340.html
>
> Scientists size up human predatory footprint
> Humans are the ultimate predators, trapping, hunting, or otherwise
> exploiting 15,000 species of vertebrates—300 times more species than
> jaguars and 113 times more than great white sharks.
>
> https://www.science.org/content/article/news-glance-muscular-dystrophy-therapy-lab-grown-chicken-and-humans-toll-wildlife
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-- 



Phillip Dustan PhD
Charleston SC  29424
843-953-8086 office
843-224-3321 (mobile)

"When we try to pick out anything by itself
we find that it is bound fast by a thousand invisible cords
that cannot be broken, to everything in the universe. "
*                                         John Muir 1869*

*A Swim Through TIme on Carysfort Reef*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCPJE7UE6sA
*Raja Ampat Sustainability Project video*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RR2SazW_VY&fbclid=IwAR09oZkEk8wQkK6LN3XzVGPgAWSujACyUfe2Ist__nYxRRSkDE_jAYqkJ7A
*Bali Coral Bleaching 2016 video*

*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxOfLTnPSUo
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxOfLTnPSUo>*
TEDx Charleston on saving coral reefs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwENBNrfKj4
Google Scholar Citations:
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=HCwfXZ0AAAAJ