“Parrotfishes are the constant gardeners of the reef. They play a crucial role in keeping it healthy, suppressing weed, removing sediment and helping the corals to regrow after a setback,” explains Professor David Bellwood of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and James Cook University.

In a major new study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, Prof. Bellwood, Dr Andrew Hoey and Prof. Terry Hughes have investigated parrot fish populations on 18 coral island reefs extending from Mauritius in the west Indian Ocean to Tahiti in the central Pacific.

“Parrot fish fulfill a number of key roles on the reef. They remove sick and dead corals and clean areas for new corals to settle, they remove weedy growth, and they cart away literally tonnes of sand and sediment that would otherwise smother the corals,” Prof Bellwood explains.

Read the rest of this article at ARC Coral Reef Studies…

Note: Newswire stories are provided as a courtesy of OceanDoctor.org. Content of these articles is provided by external sources.

"A Fragile Empire" can be found in the May 2011 issue of National Geographic magazine on newsstands April 26 (Photo: National Geographic)

Earlier this year, World Resources Institute released its “Reefs at Risk Revisited Report” (featured on The Ocean Doctor Radio Show) which spelled out a rather grim future for coral reefs due to both local and global threats, should we fail to take action. One of the bright spots in its report was Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, which has fared better than many other reefs around the world and has in place strong protections and management practices. But even this massive and remote reef system isn’t immune from the impacts affecting coral reefs worldwide. In “A Fragile Empire” National Geographic Magazine (May 2011) writer Jennifer S. Holland explores the various factors that are threatening Australia’s monumental reef. From rising water temperatures, to bleaching, massive flooding and high levels of acidity, the reef is in danger of collapsing and the prospect for recovery is uncertain.

A warming climate is pushing corals against the upper limit of their thermal tolerance, evidenced by mass bleachings like the one in 1997-98. A 60-year decline in ocean phytoplankton—microscopic organisms that form the base of the food chain — may also be playing a role. Recent flooding in Australia washed enormous plumes of sediments and toxins far offshore to the reef tract. And now, thanks to increasing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, the oceans are becoming more and more acidic as more of this atmospheric carbon dioxide dissolves in seawater. As the oceans become more acid, limiting the ability of organisms, like corals and shellfish, to build their limestone shells and skeletons.

Featuring the incredible underwater  photography of David Doubliet, “A Fragile Empire” National Geographic Magazine (May 2011) tells the story of a fragile empire on the edge.

"Reefs for me are places for solitude and thought," says Australian marine scientist Charlie Veron, here admiring a garden of stony corals on the northern Great Barrier Reef. "But I know there is fragility in their existence. I fear what lies ahead." (Photo: David Doubliet/National Geographic)

The clownish grin of a bridled parrotfish reveals its power tools: grinding teeth used to scrape algae from rock. Though sometimes destructive to individual corals, the fish's efforts are mostly beneficial. Without them, algal growth could smother the reef. Scarus frenatus (Photo: David Doubilet/National Geographic)

Time and tides and a planet in eternal flux brought the Great Barrier Reef into being millions of years ago, wore it down, and grew it back—over and over again. Now all the factors that let the reef grow are changing at a rate the Earth has never before experienced. This time the reef may degrade below a crucial threshold from which it cannot bounce back.
- “A Fragile Empire” National Geographic Magazine (May 2011)

Following a full-moon night or two each year, immobile stony corals like Acropora millepora release egg and sperm bundles simultaneously in an orgy of mass spawning. Fertilized eggs, once they have settled near and far, are the stuff of new colonies. (Photo: David Doubliet/National Geographic)

March 7, 2011: Join the Ocean Doctor aboard the Prince Albert II as he reports from the Cape to Cape Expedition, traveling from the tip of South America to the tip of South Africa. This week, we “land in a postcard” in beautiful Ushuaia, Argentina and encounter penguins and albatross in the beautiful Falkland Islands. Also: The second of a two-part look at a newly-issued report by World Resources Institute, “Reefs at Risk Revisited” a report that history may well show is the most important report about the oceans to be released this century. It’s more than a wakeup call – it’s truly our last call to take action to save coral reefs.

The Ocean Doctor airs weekly on WebTalkRadio.net. Want to listen on your iPod, iPhone or mp3 player? Download the mp3 file or subscribe on iTunes and don’t miss a single episode. See the complete list of episodes.

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Submit a question and I’ll try to answer it on the air. Even better, record your question or comment on our special message line and I might play it on the air. Call: (805) 619-9194. You can also leave questions and comments for this episode below.

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Aboard the Cape to Cape Expedition: Ushuaia and the Falkland Islands

For photos, tracking map and blog posts from the Cape to Cape Expedition, please visit our Cape to Cape Expedition Tracking Page

Also: Reefs at Risk Revisited (Part 2 of 2)

Eleven years ago, the World Resources Institute (WRI) released a landmark report entitled, “Reefs at Risk” which put its finger on the pulse of the world’s coral reefs. It was an enlightening but stark portrait of coral reefs around the world. Enlightening because it shed light on how important these ecosystems are but stark in giving us a clear picture of the threats and what we needed to do about it. At the National Press Club in Washington, WRI released “Reefs at Risk Revisited,” updating and expanding its analysis of more than a decade ago. Things have gotten worse – much worse in most places around the world. And the forecast is bleak, but certainly not hopeless. If ever there was a call to action, Reefs at Risk Revisted is it —  if we want coral reefs on this planet.

The report was introduced by a panel including WRI president Jonathan Lash, WRI senior associate and report lead author, Lauretta Burke,  Dr. Jane Lubchenko, Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator, and Dr. Nancy Knowlton, Sant Chair for Marine Science at Smithsonian.

This week our guest is Lauretta Burke, WRI senior associate and lead author of the report. We explore what the report means and what we can do about it.

Links:

World Resources Institute – Reefs at Risk Revisited

February 28, 2011: Few animals provoke the imagination and wonder of the sea like the squid. The giant squid is thought to have been the basis of the myriad of sea monster tales that have been spun over the centuries. And while we now know more about these animals than ever before, there’s still an incredible amount of mystery remaining to be unveiled. The book is “Kraken: The Curious, Exciting and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid” and its author and our guest today, Wendy Williams, award-winning writer and journalist. Also: First of a two-part look at a newly-issued report by World Resources Institute, “Reefs at Risk Revisited” a report that history may well show is the most important report about the oceans to be released this century. It’s more than a wakeup call – it’s truly our last call to take action to save coral reefs.

The Ocean Doctor airs weekly on WebTalkRadio.net. Want to listen on your iPod, iPhone or mp3 player? Download the mp3 file or subscribe on iTunes and don’t miss a single episode. See the complete list of episodes.

Follow The Ocean Doctor on Twitter — Become a Fan on Facebook!

Submit a question and I’ll try to answer it on the air. Even better, record your question or comment on our special message line and I might play it on the air. Call: (805) 619-9194. You can also leave questions and comments for this episode below.

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Kraken: Up Close and Very Personal With the Giant Squid

Our Guest: Wendy Williams, author of "Kraken: The Curious, Exciting and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid"

Few animals provoke the imagination and wonder of the sea like the squid. The giant squid is thought to have been the basis of the myriad of sea monster tales that have been spun over the centuries. And while we now know so much more about these animals than ever before, there’s still an incredible amount of mystery remaining to be unveiled.

The book is “Kraken: The Curious, Exciting and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid” and its author and our guest today, Wendy Williams. She is a writer and journalist based in Cape Cod and has authored several books including “Cape Wind: Money, Celebrity, Class Politics and the Battle for Our Energy Future” which was named one of 2007’s 10 best environmental books by Booklist and one of the year’s best science books by Library Journal. Her work has appeared in Scientific American, Science, the Wall Street Journal among many others and she has won a number of awards for her investigative reporting.

Latest Price at Amazon.com

Also: Reefs at Risk Revisited (Part 1 of 2)

Eleven years ago, the World Resources Institute (WRI) released a landmark report entitled, “Reefs at Risk” which put its finger on the pulse of the world’s coral reefs. It was an enlightening but stark portrait of coral reefs around the world. Enlightening because it shed light on how important these ecosystems are but stark in giving us a clear picture of the threats and what we needed to do about it. Last week at the National Press Club here in Washington, WRI released “Reefs at Risk Revisited,” updating and expanding its analysis of more than a decade ago. Things have gotten worse – much worse in most places around the world. And the forecast is bleak, but certainly not hopeless. If ever there was a call to action, Reefs at Risk Revisted is it —  if we want coral reefs on this planet.

The report was introduced by a panel including WRI president Jonathan Lash, WRI senior associate and report lead author, Lauretta Burke,  Dr. Jane Lubchenko, Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator, and Dr. Nancy Knowlton, Sant Chair for Marine Science at Smithsonian.

Links:

Kraken Book Web Site

World Resources Institute – Reefs at Risk Revisited

February 14, 2011: Crime Scene Investigation takes to the oceans with “Coral Reef CSI.” The Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL) is now the home of the international Coral Reef CSI program. This new partnership will expand the field of coral reef forensic investigation in coral reef locations around the world, offering more protection to these valuable and fragile ecosystems. Our guest, Rick MacPherson, Interim Executive Director and Conservation Programs Director at CORAL fills us in. Also: Discovery of the wreck of the Nantucket whaler, “Two Brothers” in Hawaii and a special expedition announcement by The Ocean Doctor!

The Ocean Doctor airs weekly on WebTalkRadio.net. Want to listen on your iPod, iPhone or mp3 player? Download the mp3 file or subscribe on iTunes and don’t miss a single episode. See the complete list of episodes.

Follow The Ocean Doctor on Twitter — Become a Fan on Facebook!

Submit a question and I’ll try to answer it on the air. Even better, record your question or comment on our special message line and I might play it on the air. Call: (805) 619-9194. You can also leave questions and comments for this episode below.

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CSI Goes Deep.

CSI Goes Deep

The Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL) is now the home of the international Coral Reef CSI program. This new partnership, announced by CORAL today, will expand the field of coral reef forensic investigation in coral reef locations around the world, offering more protection to these valuable and fragile ecosystems.

“The Coral Reef CSI program is filling an important niche, as few marine protected areas have field investigators armed with the knowledge and tools necessary to hold responsible parties accountable for injuries to managed coral reef resources,” said Rick MacPherson, Interim Executive Director and Conservation Programs Director at the Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL). “The program is a natural fit for CORAL because it is closely aligned with our own community-focused approach to reducing local reef threats in order to create and sustain healthy coral reef communities.”

This Week's Guest: Rick MacPherson, Interim Executive Director and Conservation Programs Director at the Coral Reef Alliance

Crime scene investigation (CSI) techniques have become famous through a host of popular television dramas, and the Coral Reef CSI program uses similar forensic science strategies underwater. Designed in 2006, the program has worked in thirteen countries and has trained over 300 marine protected area resource managers, enforcement officers, academics, and litigators in underwater evidence collection.

Through the program’s rigorous field training workshops, participants learn underwater forensic investigative techniques applicable to vessel groundings, destructive fishing, illegal extraction, and other negative impacts to coral

reefs. Participants also practice proper procedures for gathering and preserving evidence in the marine environment and receive expert advice on providing clear and concise analysis during decision-making processes such as court trials.

Coral Reef CSI Training - Belize (Photo courtesy of CORAL)

“By working together with CORAL, we look forward to expanding global efforts to improve coral reef investigation and enforcement,” said Dave Gulko, director of the international Coral Reef CSI field training program. “Through our partnership with CORAL, we plan to develop new educational and field methods for improving compliance and building support for coral reef conservation.”

A total of five Coral Reef CSI trainings are slated for 2011, including implementations in Honduras, Thailand, Indonesia, and Guadeloupe. Several new training modules focused on enforcement, field contaminant assays, and field sea turtle forensics are expected to be implemented later this year and into 2012.

The Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL) unites communities to save coral reefs. The organization provides tools, education, and inspiration to residents of coral reef destinations to support local projects that benefit both reefs and people. Originally founded in 1994 to galvanize the dive community for conservation, CORAL has grown from a small, grassroots alliance into the only international nonprofit organization that works exclusively to protect our planet’s coral reefs. Visit www.coral.org or call1-888-CORAL-REEF.

Coral Reef CSI Training - Belize (Photo courtesy of CORAL)

The Coral Reef CSI program, which arose from the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) Working Group on Coral Reef Enforcement and Investigation, was designed in 2006 as a way for coral reef managers, enforcement officers, investigators, and natural resource trustees to receive training in underwater natural resource investigative techniques. The training program encourages investigation, mitigation, and prosecution success for natural resource injury events and is generating regional and national level commitments for improved coral reef investigation and enforcement. The program’s web resources and tools are available at www.coral.org/coral_reef_csi.

Also: The wreck of the Nantucket Whaler, “Two Brothers” and an Expedition Announcement.

Marine archaeologists working in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands discovered the wreck of the “Two Brothers” a Nantucket whaling ship that went down 188 years ago after hitting a reef at the French Frigate Shoals, a treacherous atoll. What was a Nantucket whaler doing way out in the middle of the Pacific? Why is this particular wreck of such interest? And how does this wreck relate to the announcement the Ocean Doctor makes this week about an upcoming expedition? To find out, we roll out our time machine and head back to the early part of the 19^th century, when Nantucket, that tiny island of Massachusetts, was the international whaling capital of the world.

Links:

The Coral Reef Alliance

Nantucket Whaler Lost in Pacific Tells Its Tale at Last (NY Times)

Tip of the Week:

Audiobook from Audible.com

November 8, 2010: In the oceans, Mother Nature continues to surprise and delight us with mesmerizing, jaw-dropping marine life that often wildly exceeds our imagination. Released at the completion of the decade-long Census of Marine Life, the  new book from National Geographic, Citizens of the Sea: Wondrous Creatures From the Census of Marine Life,  is not only rich with the captivating images you’d expect from the seasoned underwater photographers of National Geographic and the Census of Marine Life, but its delightful prose by author Dr. Nancy Knowlton — Sant Chair for Marine Science at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and a scientific leader of the Census of Marine Life — brings these photographs to life in captivating vignettes that will playfully bend your brain with utterly amazing facts about these utterly amazing creatures, including the Bob Marley Worm and a fish with a head you (and it) can see right through. We visit with Dr. Knowlton at her office at Smithsonian and take a field trip to the Smithsonian’s latest and wildly popular exhibit, the “Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef.”

The Ocean Doctor airs weekly on WebTalkRadio.net. Want to listen on your iPod, iPhone or mp3 player? Download the mp3 file or subscribe on iTunes and don’t miss a single episode. See the complete list of episodes.

Submit a question and I’ll try to answer it on the air. Even better, record your question or comment on our special message line and I might play it on the air. Call: (805) 619-9194. You can also leave questions and comments for this episode below.

Like the show? Learn how to become a sponsor.

This Week: Dr. Nancy Knowlton, Sant Chair for Marine Science at Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History

This Week's Guest: Dr. Nancy Knowlton, Sant Chair for Marine Science at Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History

We go behind the scenes with Dr. Nancy Knowlton to learn about her incredible new book, Citizens of the Sea: Wondrous Creatures From the Census of Marine Life.  Dr. Knowlton’s stories about the newest discoveries beneath the sea will delight, enlighten and inspire, while also painting a stark picture for the consequences should we not heed the call for badly-needed conservation. Get introduced to the Yeti crab, the Bob Marley worm, and the bizarre Barreleye, a fish with a transparent head among many others. And Nancy takes us on a field trip to Smithsonian’s latest exhibit, the “Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef.”

Nancy Knowlton is the Sant Chair for Marine Science at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and a scientific leader of the Census of Marine Life. She founded the Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography of the University of California, San Diego. Knowlton has devoted her life to studying, celebrating, and striving to protect the multitude of life-forms that call the sea home. She lives with her family in Washington, D.C.

Links

• Citizens of the Sea: Wondrous Creatures from the Census of Marine Life (Amazon.com)
• The Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef (Smithsonian)
• The Ocean Portal (Smithsonian)

[Show as slideshow]

Tip of the Week

Buy Citizens of the Sea, available at Amazon.com:

Coral Reef in Timor (Photo courtesy of Nick Hobgood)

If human CO₂ emissions continue at their current rate, by the end of the 21^st century ocean acidity will drop by another  0.3 – 0.5 units to acidity levels higher (or pH levels lower) than the oceans have experienced in hundreds of thousands of years, and this would happen at an unprecedented rate, roughly 100 times faster than any other such change ever documented over the same period.

There is strong consensus in the scientific community that, like our warming climate, ocean acidification is intensifying due to the massive emissions of CO₂ from human activities. Increased CO₂ upsets the natural balance of ocean chemistry — more CO₂ shifts the balance toward increasing carbonic acid (H₂CO₃).

Ocean acidification is a profoundly serious problem that threatens to impact virtually every aspect of the chemical and biological functioning of the oceans as we know them today. Ocean acidification threatens to undermine the function of the ocean’s major ecosystems, including the majority of the world’s coral reefs, potentially causing an unraveling of ocean food chain, large-scale extinction events, and impacts on the oceans’ commercially important fish stocks.

Because of ocean ecosystems’ complexity, it is difficult to precisely predict the impact of ocean acidification. In addition, the impacts will likely vary by regional differences in chemistry as well as by the resistance and resilience of different marine species. However, it is clear that acidification has the potential to cause widespread, significant and irreversible impacts on the functioning of ocean ecosystems, and if humankind does not make adequate strides in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, such impacts will likely occur by the end of this century.

One of the most significant impacts of acidification will be on calcification, the process by which corals, algaes, mollusks, etc. build their shells , plates and other structures from calcium carbonate (CaCO₃). Laboratory results show that an acidic ocean would make it impossible for these plants and animals to build their CaCO₃ structures – essentially, these structures  would be dissolved faster than the plant or animal could build them. In this way, the world’s coral reefs, already pushed to the brink by elevated ocean temperature, nutrient pollution, overfishing, etc., could disappear altogether, along with a myriad of other species.

There’s a great deal of attention focused (especially the Southern Ocean) on the potential for oceanic food chains to be significantly disrupted by acidification given that many phytoplankton and zooplankton species that form the base of the food chain are calcareous, that is, they form a calcium carbonate shell, which would become impossible in a highly acidic ocean. It doesn’t take too much extrapolation to see the effect this could have up the food chain, including fish, whales, and penguins.

The oceanic food chain isn’t limited to organisms that dwell in the sea. We’ve already seen the devastating impact of El Nino on seabird populations, for example. Birds, seals, bears, etc. could also be impacted, as well as Homo sapiens, a species that still depends heavily on hunting wild fish stocks. Increasing acidity of the oceans will also limit the ocean’s ability to buffer increases in atmospheric CO₂, something already being documented in scientific papers. This means that the planet is becoming less and less able to absorb the CO₂ emitted by fossil fuel consumption, which, in turn could translate into more CO₂ remaining in the atmosphere and an even hotter climate.

According to the Royal Society’s 2005 report (Ocean acidification due to increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide. Policy document 12/05. June 2005. ISBN 0 85403 617 2 (www.royalsoc.ac.uk), “Ocean acidification is essentially irreversible during our lifetimes. It will take tens of thousands of years for ocean chemistry to return to a condition similar to that occurring at pre-industrial times (about 200 years ago).” There have been a number of mitigation strategies proposed, such as essentially dumping chemicals into the ocean to counteract the effects of increased CO₂. However, the scale at which this would have to be done is enormous. Such methods might only be effective in localized areas and might themselves cause damage to marine organisms.

There is strong consensus in the scientific community that the solution to this problem is the immediate and sustained reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, reductions that may well exceed those being put forward today, underscoring the urgency for the United States to demonstrate stronger leadership on this issue.

Fortunately, this issue is finally becoming better publicized and part of the overall climate change dialogue, and the mainstream media is now reporting on the significance of this issue.

The research vessel will depart from Havana in early- to mid-August for a planned 20-day expedition. Look for an expedition tracking page that will allow you to keep tabs on the expedition’s progress.

Last week, results from the first two expeditions were presented at the 11th International Coral Reef Symposium in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Unfortunately, out of five invited Cuban researchers, only one was granted a visa to attend the conference.

Cubans and Americans display the flags of both nations following a historic 2-day meeting in Cancún, México on collaboration in marine science & conservation

CANCÚN, México — In a historic meeting co-organized and led by the Washington, DC-based Center for International Policy and the Harte Research Institute (HRI) for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi,a group of 15 Cubans and 15 Americans met in Cancún, Mexico to develop a plan for taking joint marine research and conservation activities between the U.S. and Cuba to a new level. Collaboration between U.S. and Cuban scientists has been exceedingly difficult because of the decades-old U.S. embargo, even though research is a permitted activity and U.S. scientists are allowed to travel to Cuba. Complicated logistics and ever-changing politics have prevented all but a few U.S. institutions from successful collaborative projects in Cuba.

1planet1ocean president Dr. David E. Guggenheim, HRI Advisory Council member and manager of its Cuba Program, organized and led the November 1-2 meeting along with Dr. Wayne Smith of the Center for International Policy. The conference was conceived of in recognition of the critical need for more scientific research in the Gulf of Mexico and Western Caribbean, and the key role that Cuban waters play in the ecosystem. The Cancún meeting brought together major institutions from both countries to establish research priorities and to chart a way forward toward stronger and more comprehensive collaborative activities.

At the end of the two-day meeting, a framework plan of action was established with the following priorities: Research and conservation of coral reefs, sharks, sea turtles and dolphins, improved management and conservation of fish resources, and strengthening of marine protected areas. The proceedings of the meeting are currently being drafted. Working groups — each headed by one Cuban and one American — are leading continuing dialogue on each of the priority areas. A follow-up meeting is scheduled in 6-12 months and will include the participation of México. Over the past few years, HRI and its partner, University of Havana’s Centro de Investigaciones Marinas (Center for Marine Research), have conducted a number of research expeditions and related research efforts along Cuba’s Gulf of Mexico, the 320 km expanse along its northwest coast, in a project called Proyecto Costa Noroccidental (Project of the Northwest Coast).