hurriaines and coral

[DivingDoc]

Has anyone heard about diving spots in the Carribean and whether the coral and/or resort spots were damaged by the hurricaines that went through? Better yet, has anyone been down to see the coral?

 

[DocVikingo]

Has anyone heard about diving spots in the Carribean and whether the coral and/or resort spots were damaged by the hurricaines that went through? Better yet, has anyone been down to see the coral?

has anyone been down to see the coral?[/QUOTE]

Not much being reported yet, but almost assuredly some damage, especially at shallower depths, will be found.

Have seen a couple of very cursory reports about reefs off Grand Cayman and they indicated not much problem.

Time will tell.

Best regards.

DocVikingo

 

[Doc]

Has anyone heard about diving spots in the Carribean and whether the coral and/or resort spots were damaged by the hurricaines that went through? Better yet, has anyone been down to see the coral?

We dove the Bay Islands extensively before- as well as just after- Mitch went thru in 1998.

There is always going to be damage to the shallow water corals- the ones that are, by design, set to break off and lay clutter forming new base structures (Elkhorn, Staghorn, Lettuce Leaf, etc.). Most divers see this and write off any given dive site/reef.

The other factor that literaly and figuratively clouds the judgement of many visiting divers is the turbidity of the near shore waters caused by run-off of shoreline particulates. This can be especially bad in an area down current of recent development or in niche environs that have little current/tidal transfer of volumes of water.

All in all, after the passing of Mitch (1998), I stand behind my original estimation that this was simply "Nature's way of cleansing the reefs". As the cloudiness eased and regrowth began, the reefs around Roatan have rebounded. The situation in Guanaja has been of a longer term- it bore the full brunt of the savagery.

Add to that high physical impact of Guanaja the obvious tenuous grasp on the tourist economy that the island eeked out to begin with. But two resorts supported the entire tourist economy there- is it any wonder that when one succumbed to the effects of Mitch that the island economy has yet to fully recover? Too bad, as the reefs and environs are once again of great interest.

Cayman will recover, it has high density economic momentum. What dive ops that fall to the wayside will be missed, but it will not decimate the industry or future economy. The reefs will be so much the better for it.

Need verification? In 1970-1988 (approx) there was the substantial wreck of a ship lying aground on the East End... see http://www.allthingszombie.com/movies/shockwaves.php (and scan down past all the zombie makeup!). You don't see that ship sitting out there anymore, do you? It's all back to the way it was, on the surface at least... and below the waves the iron is feeding the critters.

We could get involved in an esoteric discussion as to whether the reef would regenerate more quickly without the effects of visiting divers. Without degenerating into that arena, suffice to say that the major detriment caused by divers is much more the impact on the island itself in servicing those visitors. (Building, roads, run-off, septic, garbage, etc.) The island terrestrial activity is the main impact vs. the mere diver to reef contact issues.

As late as the mid 80's, one could flop into the water just South of Georgetown (CoCoNut Harbor & Tanks area) and see Bugsy (450# Jewfish), Snaggletooth (7' Cuda) and that 7' Green Moray on every dive in a garden of corals. Cayman has changed dramaticaly from the unspoiled mecca it offered in the 70's. You don't go there for world class diving- you go there for a world class vacation experience. This hurricane can do nothing but help.

When an island has been hit hard by a storm, the best way to help is to go and spend dive money when they're ready to have you as guests. Be adventurous- go and take a chance- the diving will be different, but you can at least have that experience of noting the changes in the island as well as the reef- for that trip and future.

Go diving.

 

[Hank49]

We dove the Bay Islands extensively before- as well as just after- Mitch went thru in 1998..

Hi Roatan man, I've seen two posts in the last few days where you stated Mitch went thru in 1998. Wasn't it 1999? I'm pretty sure because is was just before I came to Belize and that was the year I came.
But regarding coral...when I came here everyone was saying that Mitch had done so much damage but this was following the big El Nino of 98 that caused coral bleaching around the world. I saw it in Malaysia and the Philippines. The whole west side of Boracay was dead from warm water that caused bleaching...and then an army of Crown of Thorns came thru and cleaned up what was left. I guess they flourished because the natural defense of the corals was damaged or dead.
Do hurricanes do a lot of damage? I don't think so. There may be a lot of sediment washed into the sea which can suffocate the coral but the waves that also occur during the storms wash the sedient off and after a few days it settles to the bottom.

 

[Doc]

Hi Roatan man, I've seen two posts in the last few days where you stated Mitch went thru in 1998.QUOTE]

Oct 27, 1998 at 16:30 hrs local, Mitch had just cleared Guanaja and bore down South onto the Fantome. A moment that we won't soon forget. 31 men.

http://www.fortogden.com/fantommiamiherald.html

 

[Hank49]

Hi Roatan man, I've seen two posts in the last few days where you stated Mitch went thru in 1998.QUOTE]

Oct 27, 1998 at 16:30 hrs local, Mitch had just cleared Guanaja and bore down South onto the Fantome. A moment that we won't soon forget. 31 men.

http://www.fortogden.com/fantommiamiherald.html

Oops. My apologies R Man. I could have sworn it was right before I came to Belize. Thanks, Hank

 

[Mike Veitch]

Do hurricanes do a lot of damage? I don't think so. There may be a lot of sediment washed into the sea which can suffocate the coral but the waves that also occur during the storms wash the sedient off and after a few days it settles to the bottom.

Actually they do. I have seen this on several occasions in Micronesia. One side of Yap was very damaged after a storm in the early 90s i believe. Has never grown back to its former stature.
One site in Palau was just growing back nicely from the El Nino events when it was about 40-50% destroyed again from a strong Tropical Storm in 2001.
I also visited the island of Sorol before and after this same storm (about 3 months in between) and what had been a beautiful site full of hard coral on the south corner was literally levelled after sustaining a direct hit.
Let me tell you we were a little upset about that.

Even recently in Rangiroa, a place where big waves are a daily thing, it sustained a lot of hard coral damage after a particularly bad week of much higher than normal waves due to a tropical storm. So much so that the top of the reef, around 40 feet, was just a mess of broken coral everywhere.

In conclusion, i would say that any hard coral above 50 feet is very much at risk from being destroyed by hurricanes, the shallower it is the more at risk. Soft coral usually survives better. Fish don't seem to be that bothered.

One personal observation though i have no scientific data to back it up: Storm damaged coral seems to grow back far faster than bleached coral. So i guess the hurricanes don't kill coral like bleaching does, but it does do a lot of damage that takes years to recover.

 

[Hank49]

Actually they do. I have seen this on several occasions in Micronesia. One side of Yap was very damaged after a storm in the early 90s i believe. Has never grown back to its former stature.
One site in Palau was just growing back nicely from the El Nino events when it was about 40-50% destroyed again from a strong Tropical Storm in 2001.
I also visited the island of Sorol before and after this same storm (about 3 months in between) and what had been a beautiful site full of hard coral on the south corner was literally levelled after sustaining a direct hit.
Let me tell you we were a little upset about that.

Even recently in Rangiroa, a place where big waves are a daily thing, it sustained a lot of hard coral damage after a particularly bad week of much higher than normal waves due to a tropical storm. So much so that the top of the reef, around 40 feet, was just a mess of broken coral everywhere.

In conclusion, i would say that any hard coral above 50 feet is very much at risk from being destroyed by hurricanes, the shallower it is the more at risk. Soft coral usually survives better. Fish don't seem to be that bothered.

One personal observation though i have no scientific data to back it up: Storm damaged coral seems to grow back far faster than bleached coral. So i guess the hurricanes don't kill coral like bleaching does, but it does do a lot of damage that takes years to recover.

Perhaps it's also how often an area is hit by a typhoon or hurricane. The central and northern Philippines gets hit a lot. So the corals that you see there are always typhoon survivors. In an area that gets hit once in 20 years, with lots of fragile staghorns or whatever, I would guess it will cause more evident damage.

 

[fbosch]

I spent 3 months in Micronesia in '78 including 3 weeks in Palau's Malakal Harbor, not far from the Palau Pacific Resort.

I dove there again in 2001 and it was quite a difference. The color on most of the reef had turned to grey

(Global Warming bleaching events in '96 and '99) Alot of fish there still but the comparison reminded me of Hiroshema. anyone dived there lately, I saw some reef tips coming back on some of the drift sites like blue corner
but places like ulong channel were quite dead.

It also seems to rain there alot now in the so-called dry season.

I also observed Japaneese divers with absolutely no regard for the reef walking on it like rocks, this also is disturbing.

 

[padudle]

We just came back from more than a week diving off Ambergris Caye, Belize. It appears that almost all the coral is dead there. The skeletons of brain and columnar corals were in tact but all the polyps were gone. Only grey rock remained.

We did some dives far up the island from the urban section but the coral was equally dead there.

Does anyone know what happend to that large section of reef?