Scientists that are monitoring the Great Barrier Reef in Australia report that it has suffered its third mass bleaching event in five years. The reef is considered to be the largest living structure in the world, but warming temperatures are straining the corals and are causing these bleaching events to become increasingly common.
A study that was published in April 2018 found that half of the Great Barrier Reef had died since 2016 when this region of the world experienced abnormally warm temperatures. The El Niño and La Niña weather patterns contributed to the extreme conditions, however, neither event was occurring when this year’s mass bleaching took place.
Bleached branching coral (foreground) and normal branching coral (background). Keppel Islands in the Great Barrier Reef. Credit: Acropora/ Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 3.0
Oceans cover over 70 per cent of the Earth’s surface and have the capacity to store more than 1,000 times the amount of heat than the atmosphere, which is why aquatic environments are particularly sensitive to the greenhouse gas emissions we release.
Corals start to bleach when the water becomes too hot and causes them to expel the colourful algae that live on them. The coral relies on the algae because it is their primary food source, while the coral provides the algae with a protected environment and nutrients needed for photosynthesis. The absence of the colourful algae leaves the coral with a stark white appearance.
HOW WE CAN PROTECT MARINE ECOSYSTEMS
The ecosystems within oceans are complex and can stretch over vast areas, making conservation efforts unique and specific for each region. While the frequency of mass bleachings is worrisome, the good news is that coral reefs can recover if temperatures return back to normal.
Marine experts face many decisions when choosing how to best protect coral reefs and have found that increased monitoring and involvement from local governments and communities have been key factors in successful coral reef conservation projects.
See below for a look at the inspiring work that organizations are doing to conserve coral reefs across the world.
USAID Project REGENERATE, Maldives
The Maldives is a low-lying atoll nation in the Indian Ocean and their economy largely relies on coral reefs for their tourism and fishing industries. Despite experiencing mass bleachings in 1998, 2010, and 2016, the IUCN says that these coral reefs have shown a “great capacity for resilience.”
Coral reef in the Maldives. Credit: Tchami/ Wikimedia Commons. CC BY 2.0
Project REGENERATE is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and helps local governments and researchers access science and technology and use education and monitoring while providing sustainable financing mechanisms to support resilient marine management.
Coral reefs located in the Southern Leyte province in the Philippines host some of the most biodiverse marine habitats in the world, but face many stressors including abnormally warm temperatures and pollution.
A shark swimming through Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park, which is a protected area of the Philippines in the middle of the Sulu Sea. Credit: Nikswieweg/ Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 3.0
Since 2002 the LRCP has worked with local stakeholders and researchers to increase data collection. The organization’s website says that learning more about the reefs will indicate how protected areas improve biodiversity and handle stressors that cannot be controlled, such as atmospheric temperatures.
North Bali Reef Conservation, Bali – Indonesia
Tianyar is a small fishing village on the northeastern coast of Bali and community work there is slowly repairing the damage that coral reefs have sustained over the past century. The North Bali Reef Conservation’s website says in the early 1900s coral was harvested and crushed into a fine white powder that would be painted onto homes of the wealthy. Pollution and disruption from the fishing industry have added further stress to reefs that were previously harvested or damaged by anchors dropped by visiting boats.
Some of the successful initiatives that the organization has created include a community recycling centre and the installation of over 3,000 artificial reefs that expand the habitat for many aquatic species.
Reef Rescuers, Seychelles
A mass bleaching event in 1998 killed up to 90 per cent of the coral reefs in some areas in Seychelles due to unusually warm temperatures. The reefs suffered another bleaching event in 2016, but by this point, the Reef Rescuers project was already underway.
Anse Source d’Argent, Seychelles. Credit: dronepicr/ Wikimedia Commons. CC BY 2.0
The project launched in 2010 and their website states that they were the world’s first large-scale coral reef restoration project. Their “coral gardening” technique involves collecting coral fragments from healthy sites, growing these fragments in underwater nurseries to maturity, and then replanting them into degraded reefs. They have successfully transplanted over 24,000 corals and have welcomed dozens of scientific divers from around the world to study their successful restoration techniques.
RangerBot, Great Barrier Reef, Australia
The Great Barrier Reef foundation designed the Rangerbot, which is the “world’s first autonomous underwater drone” that is dedicated to protecting coral reefs. This unique machine was designed to meet the foundation’s most pressing needs and is able to map expansive underwater areas, monitor coral bleaching indicators and water quality, and control pests like the Crown-Of-Thorns Starfish.
The Crown-Of-Thorns Starfish resembles the biblical crown of thorns and is one of the largest starfish in the world. Credit: Matt Wright/ Wikimedia Commons. CC BY 2.5
In addition to the stress from warming temperatures, booming populations of Crown-Of-Thorns Starfish are challenging the Great Barrier Reef. These coral-eating starfish are not an invasive species but have been responsible for destroying significant amounts of coral reef. RangerBot is able to control the pests’ population by locating the starfish with SONAR and multiple cameras. The Crown-Of-Thorns are subsequently killed with a lethal injection from RangerBot.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
