Experts complete 1st map of ‘global coral’
HONOLULU, Sept 11, (AP): Researchers have completed a comprehensive online map of the world’s coral reefs by using more than 2 million satellite images from across the globe.
The Allen Coral Atlas, named after late Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen, will act as a reference for reef conservation, marine planning and coral science as researchers try to save these fragile ecosystems that are being lost to climate change.
The group announced completion of the atlas Wednesday and said it is the first global, high-resolution map of its kind. It gives users the ability to see detailed information about local reefs, including different types of submarine structure like sand, rocks, seagrass and, of course, coral.
The maps, which include areas up to 50 feet (15 meters) deep, are being used to i nform policy decisions about marine protected areas, spatial planning for infrastructure such as docks and seawalls and upcoming coral restoration projects.
“Our biggest contribution in this achievement is that we have a uniform mapping of the entire coral reef biome,” said Greg Asner, managing director of the Atlas and director of Arizona State University’s Center for Global Discovery and Conservation.
Asner said they relied on a network of hundreds of field contributors who gave them local information about reefs so that they could program their satellites and software to focus on the right areas.
“And that lets us bring the playing field up to a level where decisions can be made at a bigger scale because so far decisions have been super localized,” Asner said. “If you don’t know what you’ve got more uniformly, how would the U.N. ever play a real role? How would a government that has an archipelago with 500 islands make a uniform decision?”
The atlas also includes a coral bleaching monitor to check for corals that are stressed due to global warming and other factors.
Restoration
Asner said about three quarters of the world’s reefs had not previously been mapped in this kind of in-depth way, and many not at all.
The project began in 2017 when Allen’s company, Vulcan Inc., was working with Ruth Gates, a Hawaii researcher whose idea of creating “super coral ” for reef restoration was funded by the philanthropic foundation.
Gates and Vulcan brought in Asner because of his work with the Global Airborne Observatory that had been mapping reefs in Hawaii at the time.
Allen, who said he wanted to help save the world’s coral reefs, liked the idea of using technology to visualize data, so Gates connected the group with a satellite company called Planet, and Allen funded the project for about $9 million.
The University of Queensland in Australia used artificial intelligence technology and local reference data to generate the layers on the atlas. Anyone can view the maps for free online.
Both Allen and Gates passed away in 2018, leaving Asner and others to carry on their work.
“Ruth would be so pleased, wouldn’t she?” Asner said. “She would just be tickled that this is really happening.”
He said about a third of the calls he is getting are from researchers who hope to use the maps to “be sure that their planning and their reef restoration work is going to have its max efficacy.”
When Gates found out she was sick, she selected friend and colleague Helen Fox from the National Geographic Society to help communicate with conservation groups about how to use the tool.
“It really was a global effort,” said Fox, who is now the conservation science director for Coral Reef Alliance. “There were huge efforts in terms of outreach and helping people be aware of the tool and the potential scientific and conservation value.”
There’s no ominous music, no telltale fin breaking the surface as the powerful silhouette of a great white shark glides alongside the small tour boat off Cape Cod in Massachusetts.
Michael Simard crouches low and points a finger in the direction of the roughly 10-foot (3-meter) predator cruising in the glassy water below.
The 48-year-old construction foreman from Cambridge, Massachusetts, glances back at his partner, Penny Antonoglou, who dutifully pulls out her smartphone while he holds the pose. Smile. Click.
“It’s awe-inspiring, really,” Simard said after the tour, where they spotted at least six great whites. “I didn’t realize how graceful they were. It does put it into perspective that this is their element, and we just share it with them.”
Three summers after Cape Cod saw two great white shark attacks on humans — including the state’s first fatal attack since 1936 — the popular tourist destination south of Boston is showing signs it’s slowly, tentatively embracing its sharky reputation.
A small but growing group of charter boat operators are offering great white shark tours in a region where whale and seal watching excursions have long been a tourist rite of passage.
The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, a prominent nonprofit shark research organization, is among those that have jumped into the shark ecotourism game. It’s also renovated its Shark Center, a family-friendly museum showcasing its research into the local shark population, and is building another educational outpost set to open next summer in the bustling tourist center of Provincetown.
Pandemic
Elsewhere, local shark-themed merchandisers are reporting brisk businesses, even as the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted parts of the region’s tourism industry. Cape Cod hosts about 4 million visitors a year, who bring in more than $1 billion in tourism spending and support thousands of jobs.
“It feels like we’re on the trajectory of it being a point of pride for Cape Cod,” said Patrick Clarke, owner of the jewelry company Cape Clasp, of the region’s white sharks. “A lot of the initial fear and hysteria was the fear of the unknown, but we’re learning more and more about them every year.”
Clarke makes a range of jewelry featuring whales, turtles and other marine life, but says the shark-themed pieces specifically a bracelet made from marine-grade cord held together by a great white shark-shaped sterling silver clasp - are consistently his top sellers.
In Chatham, a hub of the local shark tourism industry, a company that started selling popular stickers of Cape Cod in the shape of a great white shark some seven years ago has taken off as the local shark population has also come into its own.
Kristina Manter says Cape Shark, the apparel company she co-owns with her boyfriend, opened a brick-and-mortar storefront on Main Street last summer to sell a range of hoodies, sweatpants, T-shirts and other clothing adorned with the logo.
“We’re not just popping up because we saw the tourism. We’ve been around because we’ve loved the sharks and believed in their conservation,” Manter says. “It just kind of fell together perfectly.”
There’s no definitive tally for how much shark-related tourism contributes to the roughly 65-mile (105-kilometer) peninsula’s economy, but its growth is helping stretch the tourist season into the fall, as peak shark sightings happen in August and September, says Paul Niedzwiecki, CEO of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce.