I've been seeing lots of Staghorn corals out there, and I'm also delighted to see the Sea Urchins and Queen Conch making a comeback.
Too bad they don't eat LIONFISH.
Too bad they don't eat LIONFISH.
Staghorn Coral in Broward County
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Saw a small growth on the Yellow Brick Road on Saturday. Sweet!
(and a baby lionfish that I stabbed with my knife, but don't think I killed)
(and a baby lionfish that I stabbed with my knife, but don't think I killed)
DennisS
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I made the same observation last week. I was out on a dive and I saw a black spiny urchin in the cranny with a lobster. A little later in the dive I saw a full grown Queen Conch moving along the bottom. It gave a boost to my optimism, maybe they are making a come back.
Chugwhump
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There are a whole bunch of Queen Conch lately, and the Staghorn has definitely been making a comeback.
I am unsure if the Staghorn has been reintroduced or if the scum that used to rip everything off of the bottom of the sea and sell it in shell shops near the airports were finally stopped from their rape act.
As far as the Queen Conch go, I cannot say if the Conch are as thick as they were some years ago, as they were nearly nonexistent in the late 70's off of Broward County.
I have been seeing more and more of them for the past 10+ years.
I think in part to the state tossing captive bred or perhaps imported "rollers" into the sea.
Chug
Did a bunch of surveying at the Conch Farm in the Turks and Caicos a while back.
I am unsure if the Staghorn has been reintroduced or if the scum that used to rip everything off of the bottom of the sea and sell it in shell shops near the airports were finally stopped from their rape act.
As far as the Queen Conch go, I cannot say if the Conch are as thick as they were some years ago, as they were nearly nonexistent in the late 70's off of Broward County.
I have been seeing more and more of them for the past 10+ years.
I think in part to the state tossing captive bred or perhaps imported "rollers" into the sea.
Chug
Did a bunch of surveying at the Conch Farm in the Turks and Caicos a while back.
RickI
Contributor
I think the staghorn reappearance off Broward is due to climate change. We didn't have nearly this much in the early 1970's even when the Keys, Bahamas, etc. were still slammed with it. You would see small isolated colonies in the past but today there will be large clumps of the stuff. Not as large as a typical Keys stand back in the day but better than I recall off here anyway. Again, even the massive corals seem to be in better shape in a lot of cases in the same areas.
DennisS
Contributor
OP
trigfunctions
Contributor
I agree with that too. Although, this may also have something to do with it:
From today's paper:
Staghorn elkhorn coral: Offshore nurseries cultivate rare corals to rescue depleted reefs - South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com
Offshore nurseries cultivate rare corals to rescue depleted reefs
The nursery off Fort Lauderdale consists of two sites, just south and north of Hugh Taylor Birch State Park, where scientists from Nova are growing staghorn coral. The coral on one site started three years ago have grown large and are ready to be moved onto reefs, said David Gilliam, assistant professor at the university's Oceanographic Center.
"They're doing great," he said. "The only issue we have is during lobster season. We had damage related to people getting lobster; some fragments broken off."
Love this pic from the article...
Chugwhump
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You know,
I never really connected this until now, but there used to be a bunch of lobster traps when I was a kid in the areas where we see the staghorn coral popping up again in the 18'-22' range.
I guess it is a certainty that in dropping the traps, and then dragging the traps across the bottom during recovery operations, the bug fishermen just pounded that stuff to some extent.
I have not seen a lobster pot anywhere off of Broward County in over 10 years.
Thoughts???
Chug
Back from Tampa and quiet sober at the moment.
I never really connected this until now, but there used to be a bunch of lobster traps when I was a kid in the areas where we see the staghorn coral popping up again in the 18'-22' range.
I guess it is a certainty that in dropping the traps, and then dragging the traps across the bottom during recovery operations, the bug fishermen just pounded that stuff to some extent.
I have not seen a lobster pot anywhere off of Broward County in over 10 years.
Thoughts???
Chug
Back from Tampa and quiet sober at the moment.
floridanewbe
Contributor
Dove LBTS last weekend and was amazed t see all the staghorn out on the second reef. Beautiful big, gorgeous growths. Looked like a forest with them and all the sea fans.
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