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REEFS IN THE NEWS

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Freed ship leaves 'a lot of damage'

the.honoluluadvertiser.com
February 12, 2005

Biologists, stunned at the extent of reef damage after their initial survey yesterday, said it may take years of work to help the Barbers Point reef recover from the grounding of the bulk carrier Cape Flattery.

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Coral concerns spur vast trawling ban

The Seattle Times
February 11, 2005

Commercial fishing nets that drag the sea floor will be banned from more than a half-million square miles of ocean near the Aleutian Islands under a government plan to protect the deep-water corals and sponges that help nurse Alaska's fishing grounds.

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Post-tsunami coral reef assessment done in Thailand

WWF
18 Feb 2005

Bangkok, Thailand – Two new surveys of Thailand’s coral reefs show the impact of the Asian tsunami was highly varied, but with most damage identified within the country’s national marine parks.

U.S. Research Ship Faces Mexican Fines
Controversial U.S. Research Ship Runs Aground on Coral Reef in Mexico, Faces Heavy Fines

The Associated Press
Feb 18, 2005

In a significant embarrassment for American scientists, a U.S. research vessel conducting controversial sound-wave research off Mexico's Gulf coast faces heavy fines for running aground on a coral reef.

Survey conducted on coral reefs at Xisha Archipelago

www.chinaview.cn
February 17, 2005

Chinese ecologists completed the country's first ever general survey on coral reefs at the Xisha Archipelago in the South China Sea recently.

Mexico Suspends Permits for U.S. Vessel

Associated Press
February 18, 2005

Mexico announced Friday it has suspended permits for a U.S. research vessel conducting sound-wave experiments in the Gulf after the ship ran aground on a coral reef and damaged it.

The Secret to Longevity in Tubeworms

Penn State University

With an incredible lifespan of up to 250 years, the deep-sea tube worm, Lamellibrachia luymesi, is among the longest-lived of all animals, but how it obtains sufficient nutrients -- in the form of sulfide -- to keep going for this long has been a mystery. In a paper just published in the online journal PLoS Biology, a team of biologists now provide a solution: by releasing its waste sulfate not up into the ocean but down into the sediments, L. luymesi stimulates the growth of sulfide-producing microbes, thus ensuring its own long-term survival.



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UN environmental agency steps up battle against marine pollution

UN News Center
March 1, 2005

Coastal pollution, including plastic waste, discarded lead-acid batteries and used oils and lubricants, will come under renewed attack under a new agreement signed by the United Nations environmental agency and an international treaty body controlling hazardous wastes.

Coral reef transplant fraught with risks

The Honolulu Adviser
February 20, 2005

When drifting through the clear waters over a colorful coral garden, white is the color of something wrong.

Sri Lanka's coral reef reserves still intact

http://www.iol.co.za
February 17 2005

Colombo - The first assessment of damage to wildlife caused by the Asian tsunami has found that nature has been surprisingly resilient to the devastating effects of the giant waves.

Marine protected areas take a step forward in SI

Solomon Star News
February 28, 2005

SOLOMON Islands Locally Managed Marine Areas Network (SILMMA) last week hosted a workshop to train stakeholders on how to conserve their marine resources. SILMMA is Solomon Islands’ regional network under an international association called LMMA Network, which started in Suva in 2000 to assist rural communities to care for their marine resources.

Sections of reef open for fishing

The Australian
February 28, 2005

FOUR sections of the Great Barrier Reef will be reopened for fishing next month for the first time in five years, although this will not do much to satisfy Queensland's commercial fishing interests.

Dive In To Earth Day
It's time to ACT NOW: show and share your love of the underwater world!

Dive In To Earth Day
Week of April 22, 2005

It's easy, it's fun and anyone can participate!

Dive In To Earth Day is an international Earth Day celebration that brings together communities, park managers and dive shops around the world to take a stand to protect our endangered water world.

Youth Sent To "Boot Camp" For Shark Deaths

gazettes.com
February 21, 2005

The three junior high school students who broke into the Aquarium of the Pacific and killed several animals will spend nine months in a “boot camp” for youth offenders.



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Ancient mangrove forests found under reef

ABC Tropical North Queensland
February 23, 2005

North Queensland marine researchers have opened a window into the past by exposing ancient mangrove forests entombed beneath the Great Barrier Reef.

Chicago's Shedd Aquarium celebrates 75th anniversary

The Salt Lake Tribune
February 26, 2005

While inland aquariums featuring saltwater fish are increasingly common throughout the United States, the oldest remains Chicago's Shedd Aquarium, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary.

Costs tallied amid coral reef devastation

The Honolulu Adviser
February 28, 2005

Teams of divers will continue, for at least two more weeks, to haul buckets of cement to the ocean floor off Barbers Point, to try to stick living coral heads back to the bottom after they were ripped free when a 555-foot bulk carrier ran aground.

Alien algae invades Hawai'i habitats

kaleo.org
February 25, 2005

Hawaii's coral reefs are being overgrown by an invasive red-orange algae, Gracilaria salicornia, which is threatening the islands' marine environment.

Australia's Barrier Reef May Disappear in 20 Years

The Epoch Times
Feb 18, 2005

By 2025, rising sea temperatures fuelled by global warming could cause the Great Barrier Reef to disappear. Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, of the University of Queensland, told The Age newspaper, “We may see a complete devastation of coral communities on the reef and a major change to the pristine values, which at the moment are our pride and joy.”

Coral reef clue to fast sea rise

The Guardian
February 24, 2005

The discovery of ancient mangrove forest remains under the Great Barrier Reef has cast doubt on some theories about how quickly the sea level rose after the last ice age.

Huge artificial islands destroy Dubai's coral reefs

Cyber Diver News Network
27 Feb 2005

Stroll on Dubai's shore and dead coral crunches underfoot. The normally crystal-clear gulf is fogged with silt. Eroding beaches need truckloads of sand to stay in place.

The $14 billion manmade project that is luring buyers from around the world is also damaging the habitat for gulf marine life.

Blasted Coral Reefs Need Tender, Low-Cost Care

Science Daily
February 5, 2005

Blast or dynamite fishing creates a loss of sustainable fishery income, coastal protection, and tourism that is more than 50 times higher than the short-term benefits from the fish caught. This extreme form of overfishing destroys not only the fish and invertebrate stocks, but the coral reefs themselves.

Bleached, Damaged U.S. Corals First to Qualify as Threatened

Environment News Service
March 4, 2005

The first listing of any coral species under the federal Endangered Species Act was proposed today for staghorn and elkhorn corals. Native to Florida and the Caribbean, these species are in decline due to damage from human activities and hurricanes, disease and bleaching brought on by climate change.

New armor technology mimics sea snail shell

UC San Diego

An engineering professor at the University of California, San Diego has described in the March issue of JOM (the Journal of the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society) the unique properties of a new type of metallic laminate that can serve as armor and as a replacement for beryllium, a strong but toxic metal commonly used in demanding aerospace applications.

Hydrogen, methane sustain unusual life at sea floor's 'Lost City'

National Science Foundation
March 3, 2005

The hydrothermal vents at the ocean bottom were miles from any location scientists could have imagined. One massive seafloor vent was 18 stories tall. All were creamy white and gray, suggesting a very different composition than the hydrothermal vent systems that have been studied since the 1970s. Scientists who named the spot Lost City knew they were looking at something never seen before when the field was serendipitously discovered in Dec. 2000, during a National Science Foundation (NSF) expedition to the mid-Atlantic.

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