[Coral-List] Florida bleaching threatens coral; trying to save corals in nurseries
Risk, Michael
riskmj at mcmaster.ca
Thu Aug 17 14:42:45 UTC 2023
Hi Phil.
Maybe it's just the old guys that really see the damage? But all the
data remain out there...yes, it has been amusingly depressing to see
all the folks running around with their hair on fire, trying to "save"
reefs that went from >60% cover to 2%, 1960-2000.
I recall writing a summary report for one of your agencies (NOAA?) in
2000, on the monitoring programs in the Keys. My first salt-water dive
was at Dry Rocks in 1961, and I was horrified by the results that were
presented in 2000. (The best of which, it must be said, being from the
FMRI program in which you were involved.)
In my report, I characterized the situation as a "regional mass
extinction." That comment was removed by the editors.
When money and science fight, science usually loses-but often that's
because we don't make enough noise. Or because some of us were bought
or rented.
Mike
__________________________________________________________________
From: Coral-List <coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> on behalf of
Phillip Dustan via Coral-List <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
Sent: Thursday, August 17, 2023 8:19 AM
To: Douglas Fenner <douglasfennertassi at gmail.com>
Cc: coral list <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Florida bleaching threatens coral; trying to
save corals in nurseries
Caution: External email.
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 8:04AM Douglas Fenner via Coral-List <
coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:
>
>
[1]https://www.yahoo.com/news/floridas-coral-reef-danger-scientists-090
340658.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.
>
>
[2]https://www.yahoo.com/news/record-breaking-heat-bakes-us-014459083.h
tml
>
> 1 million Florida buildings will be overrun by sea-level rise, new
study
> shows, at a cost of $261-624 BILLION
>
>
>
[3]https://www.yahoo.com/news/1-million-florida-buildings-overrun-09120
3340.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.
>
>
[4]https://www.science.org/content/article/news-glance-muscular-dystrop
hy-therapy-lab-grown-chicken-and-humans-toll-wildlife
> _______________________________________________
> Coral-List mailing list
> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> [5]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*
[6]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCPJE7UE6sA
*Raja Ampat Sustainability Project video*
[7]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RR2SazW_VY&fbclid=IwAR09oZkEk8wQkK6
LN3XzVGPgAWSujACyUfe2Ist__nYxRRSkDE_jAYqkJ7A
*Bali Coral Bleaching 2016 video*
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxOfLTnPSUo
<[8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxOfLTnPSUo>*
TEDx Charleston on saving coral reefs
[9]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwENBNrfKj4
Google Scholar Citations:
[10]https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=HCwfXZ0AAAAJ
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Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
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References
1. https://www.yahoo.com/news/floridas-coral-reef-danger-scientists-090340658.html
2. https://www.yahoo.com/news/record-breaking-heat-bakes-us-014459083.html
3. https://www.yahoo.com/news/1-million-florida-buildings-overrun-091203340.html
4. https://www.science.org/content/article/news-glance-muscular-dystrophy-therapy-lab-grown-chicken-and-humans-toll-wildlife
5. https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCPJE7UE6sA
7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RR2SazW_VY&fbclid=IwAR09oZkEk8wQkK6LN3XzVGPgAWSujACyUfe2Ist__nYxRRSkDE_jAYqkJ7A
8. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxOfLTnPSUo
9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwENBNrfKj4
10. https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=HCwfXZ0AAAAJ
11. https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
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