Pollution is one of the major threats to ocean communities, coral reefs, small island countries, including the focus in this blog: The Bahamas.  It will be the first country in the world-wide study of the health of coral reef environments by the Living Oceans Foundation.  The Bahamas alone, benefits from coral reefs in so many ways.  Not only do the coral reefs lure tourists to dive, snorkel, fish and swim, but they protect the islands of The Bahamas from storms, acting as a surge buffer.  

A five-year exploration of Bahamian coral reefs will help to form data to gain knowledge of coral reefs on a global scale.  25 other Small Island Developing States (SIDS) around the world are taking part in this study conducted by the Living Oceans Foundation.

Along with the Living Oceans Foundation, the Bahamas National Trust, Nature Conservancy, Friends of the Environment, Andros Conservatory, the Ministry of the Environment and the Department of Marine Resources will work together to gather information on the damage of ocean pollution.  

Andros, the largest island in The Bahamas, is bordered by the third largest barrier reef in the world.  Identifying the abundance of life; species of corals and fish, health of the reef, its recovery from the bleaching events of 1998, and the size of the coral reef itself.  This alone will be one of the most important reefs studied worldwide.

The research will create maps of previously uncharted areas of The Bahamas.  This will assist in placing urgency in some areas, and continuing efforts of preservation in others.  The unique thing about the Living Oceans Foundation is that they are involving local scientists in all of their research and explorations.  This will greatly benefit The Bahamas, leaving such valuable knowledge in local hands will help efforts to support conservation.

If studies, and steps towards cleaning the oceans are not taken the ocean will cease to exist, as we know it.  The contamination and runoff from humans is killing corals and endangering already susceptible species.  Knowing what the conditions of Bahamian reefs are, can lead to forward thinking in terms of conservation and restoration.  By studying the impact of pollutants, scientists should be able to identify direct threats to individual environments.  

The Bahamas is extremely fortunate to be the first country chosen in this global study.  By mapping existing marine habitats, creating a plan of action from land and sea, will help zoning of delicate habitats.  The entire country relies on reefs for food, resources, as a hurricane-insurance policy and business.  Gaining and sharing this knowledge is the most important step in getting civilians onboard with conservation.  

Just like seeds from all the Earth's crops are kept at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, scientists in the US and Australia are collecting coral embryonic cells and sperm cells.  

The scientists will cryogenically freeze the specimens for safekeeping.  The Australian scientists will keep their genetic specimens at the Taronga Western Plains Zoo in New South Wales.  

The cells are carefully frozen so they are suspended, but kept alive.  In the future, they can be thawed and the sperm will fertilize eggs.  All in the hopes future technology will develop to regrow coral colonies from the cells.  

All of this is in case of a last resort to regrow corals and replace dying species in the oceans.  Hopefully we will stop destroying our environment so we don't need to use this "doomsday" resource, but better knowing its there than wishing it was in retrospect.  

Does Coral Only Grow in the Tropics?  No.

Coral can be found throughout the oceans, although the organisms that build tropical (biotic) reefs only grow between 70-85oF (21-29oC).

Most corals exist between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn

Corals exist in deep cold water to shallow, tropical water. 

Can be found at depths over 300ft (90m)

Reef building corals grow at depths shallower than 230ft (70m)

The most vibrant reefs, humans dive and snorkel on, exist no deeper than 60-90ft (18-27m)

They need salt water to survive, so they do not grow near rivers or fresh water runoff

What Exactly is Coral?  It’ s not a rock!

Coral is actually a living animal, or several species living together symbiotically (see post)

Corals can exist as individual polyps or in colonies that contain hundreds of polyps (brain coral, is actually many polyps 1-3mm in diameter)

As much as 90% of photosynthetic energy is transferred from the zooxanthellae to the host coral

Coral can reproduce both sexually and asexually

Sexually: most common, done by broadcast spawning or brooding

Asexually: by creating a new coral from a broken piece

Coral reefs are built by millions of coral polyps (they look like upside-down jellyfish)

Over time the use of excess carbon dioxide in the water turn the polyps into limestone, creating island chains like The Bahamas

How Many Types of Reefs are There?  Seven.

Apron & Fringe Reefs:  reach down and out from shore (Apron reefs are not as steep)

Barrier Reefs:  separated from the shore by lagoons

Atoll Reefs: surrounds a lagoon in a circular, or uninterrupted way, with no island in the middle

Patch & Ribbon Reefs:  Are self-contained, isolated reefs that are not necessarily near land

Table Reef: A small, isolated reef with a flat top

How is Coral Categorized?  Into Two Categories:

Hard Coral:

     Scientific Name: Scleractinia (also called Stony Corals)

     Similar to sea anemones but generate a hard 
     skeleton

     First appeared: Middle Triassic Era

     Two groups:

          Colonial corals: shallow, clear tropical waters, world’s primary reef builders

          Solitary corals: found in all regions of the ocean, do not build reefs (some live in polar 
          waters, or below the photic zone 6000m below the surface)

Soft Coral:

     Scientific name: Alcyonacea (include sea fans and sea
     pens)

     Do not produce calcium carbonate skeletons, and 
     therefore are not reef-building corals, nor to they lay a
     foundation for future corals

     These corals get their structural support from tiny, spiny
     skeletal sclerites, or grainy texture that deters predators

     Thrive in nutrient rich waters, with less light

     Almost all soft corals use zooxanthellae as a major source or energy

Why are Coral Reefs Important? 

Coral reefs provide shelter for a wide variety of marine life

They are a valuable source of food, and nutrients for humans and the ocean

Coral reefs produce carbon dioxide

How much of our Food is Supplied by Coral Reefs? The Billion-Dollar Industry:

Fish that would call coral reef home if they could talk account a food source for over a billion people worldwide (many of whom live far from where the fish are caught)

A staggering half of all the federally managed fisheries in the US depend on coral reefs as a habitat for a portion of their life cycle

The commercial value US fisheries gain from coral reefs is estimated to be over $100 million

What have we gained from Reefs?  Medicine:

The chemical compounds used for defense found in many coral reef species, like sponges and nudibranchs, have the potential for new pharmaceutical breakthroughs. 

Coral reef species have helped in the development of new medicines for: easing labour, treating cancer, arthritis, ulcers, asthma, bacterial infections, heart disease, viruses and disease.

Also used as sources of nutritional supplements and enzymes and has also been used in cosmetic research.  
We Love to Relax and Explore Coral Reefs.  Tourism:

Millions of snorkelers and divers visit coral reefs every year to delve into an alien universe

Even more tourists visit islands, resorts and beaches protected by reefs

Tourist-driven economies receive millions of dollars from visitors to coral reef areas, from diving, fishing trips, hoteliers, restaurants, surfers, and a plethora of other businesses that encompass coral reef communities.

Reef-based recreational fisheries generate over $100 million/year in the US alone

It has been estimated, the total worldwide value of coral-reef based recreation and tourism is at $10 billion!

What are we Doing to Save these Delicate Ecosystems?  Conservation & Restoration:

Indonesia is looking at spending over $100 million on research and implementation of sustainable coral reefs.

MPAs are being established around the world, allowing sustainable fishing that can be managed, and important habitants will be conserved and protected

Laws for MPAs are being molded after the laws for provincial and national parks

The aquarium fish trade has accounted for massive decline in reef species numbers, especially in Asia.  Laws to make this trade more responsible and sustainable are being implemented through education in third-world countries to limit overfishing

Some scientists are attempted to grow coral, by placing artificial reefs (like a properly sunken boat) or by harvesting corals and responsibly planting them elsewhere

Coral Reefs are One of the most Delicate Ecosystems on the Planet.  What are Coral Reefs Susceptible to?

Coral reefs are extremely sensitive to light, temperature change, overfishing, damaging fishing practices, pollution, excess sediment from development, acidification, pH changes and changes in hormone levels in surrounding water.

El Niño and El Niña years are natural factors that influence coral bleaching

What is the Coral Reef Environments Biggest Threat?

Human activity is the greatest threats to coral reefs, the destruction of mangrove forests due to tourism and development, which allows silt out to sea ultimately suffocating the coral and block out sunlight.  

The hormones and waste we discharge untreated into the water affects every link of a coral reef ecosystem.  

In The Philippines and Indonesia they use cyanide to stun fish on coral reefs, but it damages invaluable corals and species – suffering a 90% mortality rate several weeks after cyanide exposure

Some fishermen use dynamite to blast fish from crevasses, others use crowbars to scare out fish, damaging delicate coral that takes thousands of years to grow.   

o   The large findings of species, in small areas suggests that coral reefs diversity is seriously underestimated by traditional survey methods

o   The Indo-Pacific region was the most diverse.  I’ve heard from divers in the Caribbean, for every one species here, there are like, 10 there.

o   Past estimates of coral reef diversity ranged from about half a million to over 9 million species

o   Less than 2 million species have been identified on land, while estimates of total species have numbered from 3-100 million in the ocean.

o   Coral reefs are one of the richest marine environments, but also one of the most threatened

o   75% of the world’s coral reefs are threatened by local and global impacts
       o   The most common factors being overfishing and pollution

o   Coral reefs also face the impact of greenhouse gas emissions; both from coral bleaching and from rising sea temperatures and ocean acidification due to higher carbon dioxide levels

o   Some scientists have warned that coral reef ecosystems could be extinct within a hundred years if society doesn’t move forward on environmental issues

o   DNA barcoding has become a standardized, cost-effective method of evaluating diversity on tropical coral reefs

o   It has the potential for use in global surveys, giving us the ability to find out what is living in the ocean now, and how to keep track of it for the future

o   Almost as many crab species on tropical coral reef sections, measuring 6.3 square meters, as in all of Europe’s seas

o   DNA barcoding identified 525 crustaceans (168 crab species) from dead coral bits taken from several sites in the tropics, including the Indian, Pacific and Caribbean.

o   Over a third of species encountered by researchers were only found once

o   81% of species were only found in one location