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

Steve Mussman sealab at earthlink.net
Sat Aug 19 14:13:08 UTC 2023 

“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”.

Hi Mike and all,

Isn’t that ultimately what all our discussions on this subject boil down to? We continuously chase our tails debating how best to save coral reefs all the while averting our attention from the discomfiting fact that there has been a long-standing disconnect, a dichotomy if you will, between our socioeconomic preferences, the way most of us have chosen to live our lives and the conservation of nature.

This paper, from ScienceDirect, spells it out more clearly. If you don’t have the time to read it all, drop down and read the conclusion, but the author raises the poignant question of whether or not nature can be adequately protected without first “actualising alternative social-ecological economic systems”.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320722000817

Regards,

Steve

On 8/17/23, 10:42 AM, Risk, Michael via Coral-List <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:

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 on behalf of

Phillip Dustan via Coral-List

Sent: Thursday, August 17, 2023 8:19 AM

To: Douglas Fenner

Cc: coral list

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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