Danger for the Coral Reefs

[Aquarius]

I've just read an article in TIME magazine that said that within a few decades all of the world's coral reefs could disappear due to unnatural diseases (bleach and industrial toxins dumped in the water) and rising global temperatures.

This makes me really sad, because I just went snorkeling last summer in the Florida reef and it's gorgeous. I would hate to see something that beautiful disappear. :(

[TombRaiderChik]

it is upsetting :( ive gone snorkeling soo many times in the caribbean and the coral just makes everything more beautiful than what it is.

[JunoJIm]

Yes - I've been diving all around Florida and the Bahamas - it's beautiful !!! Hope something will save them...

I'll post a couple pics - when I find them...

Here's one coming out of a cave (free diving BTW)...
http://junojim.homestead.com/files/UW_Cave_3.jpg
I'll find & post some more... Elkhorn Coral, Brain Coral etc...

[TombRaiderChik]

you're a free diver?!?!?:eek:

yikes, how do you do it???

btw, beautiful picture junojm :)

[THE True Lara]

Originally posted by Aquarius
This makes me really sad, because I just went snorkeling last summer in the Florida reef and it's gorgeous. I would hate to see something that beautiful disappear. :(
That and the fact it's a terrible blow for the ecology, and all the creatures that depend on the coral. :mad:
Stupid humans forever buggering up the planet, who the hell are we to ruin the planet for ever other creature. Murdering plants and animals left right and center with no conscience or consideration whatsoever. The apathy of our parasitic race makes me so angry sometimes! :mad: :mad:

[Aquarius]

Originally posted by THE True Lara
That and the fact it's a terrible blow for the ecology, and all the creatures that depend on the coral. :mad:
Stupid humans forever buggering up the planet, who the hell are we to ruin the planet for ever other creature. Murdering plants and animals left right and center with no conscience or consideration whatsoever. The apathy of our parasitic race makes me so angry sometimes! :mad: :mad:

Me thinks the environmentalist in TTL has been awoken. ;) :p

There are people out there who do care about the environment, there just aren't enough taking action though. :(

[THE True Lara]

Originally posted by Aquarius
Me thinks the environmentalist in TTL has been awoken. ;) :p
Never went to sleep dear ;)

and you're right, not enough people are taking action, and it's not just sad, it's dangerous.

[LARAMANIAC]

Originally posted by JunoJIm
Yes - I've been diving all around Florida and the Bahamas - it's beautiful !!! Hope something will save them...

I'll post a couple pics - when I find them...

Here's one coming out of a cave (free diving BTW)...
http://junojim.homestead.com/files/UW_Cave_3.jpg
I'll find & post some more... Elkhorn Coral, Brain Coral etc...

Lovely piccy JunoJim - hope you find some more to show us!! Freediving - excellent - seen it done on documentaries on National Geographic channel - impressive!!! ;)

[Veronica Ma]

Hi JunoJim,

Beautiful photo. Just wanted to ask and please excuse my ignorance (got lots) but what is "free diving"? Is that diving without an oxygen tank? (please don't laugh) lol.

veronica.

[JunoJIm]

Darn !!! I forgot to scan some of those photos !!! Will do it tomorrow...

Yes, generally, free diving is without compressed air.

Record holders only use a mask & fins, and hold on to weights to make 200 feet or so depth, then swim like hell to get to the top.

I usually use just mask & snorkel (fins get tiring fast, cause I don't dive that often). The prob is holding the the camera while swimming, then holding still while snapping the pic - without weights, you float up as soon as you stop swimming down...

[Veronica Ma]

Thanks for the info, Jim.

i once saw this program where divers who had no mask, no tank were lowered into the sea standing on a large weight/anchor attached to rope to depths that normally could not be withstood by man.

Is this also called "free diving"?

veronica.
btw, have to commend you for diving with no tank into a cave! That would personally freak me out. :)

[JunoJIm]

Veronica Ma - It's amazing, but we're made mostly of water, so we can stand tremendous depths / pressures, free diving, as long as we equalize our inner ear pressure with the outside pressure...
Here's one of my favs - Brain Coral
http://junojim.homestead.com/files/Brain_Coral.jpg
This one, the water wasn't too clear, but it's a large stand of Elkhorn Coral
http://junojim.homestead.com/files/Elkhorn_Coral.jpg
This was off Green Turtle Island in the Bahamas - there are acres of this kind of stuff... BTW, these, and most of the really beautiful life is less than 30 feet deep...

[Veronica Ma]

These are beautiful. Thanks. Has pollution affected the areas you dive in or are the waters still crystal clear?

[JunoJIm]

The Bahamas are not affected yet, except by the occasional cruise ship dumping stuff overboard...

I've found copier toner refills & flourescent bulbs on Juno Beach... the cruise ships also dump oil sludge (not so much any more, since they've been caught & fined $millions).

The Florida coast & Keys are affected mostly by fresh water runoff, with everything in it from the land, mostly nutrients from farming, which causes "blooms" of lower life forms like plankton & jellyfish, which in turn affect the higher life forms... nothing too serious yet...

[Aquarius]

When I was in the Florida Keys last year (Key West specifically) the water was really clear out in the reef. I don't know if it was just the first area that we went to, but you really didn't see a whole lot of coral out there. There was a lot of seabed and fish, and some coral every now and then, but not a lot. Plus, I think we weren't that far from an oil derrick.

Why in the world do you put an oil derrick up in a coral reef area?

[TombRaiderChik]

Originally posted by Aquarius

Why in the world do you put an oil derrick up in a coral reef area?

some people are really stupid. its so sad that people have to get rid of their waste that way.

[LARAMANIAC]

Thanks for the piccys JJ - gorgeous!!! People are definitely the worst thing that happened to this planet if you ask me!!! Got any more piccys JJ???? :p

[Solange]

JunoJIm, the pictures are amazing! So beautiful!

[JunoJIm]

Aquarius - there aren't a lot of good reefs around Key West anymore - too many visitors... Looe Key has a Nationally Protected Sanctuary that's really good, for your next visit...

Sure, I'll post some more pics - tomorrow...

[Aquarius]

Originally posted by JunoJIm
Aquarius - there aren't a lot of good reefs around Key West anymore - too many visitors... Looe Key has a Nationally Protected Sanctuary that's really good, for your next visit...

Sure, I'll post some more pics - tomorrow...

Isn't there supposed to be a really nice coral reef near the Dry Tortugas?

[Veronica Ma]

Another ignorant question, if i may? :)

As beautiful as they are, aren't coral reefs a bit dangerous for us "land creatures"?

Just trying to imagine how difficult it would be not to get scratched or cut getting so close and all. (i'm assuming that free diving also means without scuba suit or foot gear)

kindest regards,
veronica.

[JunoJIm]

Yes, the coral looks soft, but they're very hard and sharp - Here's one of my fav's because it's so hard to photo - the Jewel Fish !!! (lower right hand corner)

http://junojim.homestead.com/files/Jewel_Fish_2.jpg

Hides among the Fire Coral

Anyway, the Jewel Fish is pretty safe, cause the fire coral (beige, not red) is on top of the reef, washed up and down by the surf, and if you touch it, it's like being burned by a red hot coal - lasts for hours... only Tequila taken internally can lessen the pain...

[Lil Lara]

those are really beautiful pictures, Jim! That's so sad that they are in danger. :(

[LARAMANIAC]

I'm sure the remedy of internal tequila was prescribed by the medicine man too!! :p LOL Your piccys are absolutely gorgeous JJ!! Keep them coming!! ;)

[KittenCeleste]

Fantastic pictures, JJ!!!

Keep 'em coming!

[Veronica Ma]

JunoJIm,

Is coral alive? If so, then that sounds like a pretty good self-preservation mechanism.

But for some reason, i always thought that coral was the "shell" that was left when the original "organism" left or died.

[JunoJIm]

Yes, the Coral is alive - they make the "shell" to live in, out of calcium carbonate they extract from the water - so you're right...

When the living coral die, the structure is left, but it erodes, because it's not being replenished by the animals.

[Veronica Ma]

JunoJIm,

You are very kind and patient to answer my often dry and obvious questions, but if i may... one more (ok maybe two) and i'll stop. :)

To get back to the beginning of this thread, the danger to the coral reefs. Now what is it exactly that's eroding?... is it that the living creatures are dying prematurely caused by polllution... or the shells are simply collapsing caused by human interference? ... or both?

And just wondering if you would know what is the natural cause of death in living coral? Do they outgrow their own habitat? Is coral supposed to normally live a long time?

thank you and kindest regards,
veronica.

[JunoJIm]

If nothing changed in their environment, the corals could go on forever, but many things are happening to them... mostly caused directly or indirectly by people...

[Aquarius]

The article from TIME was finally put up on the web.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101030825-476400,00.html

[CatSuit&Ponytail]

As with most of the world's diverse bioregions, the corals are adversely affected by us. The coral reefs are very important habitats for the other residents of the planet. Too bad we are still the slash and burn species. We know what to do, but we don't do it.

[Aquarius]

Not only are the coral reefs in danger, but we've been overfishing to the point that many species of fish are now endangered.

[JunoJIm]

The thing I don't understand, is that these big guys in control have children, and grandchildren, whose future they're destroying...

DuPont gave ~17 thousand acres of beautiful wetland that were to be strip mined to a wildlife conservation group - I like that...:D

[Veronica Ma]

Isn't it law in some states that when ground is broken for new development in a wetlands area that the corporation is required to donate land elsewhere to replace the ones being destroyed?

[Aquarius]

Originally posted by JunoJIm
The thing I don't understand, is that these big guys in control have children, and grandchildren, whose future they're destroying...

DuPont gave ~17 thousand acres of beautiful wetland that were to be strip mined to a wildlife conservation group - I like that...:D

Dupont.... :rolleyes:

Do you know what Dupont did to the ecological system in the Flint area? Dumped toxins, industrial chemcials, and other wastes into the Flint River. 50, 60 years later the Flint River still hasn't recovered.

[JunoJIm]

Well, maybe they're changing their attitude- new CEO...

Have hope !!!

[Exitium]

It amazes me that magazine editors even really care about Coral Reefs anymore. TIME, of course, is exaggerating. I doubt that many people would even read this article if it stated several hundred years would be a more possible scenerio. None the less, the extinction of Coral could be caused by completely natural polyp-inefecting diseases or predatory fish that have not yet been fully observed. Some organisms eat coral, and frankly, Coral do not reproduce quickly.

And it also amazes me how often people arrange statistics. Fish, are not, I repeat ARE NOT dieing out. Over-fishing simple vertabrates is nearly impossible. What they mean is, that there is not enough Tuna or other popular fish to meet demand in the Pacific and Atlantic. An entire net-load of Tuna is worth a little more than a million and half dollars.

[Mondic]

Don't worry about it - Coral's dying out because it can't cut the mustard in a multi-species eco-system. That's progress. Heck, all it does it just sit there. Why should it deserve to live? Every step along the street you take you squash half a dozen microscopic beetles to death. So what ya gonna do? That's life. You need to expand your mind past the piffle the media feed you and grasp a more realistic and productive world view than simply meddling with lickle-ickle animal's lifestyles. I'm with Lara - I kill 'em before they kill me and my children. Don't care about the planet - It doesn't care about you. Don't believe me? Take a stroll through a rain forest sometime and see how many hours you survive without weapons, medicine and protective clothing. ****