Staghorn Coral in Broward County

[Glock Diver]

There was a big picture and article about staghorn coral in our Ft. Myers newspaper this morning... Funny this topic just surfaced, like a big newsflash!

Yes, there's quite a bit of it off Lauderdale By-The-Sea. "Thriving" would be an accurate description. I noticed it for the first time in June. Kinda cool.

 

[RickI]

Shot some video of this extensive new growth this afternoon. Will see if I have some still shots of the meager growth before in this same area several years back. If things keep up at this rate, could a new distinct fringing reef or even barrier reef develop off here in time? From the reported growth rates, it may not be that long, barring severe storm/hurricane events, a couple of decades, perhaps less?

More including the video at:
Staghorn Comeback ... off Ft. Lauderdale??? - FKA Kiteboarding Forums

 

[trigfunctions]

Wow! Rick that is amazing footage. I had no idea there were such large areas of staghorn out there.

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

NIce. I have seen the staghorn corals in pockets all along Broward County, but not in that concentration.

 

[soamelt]

I regularly dive off the beach in Pompano (just north of LBTS). I found this picture. Its not the best but I never claimed to be a professional photographer. I just started taking UW pictures, cut me some slack

I regulary dive Pompano as well. I've always seen small patches of Staghorn, but the Sunday after the OP I was in a little different spot than normal when my buddy and I came across a HUGE area of Staghorn. It was the most I've ever seen in one place which is necessarily saying much, but still enough that you could clearly see the *** look of surprise on our faces.

 

[danvolker]

Again, the Staghorn off Mara Lago ( Palm Beach) is a big deal because it can help prevent a massive dredging and beach renourishment project self indulgent beach property crowd from Palm Beach island are always planning.
Nothing like building on a large erosional zone or floodplain, and then demanding the entire country should bail you out when the building begins to be threatened by encroaching water....
Dan V

 

[RickI]

Thanks for the reports of other sightings of staghorn patches. What is the furthest north area they've been seen at this point? Mara Lago (just north of Southern Blvd. on A1A) is pretty far north. Are the colonies on that first rock shelf (coquina outcrop?) off the beach a few hundred yards or so from shore?

Just put up another video clip from yesterday at:
Staghorn Comeback ... off Ft. Lauderdale??? - FKA Kiteboarding Forums

I understand staghorn has been reported from Hollywood - north, not sure how far north at this point.

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Yes, there is staghornn in Hollywood, on the bricks just east of the rock pile. Have seen it off Dania Beach for a couple years.

North? Sorry, can't help you there.

 

[RickI]

Swam out to the second reef between Oakland Park and the north end of the public beach in Ft. Lauderdale on Saturday. This used to be one of the more prolific staghorn areas although it was still pretty sparse at that back in the day. There are a lot of healthy growing staghorn colonies off this area today. Larger still than a year or so ago. Another thing I've noticed is what massive coral colonies I come across seem healthier with fewer discolored areas of polyps than in years past. I noticed them clogging up a short western ledge of the inner second reef. Can't say I recall seeing much of that in the past. If this keeps up, we might even end up with dense staghorn thickets once common in the Keys off here.

 

[trigfunctions]

Interesting update Rick! How far out were you?