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

Thu Aug 17 20:39:58 UTC 2023

I agree with Phllip,

Restoration in the face of what is coming is not possible, and to focus on
restoring reefs at this point in time, for Florida at least, borders on
delusion.
The best we can hope for now is to prevent the demise of the corals and
plan for better days, when humanity gets it act together, or perhaps the
Earth will go over the AMOC tipping point and that will cool the Northern
Hemisphere?  The Florida coral reef community has done an amazing job of
getting many coral species and genotypes into secure land-based facilities
and so this now becomes endangered species conservation.  Now the challenge
is what to do with these corals.   Perhaps some cooler "sweet spots" for
their reintroduction into the wild can be found, at least for the more heat
adapted genotypes?  Or perhaps nurseries designed with routine
summer-shading integrated into the design?  But we can not fool ourselves
that planting a million corals will solve these problems.

I also agree that the Caribbean/Atlantic Region needs a regional approach,
that continuing with this every nation for itself approach is not going to
work out well.   Belize and Cuba in particular appear to have the widest
shelves and thus the strongest thermal gradients in the region, and heat
adapted coral populations can be expected to exist in the warmer nearshore
waters.  However, there has been little focus on translocation of these
corals from the nearshore reefs to offshore cooler waters.  These bleaching
resistant corals, if left in place, can be expected to exceed their
tolerance levels as the ocean warms.  Shelter in place is not a good
strategy for a firestorm.  Translocation of coral samples from these heat
resistant populations should be given priority as a major adaptation
strategy.

If or when AMOC shuts down, the models show that the Northern
Hemisphere cools and the Southern Hemisphere warms, as the planetary heat
equator shifts from 0-15 North to 0-15 South.  This is going to increase
thermal stress on the Great Barrier Reef, Fiji, and the entire South
Pacific.  La Nina conditions will become permanent according to at least
one model.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2ETr6X1lOk   But regardless of
the longer term concerns associated with AMOC collapse, we have something
already to worry about: alarming global heat spike, which is slowly
worsening https://climatereanalyzer.org/clim/sst_daily/    We appear to
have been thrust two decades into the future!

The Southern Hemisphere needs to heed the warning that the present
situation in the Caribbean presents, and to urgently prepare for this
unexpected heatwave which is bound to hit us in the coming summer, and
possibly for multiple years.  We are right now in our lowest-stress window,
but it is closing quickly!  What the Caribbean has shown us is that
translocation of corals from warmer to cooler waters could in some places
have been done years earlier, and preparations for shading of nurseries
could also have been in place, they were caught off guard.  We are
regarding this period as the time for urgent action in our Fiji sites, well
before the Southern Hemisphere arrives.  If we over-prepare this time
around, then no loss, but if we wait to see what unfolds it will be too
late.  I implore all those who work on the GBR and other areas to consider
joining us in these preparations.    A short video on our strategy is
here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnJ-eUVJwqE

We can not wait any longer!

Austin

Austin Bowden-Kerby, PhD
Corals for Conservation
P.O. Box 4649 Samabula, Fiji Islands

https://www.corals4conservation.org
Publication on C4C's coral-focused climate change adaptation strategies:
https://www.mdpi.com/2673-1924/4/1/2/pdf
Film on our "Reefs of Hope" coral restoration for climate change adaptation
strategies:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG0lqKciXAA
https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/emergency-response-to-massive-coral-bleaching/
<https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/emergency-response-to-massive-coral-bleaching/>

On Fri, Aug 18, 2023 at 2:05 AM Phillip Dustan via Coral-List <
coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:

> 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
> > _______________________________________________
> > Coral-List mailing list
> > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> > https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
>
>
>
> --
>
>
>
> 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
> _______________________________________________
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