SCIENTISTS MONITOR EFFECTS OF STORMS ON REEFS
So far, so good for reefs after Harvey
GALVESTON, Texas—Adrienne Correa sucked in a breath as she slipped on her wet suit 115 miles offshore of Galveston—but it had nothing to do with preparing for her 70-foot dive to the coral reef at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary.
It had everything to do with her nerves.
About two months had passed since Hurricane Harvey deluged the gulf with trillions of gallons of freshwater, upsetting the salty environment to which the marine organisms are accustomed. And she had no idea what she would find.
If Harvey’s impact on the reef was anywhere near as bad as the 2016 Tax Day floods—which caused a mass die-off of coral and other marine animals—the reef and its inhabitants were in serious trouble.
But her mind was put at ease as she dove deeper into the chilly October waters of the Gulf of Mexico. With the exception of a few areas, the reef appeared to be intact and thriving.
“Relative to the images we saw from the 2016 event, this was a happy dive,” Correa, a Rice University marine biologist, told the Houston Chronicle. “You could see immediately there was not mass bleaching, there was not mass tissue die-off. You could tell this mass mortality event wasn’t occurring.” But that doesn’t mean problems won’t arise in the coming months, she said, which is why she and other researchers, in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), are gathering samples to determine how the habitat may have been impacted. “We’re worried about all the floodwater that came off upland areas making it that far out,” said Shelley Du Puy, NOAA education and outreach coordinator.
Their discoveries, though still far from publishable, could help guide policy makers toward better ways to monitor urban sprawl and greenhouse gas regulation, Correa said.
The reef needs to be protected, she added, because it’s “an incredibly valuable resource culturally, ascetically and economically.”
Correa has spent years studying coral reefs across the globe, but she always finds the colorful, surprisingly intact Flower Garden Banks distracting.
At a time when there is an 80 percent decline in stony coral cover at reefs everywhere, Correa encounters colorful coral the size of cars rising up around her on dives to the area.
Sea turtles and lobsters can be found resting in the reef’s nooks and crannies, with nearly 300 different species of fish— from barracudas to angelfish to mardi gras wrasse—swimming in and around the area, according to an August 2012 United Nations presentation.
Manta rays glide gracefully over the reef, as moray eels pop out of the coral crevices when a meal comes into view.
Dive to reefs in the summer and you’ll likely spot a whale shark visiting the sanctuary.
Flower Garden Banks is one of 13 federally designated underwater areas protected by NOAA and includes three separate reef areas: East Flower Garden Bank, West Flower Garden Bank and Stetson Bank.
NOAA wants to expand the sanctuary by about 383 square miles of reefs and other bottom features—an additional 15 banks— but the proposal has yet to be approved by the Trump administration.
The banks were discovered by fishermen in the early 1900s and named for the brightly colored sponges, plants and other marine life visible below their boat, according to NOAA.
At a time when a quarter of coral reefs worldwide are considered damaged beyond repair and two-thirds are under serious threat, according to the World Wildlife Federation, the flower garden sanctuary reefs are considered some of the healthiest in the region.
Scientists believe this is because the reef is located so far offshore—70 to 115 miles— and sits so deep in the ocean—55 to 160 feet—that it does not face the same effects of climate change as other reefs worldwide.
The beauty and diversity of the reefs draws visitors from all over the world: Up to 3,000 divers visit the sanctuary’s crystal clear waters each year via commercial dive boats, according to the U.N. presentation, and that brings money to the area.
But studies on the true economic impact of the sanctuary appear to be lacking.
“You could see immediately there was not mass bleaching, there was not mass tissue die-off. You could tell this mass mortality event wasn’t occurring.” —Adrienne Correa