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This page includes highlights from NOAA Coral Reef News, the monthly e-newsletter of the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program. Click here for newsletter subscription information.
July 2009 - (*pdf, 1.75 MB). *If you require this newsletter in another format, please contact us. Public Comment Opportunity: Regarding Petition to Revise Critical Habitat for Acropora NOAA Models Show Coral Bleaching Likely in Caribbean NOAA Coral Grants Available for FY10 Emergency Coral Restoration Completed at Site of Ship Grounding Public Comment Opportunity: Regarding Petition to Revise Critical Habitat for Acropora. Elkhorn and staghorn corals, both of which are Acropora species, are listed as threatened throughout their ranges and have designated critical habitat consisting of substrate of suitable quality and availability to support larval settlement and recruitment and the reattachment and recruitment of asexual fragments. The critical habitat exists in water depths shallower than 30 meters in four areas in Florida, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. A petition from Palm Beach County Reef Rescue (FL) seeks to extend the northern boundary of designated critical habitat in the Florida area to the Lake Worth Inlet, approximately 15.5 miles (24.9 km) north of the current boundary at Boynton Beach Inlet. NOAA Fisheries found that the petition presents substantial scientific information that the revision may be warranted and thus is soliciting information and comments pertaining to this request for revision of critical habitat for these species. The current comment period assists NOAA in determining whether the finding that revisions "may be warranted" should lead to a proposed rule for new critical habitat, or not. Written comments and information related to this petition finding, or the petitioned action, must be received by August 26. For more information, or instructions to submit Public Comments, see the Federal Register Notice (pdf, 45 kb). If scientific information and responses to this public comment opportunity support the creation of a new proposed rule for critical habitat, a proposed rule will be drafted and a second comment period will be held on the proposed rule before a final rule is issued. NOAA Models Show Coral Bleaching Likely in Caribbean. High thermal stress, or continued high temperatures and UV exposure, can cause coral bleaching and infectious disease outbreaks. Scientists from NOAA Coral Reef Watch (CRW) say conditions are favorable for significant coral bleaching and infectious coral disease outbreaks in the Caribbean, especially in the Lesser Antilles. The forecast is based on the July NOAA CRW outlook, which expects continued high water temperatures through October 2009. The system suggests that other areas of concern in 2009 are the central Pacific region, including the equatorial Line Islands and Kiribati. Some thermal stress may also develop between the Northern Marianas Islands and Japan. The thermal stress outlooks are available online. “Just like any climate forecast, local conditions and weather events can influence actual temperatures. However, we are quite concerned that high temperatures may threaten the health of coral reefs in the Caribbean this year,” says C. Mark Eakin, Ph.D., coordinator of CRW. A severe bleaching event occurred in the Caribbean in 2005, causing mass coral disease and mortality in parts of the region. CRW has input the data from 2005 to create a ‘hind cast’ with the bleaching outlook system, and the current model output for 2009 looks much like what the model would have predicted for 2005. This means that if there is not a change in underlying conditions as the worst bleaching months approach, or if local weather patterns and local conditions do not relieve some of the thermal stress in the region, the Caribbean could experience bleaching as severe as the 2005 event. For more information, visit CRW’s Website and read the NOAA Press Release, which has already generated over 25 stories in news outlets around the world. NOAA Coral Grants Available for FY10. The CRCP is pleased to announce that Fiscal Year 2010 (FY10) Federal Funding Opportunities (FFO) for five of the CRCP’s six grant programs were published in the Federal Register on July 16, 2009. Federal Register notices are the official mechanism for announcing funding opportunities within the Federal government and can be accessed online or through Grants.gov. Emergency Coral Restoration Completed at Site of Ship Grounding. On April 19, NOAA was notified by U.S Coast Guard Sector San Juan that the 42’ pleasure craft M/V Atlantique had grounded north of the island of Vieques off the east coast of Puerto Rico. Initial site visits by NOAA personnel confirmed the vessel was hard aground on the reef crest of the small coral cay “Arrecife Corona,” located between Cayo Mosquito and Caballo Blanco off the north coast of Vieques. After about 40 hours of salvage operations, the vessel was finally removed from the reef on April 23rd. In a collaborative effort between personnel from the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, NOAA’s Restoration Center, and the local dive operation, Sea Ventures, additional surveys and coral triage were conducted over the following weeks. During these trips, approximately 150 corals ranging from 10-60 cm in size were cached in the back reef and an additional 100 were left near the impact site to be addressed during emergency restoration. A minimum of 250 stony coral colonies were damaged as a result of the M/V Atlantique grounding, including three colonies of Acropora palmata that are currently listed as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The restoration team mobilized again in late June for emergency restoration. Over the course of a week, approximately 250 coral colonies, from 10 cm to one meter in diameter, were reattached. This included the 150 corals that had already been cached during the first two trips in May and an additional 100 fragments and colonies that were collected from the impact site. A number of larger coral colonies that were greater than 60 cm diameter were removed from the reef crest with lift bags, transported to the back reef, and reattached. Reattachment enhances the recovery and survival of these injured colonies by preventing future mobilization. There was also a large amount of rubble generated from the impact that may cause additional damage to the reef in the future as storms and swells mobilize these pieces and cause them to abrade or smother additional coral colonies. Emergency restoration, such as this, is critical to the affected reef to reduce the amount of mobile rubble and because very large colonies were impacted; restoration of these large colonies represents a direct opportunity to preserve corals that are hundreds of years old and a key part of the coral reef reproductive strategy. Fifty of the restored colonies have been tagged for monitoring to track their recovery and survival rate and assist in the continual modification and refinement of restoration techniques. This emergency restoration effort was supported with resources from NOAA’s Assessment and Restoration Division, Fisheries Southeast Regional Office, the CRCP, and Restoration Center. Click here to watch a video of this restoration effort. This year has been an unprecedented year for groundings, with over 30 reported in the U.S. Caribbean in July alone. Most groundings warrant varying levels of restoration, but the NOAA Restoration Center currently only has the capacity to complete a fraction of the restoration needs that exist. |
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Reviewed August 03, 2009
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