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Elkhorn coral article
Elkhorn coral article
Was reading this the other day and it made me very sad. We may very well be the last generation to see these reefs. Any one who has snorkeled Jumbie or Gibney can vouch for this you can tell there once was a huge amount of elk horn in the past now its just a big wasteland of dead coral. One of my favorite snorkel sights is Hawksnest, still has a beautiful amount of elkhorn on the middle reef at the tip still in very good shape so if ya never have done that snorkel do it while it still there.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12631773/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12631773/
Read a similar thing last night in latest issue of Caribbean Travel & Life mag in the cover article called “100 people, places and things you really ought to know about the Caribbean” in item #74 “What We Miss Most”:
“Just 20 yrs ago, snorkelers cruising the shallow reefs of the Caribbean found magnificent forests of Elkhorn Coral everywhere they looked. Biologists estimate that today at least 90 percent of this distinctive branching coral has died throughout its range, reduced to algae covered rubble.”
Went on to say how various environmental stresses including warming sea temps “have put such a whammy on elkhorn, once the regions most important reef builder, that last year it became the first coral species (along with staghorn) to be listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Speicies Act.”
So sad, especially when you consider how we’ve lost out on 7 years of beginning to address the human impact side of the equation because the idiots running the White House claimed “we needed more science”.
I noticed more and more dead or bleached out coral last week compared to our first trip only 2.5 yrs ago. I cant imagine what you folks who have been snorkeling STJ for 5-10 or more years notice – you must feel like crying.
“Just 20 yrs ago, snorkelers cruising the shallow reefs of the Caribbean found magnificent forests of Elkhorn Coral everywhere they looked. Biologists estimate that today at least 90 percent of this distinctive branching coral has died throughout its range, reduced to algae covered rubble.”
Went on to say how various environmental stresses including warming sea temps “have put such a whammy on elkhorn, once the regions most important reef builder, that last year it became the first coral species (along with staghorn) to be listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Speicies Act.”
So sad, especially when you consider how we’ve lost out on 7 years of beginning to address the human impact side of the equation because the idiots running the White House claimed “we needed more science”.
I noticed more and more dead or bleached out coral last week compared to our first trip only 2.5 yrs ago. I cant imagine what you folks who have been snorkeling STJ for 5-10 or more years notice – you must feel like crying.
When we come to place where the sea and the sky collide
Throw me over the edge and let my spirit glide
Throw me over the edge and let my spirit glide
I mentioned that in Cat's report I would show the difference in the Gibey coral. Here is an elkhorn at Gibney in 2006:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/739231978/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1176/739 ... aee49d.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="gibney elkhorn"></a>
And part of that same elkhorn this past June:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/1280468098/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1399/128 ... a0db8a.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="gibney elkhorn 2007"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/739231978/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1176/739 ... aee49d.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="gibney elkhorn"></a>
And part of that same elkhorn this past June:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/1280468098/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1399/128 ... a0db8a.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="gibney elkhorn 2007"></a>
It's like looking in your soup and finding a whole different alphabet.
