WaterWayne
Guest
This Associated Press story popped up on Yahoo this morning. Good story research, with concise info on coral bleaching as well, so it's unfortunate that the editor assigned an overly-alarmed headline. The writer actually reports only 5% damage, and that's buried halfway down the original story.
"Hurricane Rita's pounding waves and a hotter-than-usual Gulf of Mexico took a toll on the Gulf of Mexico's only government-protected coral reefs about 100 miles off the Louisiana and Texas coasts.
...
The reefs, which began to form up to 15,000 years ago, are the northernmost coral reefs in the United States... Roughly 2,500 divers visit them each year.
"It's one of the healthiest places where we can dive close to home," said Frank Wasson, who runs dive tours to the remote sanctuary...
"Surveys of the 40-plus-square-mile sanctuary found that about 5 percent of it was damaged by Rita's waves, said G.P. Schmahl, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's sanctuary manager.
"Brain and star coral, the most common types of coral in the sanctuary, were toppled and smashed by waves, Schmahl said. Also, the reefs' sand flats, where queen conch and trigger fish nest, were disturbed by the pounding waves, he said.
"Besides Rita's waves, a mass of turbid water from towns and industries was washed offshore by Rita's deluge and stressed the coral reefs, Schmahl said.
"But Rita wasn't the only source of stress last summer for the reefs.
"Last year, Gulf waters around the reefs were slightly hotter than normal 89 degrees rather than the average 86 and that caused "bleaching" for about two months, Schmahl said.
"Bleaching is caused by the release of algae that live symbiotically within the cells of the reefs and can kill coral. The bleaching, which makes coral look white, was widespread and worrisome, but authorities said not much coral has died from it so far."
"Hurricane Rita's pounding waves and a hotter-than-usual Gulf of Mexico took a toll on the Gulf of Mexico's only government-protected coral reefs about 100 miles off the Louisiana and Texas coasts.
...
The reefs, which began to form up to 15,000 years ago, are the northernmost coral reefs in the United States... Roughly 2,500 divers visit them each year.
"It's one of the healthiest places where we can dive close to home," said Frank Wasson, who runs dive tours to the remote sanctuary...
"Surveys of the 40-plus-square-mile sanctuary found that about 5 percent of it was damaged by Rita's waves, said G.P. Schmahl, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's sanctuary manager.
"Brain and star coral, the most common types of coral in the sanctuary, were toppled and smashed by waves, Schmahl said. Also, the reefs' sand flats, where queen conch and trigger fish nest, were disturbed by the pounding waves, he said.
"Besides Rita's waves, a mass of turbid water from towns and industries was washed offshore by Rita's deluge and stressed the coral reefs, Schmahl said.
"But Rita wasn't the only source of stress last summer for the reefs.
"Last year, Gulf waters around the reefs were slightly hotter than normal 89 degrees rather than the average 86 and that caused "bleaching" for about two months, Schmahl said.
"Bleaching is caused by the release of algae that live symbiotically within the cells of the reefs and can kill coral. The bleaching, which makes coral look white, was widespread and worrisome, but authorities said not much coral has died from it so far."
