7/30/2019 Tusunami Coral Exposed

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tusunami-coral-exposed 1/2

Photograph by Carlo Cerrano

Uplifted more than five feet by the undersea earthquake that spawnedthe tsunami, dead coral reefs span 70 miles (110 kilometers) of coast off Simeulue Island near Sumatra, Indonesia.

Site Index| Subscribe | Shop | Search   Go  

[an error occurred while processing this directive] [an error occurred while processing this directive]

Search National Geographic

Flashback Global Getaways Hip Zips Geographica

SPECIALS

 

Best of NGM Online

NGS Prints

The People, Places, andCreatures of Our UniverseDECEMBER 2005

Content Jump Links:

Related Links

Bibliography

CONSERVATION

After the Tsunami

 

 A team of scientist-divers predicts quick recovery for most reefs pounded by last year's killer waves

When a submarineearthquake sentmonster wavessurging through theIndian Ocean and Andaman Sea lastDecember 26, there

was no mistakingthe toll on land:more than 225,000people dead;homes, farms,fishing boatsdestroyed. Threeand a half monthslater I joined sevenother biologists andset off on a two-week researchcruise along thecoast of Thailand to survey a less obvious toll—the damage to the coral reefs.Priceless for their biological diversity, Thailand's reefs are a lifeline for hundreds of thousands of people who catch fish spawned there or work in the dive-tourismindustry. In some places the reefs may also have helped blunt the tsunami's force as

it hit land.

 After more than 500 dives at 56 sites, we found plenty of damage but even morereason for optimism. In the open ocean the tsunami's fast-moving waves were only afew feet high and posed little hazard to deepwater reefs. But in the shallows theyslowed, piled up, and unleashed thousands of tons of force. Large bays, which canintensify the waves, were hit especially hard, with table corals big enough for a familydinner scattered and broken, and massive coral heads toppled and smothered in silt.

Development on shore often worsened the damage by providing an ample supply of debris, including refrigerators, cars, and roofing, which battered the reefs as it wasswept out to sea. And near the earthquake's epicenter off Indonesia—far from our survey—the seafloor was heaved up by an estimated 16 feet (4 meters), li fting somecoral clear out of the water.

Overall, though, our survey of the Andaman Sea coast and islands of southernThailand revealed very light damage or none at all at 36 percent of the study sites andmoderate damage at another 50 percent. Only 14 percent had severe damage. Exceptfor localized kills, reef fish also seemed to have fared well. "The tsunami shook uptheir world like mad for a few minutes, but there are still plenty of fish around,"concluded fish expert Gerry Allen of the Western Australian Museum.

Much of the damage will heal quickly, re-creating vibrant habitats. Broken and toppledcoral can continue to grow. Even dead reefs can recover, providing they haven't beenburied, as coral larvae drift in and recolonize them.

We also saw efforts to speed the recovery. In the Similan Islands the tsunamidislodged hundreds of delicate, decades-old sea fans, dooming them to drift aroundand eventually die. We watched divers in a project led by the Phuket Marine BiologicalCenter swimming in pairs, holding six-foot (two-meter) sea fans between them likechandeliers and reattaching them to rocks using masonry nails and cement.

The project is a rare case of humans affecting reefs for the better. Throughout our survey we saw the opposite—the effects of overfishing, development, and globalwarming, which can raise water temperatures and cause fatal coral bleaching. "For 

reefs, in the fullness of time, this tsunami was just another bad day," says Australiancoral expert Charlie Veron. But human impacts are unrelenting, and reefs may not beable to shrug them off so easily.

—Greg StoneNew England Aquarium

Top

 

Supported by Canon.Click here to exploreinformation andphotography of our world's endangeredspecies.

Renew Access AccountChange AddressGive a GiftClick Here

 

converted by Web2PDFConvert.com

7/30/2019 Tusunami Coral Exposed

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tusunami-coral-exposed 2/2

Related Links

Coral Reef Conservationwww.coralreef.noaa.govVisit this website to learn about what you can do to protect coral reefs. United Nations Development Programmewww.undp.or.th/tsunami/tsunami.htmFind out about long-term tsunami recovery and rehabilitation efforts.

Reef Base

www.reefbase.orgVisit one of the premier websites on coral reefs. Reef Conservationwww.coralreef.org/coralreefinfoLearn more about coral reefs and how you can help.

Diving Sites in Thailandwww.divetheworldthailand.com/thailand-scuba-diving-dive-sites.htmGet information on some of the best diving sites in Thailand.

Top

Bibliography

 Allen, Gerald R., and Roger Steene.Indo-Pacific Coral Reef Field Guide.

TropicalReef Research, 1998. Pennisi, Elizabeth. "Powerful Tsunami's Impact on Coral Reefs Was Hit and Miss."Science (February 5, 2005), 657. Veron, J. E. N. Corals of the World.Australian Institute of Marine Science and CRR QldPty Ltd, 2000. Veron, J. E. N. Corals of Australia and the Indo-Pacific. The Australian Institute of Marine Science, 1986.

Top

© 2008 National Geographic Society. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy  AdvertisingOpportunities

RSS Feed Masthead Customer Service

converted by Web2PDFConvert.com