By Shurna Robbins

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands (Reuters) - To coral reef-driven tourism industries like those of the Cayman Islands, there could be a greater cost in ignoring climate change than fighting it.

Ranked among the top 10 scuba diving destinations in the world, the reef system of the western Caribbean territory has lost 50 percent of its hard corals in the last 10 years in spite of strong environmental laws, scientists say.

"We are at a very critical time in the history of coral reefs," said Carrie Manfrino, president of the Central Caribbean Marine Institute on Little Cayman island.


Read full article: 'Famous Caymans coral reefs dying'

TAVERNIER, Fla. — Clouds were moving across the sun and a 20-knot northeast wind was stirring a 3-foot chop as Meaghan Johnson headed her open boat into the Florida Straits.

Ms. Johnson, a program coordinator for the Nature Conservancy, headed the boat into the swells, to minimize swamping, as her passengers tried in vain to avoid soaking spray.


Read full article: 'Coral Is Dying. Can It Be Reborn?'

Divers will begin fixing one of Broward's most unusual environmental messes this summer when they start to haul away more than half a million tires from the ocean floor.

The tires are the remains of an ill-conceived artificial reef constructed by a nonprofit group off the coast of Fort Lauderdale in the 1970s. Salt water and wave action tore the structure apart, leaving the tires to damage coral reefs and wash ashore.


Read full article: 'Cleanup of tire 'reef' ready to roll'

Muscat, Oman (Apr 30, 2007 14:47 EST) Two new species of coral have been discovered off the Omani coast, as well as other existing coral species that had previously not been known to live in the area. There are now estimated to be approximately 130 species of coral off the coast of Oman, much more than was formerly thought to subsist in the region. Scientists believe there are probably at least twenty more species yet to be discovered, possibly including five more new to science.


Read full article: 'New Species of Blue Coral Found Off the Coast of Oman'

WOODSIDE Petroleum's plan to build a liquefied natural gas processing plant on a coral reef off Western Australia has already countered opposition from one of the country's most prominent environmental groups.

WWF Australia chief executive Greg Bourne, a former BP Australasia president, told the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association conference in Adelaide yesterday that there was no place for an LNG plant on Scott Reef.


Read full article: 'Reef rage over gas'

ST. THOMAS, Virgin Islands (29 Mar 2007) -- Bad weather coupled with logistical issues Tuesday thwarted a second attempt by the U.S. Coast Guard, along with other federal and local agencies, to remove a ferry grounded on Triangle Reef.

A barge carrying a crane positioned itself near the reef to lift the boat Tuesday afternoon so that it could then be pulled away from the reef by tugboat, but that plan initially failed because of high seas and winds, said U.S. Coast Guard marine science technician chief Drew Doxsee. A tugboat tried five times to pull the stranded vessel without success from the reef Monday.

The delicate nature of the salvage operation requires near perfect weather, Doxsee said.

"It was too dangerous to continue," Doxsee said.

A required Coast Guard inspection of the crane and its operator also contributed to slowing removal preparations Tuesday, Doxsee said. Because of liability issues, the Coast Guard had to make sure all of the contractor's paperwork was up to date, he said.

The American Pride, a 96-foot vessel carrying 15 passengers and three crew members, struck the reef and became stranded on the morning of March 17 about a quarter-mile south of Morningstar Beach. The boat had just departed from the St. Thomas Harbor en route to Tortola. The American Pride is owned and operated by Caribbean Maritime Excursions.

No injuries were reported in the incident, and all aboard the vessel were evacuated.

Doxsee said the operation is expected to continue today - weather permitting - so the ferry can be extracted safely from the reef.

In preparation for the removal, all the water was pumped out of the vessel's compartments, and the boat has been patched and filled with airbags. The plan is to lift the American Pride's stern from the reef so the boat can then be pulled away for an immediate inspection before it is hauled off, Doxsee said.

The crash has created ongoing environmental concerns. The ferry's portside fuel tank ruptured in the collision and spilled about 350 gallons of diesel into the sea. A second fuel tank, holding another 350 gallons of diesel, is below the water's surface, authorities said after the incident last week.

Additional environmental hazards include 55 to 65 gallons of oil from engines and generators, two 5-gallon drums of lube oil and 8 to 10 gallons of hydraulic fluid.

Coast Guard spokesman Ricardo Castrodad said Tuesday absorbent materials were sprayed around areas of the ship carrying the liquids to minimize damage should they spill. Because of the location of the diesel fuel, Castrodad said, it is unclear whether any of the remaining diesel fuel leaked into the sea.



Read full article: 'Grounded 'American Pride' ferry threatens Virgin Islands reef'

Queensland, Australia (Apr 11, 2007 16:35 EST) The recent survey by scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society - Indonesia Program and the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (ARCCoERS) investigated the condition of coral reefs in Pulau Simeulue and Pulau Banyak off Aceh, Indonesia, in March 2007.

The surveys covered 35 sites along 600 kms (372 miles) of coastline, have documented, for the first time, the effects of earthquake uplift on coral reefs. The entire island of Simeulue, with a perimeter of approximately 300 km (186 miles), was raised up to 1.2 m (3.9 feet) following the 28 March 2005 earthquake, exposing most of the coral reefs which ringed the island.



Read full article: 'Massive Coral Death Attributed to Indonesian Earthquake'

Ranongga, Solomon Islands (Apr 7, 2007 15:11 EST) The force of this week's Solomons earthquake has lifted an island in the South Pacific archipelago and pushed out its shoreline by tens of metres, exposing surrounding reefs.

The remote island of Ranongga in the western Solomon Islands used to have submerged coral reefs that attracted scuba divers from around the world.

Read full article: 'Coral Exposed as Solomon Island Lifted Three Meters by Earthquake'

By Rosemary Desmond

April 06, 2007 04:29pm
THE Great Barrier Reef could be dead in 20 years unless there is a drastic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, a marine biology expert said today.

Rising sea temperatures were bleaching the coral and causing it to die, said Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg of the Australian Research Council Centre for Excellence for Coral Reef Studies.

Read full article: 'Barrier Reef 'dead in 20 years''

Visitors are being invited to come face to face with great white sharks, dolphins, manta rays and a blue whale when the world's first interactive dive cage opens (March 27) at the Oceanarium in Bournemouth.

Read full article: 'First 'virtual dive cage' opens in Bournemouth'

More than half of the tropical coral reefs in the world where governments collect data on fishing levels are being degraded beyond repair, according to a global survey of reef fisheries.

The findings suggest that it would take an additional area of tropical coral nearly four times the size of the Great Barrier Reef - the biggest reef system in the world - to sustain current levels of fishing.

Read full article: 'Threat to tropical reefs growing'

Conference discusses the fate of unused oil platforms and their surrounding sea life

By CATHY TRAN

HUNTINGTON BEACH- Beneath the tips of the steel oil platforms off California are millions of sea creatures—clusters of pink and yellow sea stars, bright orange anemones that overlap one another, and schools of striped fishes.

Read full article: 'A platform for debate'

By Nao Nakanishi

Hong Kong - Turquoise fish with red dots stare at hungry tourists from a tank at a restaurant in Hong Kong, the capital of the world's live reef fish industry, a lucrative trade devastating reefs across the Pacific Ocean.

Considered a delicacy, demand for coral fish has exploded in line with China's booming economy and some species such as the humphead wrasse are already endangered.

"You may not be able to eat it in four to five years, whatever money you pay. This is the favourite among people from mainland China," said a fish merchant, who gave his name only as Chen.

Read full article: 'Hunger for reef fish is emptying Asian seas'

Dar es Salaam - Zanzibar authorities were moving to curb the practice of dynamite fishing amid a row with researchers and the tourism sector over how prevalent it was, officials said.

The director of the semi-autonomous Tanzanian archipelago's Fisheries and Marine Resources Department, Mussa Jumbe, said dynamite fishing was on the decrease in Zanzibari waters, but that additional action was needed to stop it.

Read full article: 'Zanzibar tourism sector blasts dynamite fisherman'

HARD coral on a large network of shallow reefs near Keppel Island have been completely killed off, Central Queensland University researchers confirmed yesterday.

Marine biologist Alison Jones said that instead of monitoring this year's coral spawning event she had witnessed widespread coral bleaching.

Read full article: 'Keppel Island coral reefs 'completely' dead'