How an unlikely household item is fixing the coral reef at Thailand's most famous beach

By Annabel Fenwick Elliott

 

Maya Bay was made famous by the Leonardo DiCaprio movie 'The Beach' in 2000 CREDIT: ISTOCK

 

Scientists have come up with an unlikely way to restore marine life to a Thai beach that's been ravaged by overtourism: superglue.

 

Maya Bay, a small cove made famous by Leonardo DiCaprio's blockbuster The Beach in 2000, was closed indefinitely last October after buckling under the pressure of up to 5,000 visitors a day, all of whom arrive in boats that can damage the coral reef and pollute the water.

 

Since then, ecologists have been working to regrow the coral by glueing dead portions of it back onto the rocks; and futile as it sounds, the painstaking process is working. After about a week, the coral is stable enough to grip the terrain independently, the glue dissolves and the reef can flourish.

 

Full story: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/news/maya-bay-thailand-superglue-coral-reef/

 

The Telegraph: 2019-04-28

 

6 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

the glue dissolves

 

And what damage does it do then to the marine life ??

It never dissolves when I stick my fingers together with it !!

If it is a water based glue, it will of course dissolve. No doubt about that, and it is a normal household item, so it will be waterbased.

"Scientists have come up with an unlikely way to restore marine life to a Thai beach that's been ravaged by overtourism: superglue."

 

If the headline read "Thai Scientists" there would have been no need to read any further. According to reputable marine scientists, under the best of conditions, it takes decades to repair and restore moderately damaged coral reefs. The one thing we can say about fun seeking tourists in Thailand is that: They never do anything in moderation. Including destroying the natural beauty Thailand once had to offer responsible tourists. This appears to be another TAT ploy to reverse the trend of shrinking tourism.

Edited April 28, 20197 yr by jaltsc

9 minutes ago, cornishcarlos said:

 

And what damage does it do then to the marine life ??

It never dissolves when I stick my fingers together with it !!

Super glue is used by Reef keepers to glue frags of coral to rocks,

it does not damage marine life in a 100 gal aquarium,as example,

so no problem using it in the ocean,the important thing is the pieces

of coral must be firmly attached to the rocks to survive and grow.

 

It would be best if the bay was never reopened,as all the good work

of reestablishing the Coral and other marine life,would quickly be

destroyed by hordes of tourists in no time,but the pressure for the

tourist $ ,where money comes first ,can not see that happening.

regards worgeordie

15 minutes ago, Snuller21 said:

If it is a water based glue, it will of course dissolve. No doubt about that, and it is a normal household item, so it will be waterbased.

It's not waterbased.

6 minutes ago, jaltsc said:

Scientists have come up with an unlikely way to restore marine life to a Thai beach that's been ravaged by overtourism: superglue.

Would these be Thai scientists who have just discovered the benefits of superglue in solving this problem ?

1 hour ago, jaltsc said:

"Scientists have come up with an unlikely way to restore marine life to a Thai beach that's been ravaged by overtourism: superglue."

 

If the headline read "Thai Scientists" there would have been no need to read any further. According to reputable marine scientists, under the best of conditions, it takes decades to repair and restore moderately damaged coral reefs. The one thing we can say about fun seeking tourists in Thailand is that: They never do anything in moderation. Including destroying the natural beauty Thailand once had to offer responsible tourists. This appears to be another TAT ploy to reverse the trend of shrinking tourism.

Yes this article is pure drivel.  The only thing that are repairing with superglue is the coral that has been reduce to rubble by fin and anchor damage.  The living polyps grow at about 5mm per year in optimal conditions.  Most established reefs are more than 10,000 years old.

 

https://coral.org/coral-reefs-101/coral-reef-ecology/how-coral-reefs-grow/

 

It is horrifying to think that a beautiful 10,000 year old living organism has been desecrated in a few short years by exposing it to the Chinese hordes.  

1 hour ago, Vacuum said:

It's not waterbased.

It does dissolve in water though.

I thought some think tank would come up with the idea of anchoring tons of plastic waste in the bay to create artificial reefs.  Oceanic plastic gyres are actually potential artificial reefs and the Petro-Chemical industry that makes plastic are actually saints.

21 minutes ago, Khaeng Mak said:

Yes this article is pure drivel.  The only thing that are repairing with superglue is the coral that has been reduce to rubble by fin and anchor damage.  The living polyps grow at about 5mm per year in optimal conditions.  Most established reefs are more than 10,000 years old.

 

https://coral.org/coral-reefs-101/coral-reef-ecology/how-coral-reefs-grow/

 

It is horrifying to think that a beautiful 10,000 year old living organism has been desecrated in a few short years by exposing it to the Chinese hordes.  

Hoards of tourists of ALL nationalities.

Went there over 30 years ago and it was infested with we westerners all arriving by boat. Polluting the air as well as damaging the reef.

 

7 hours ago, Snuller21 said:

If it is a water based glue, it will of course dissolve. No doubt about that, and it is a normal household item, so it will be waterbased.

Superglues are cyanoacrylates which polymerize in the presence of water and they are not water based. Water will break the bond over time, though, especially if it is warm. Then there’s also the force of the waves/water movement which will eventually break the bond because superglue isn’t really good when it comes to shearing forces. Superglues are also mildly toxic. 

Edited April 28, 20197 yr by pacovl46
Typo

If superglue had been around a few hundred years ago Stradivarius would have had a 50 gallon drum of the stuff in his workshop ????

11 hours ago, worgeordie said:

Super glue is used by Reef keepers to glue frags of coral to rocks,

it does not damage marine life in a 100 gal aquarium,as example,

so no problem using it in the ocean,the important thing is the pieces

of coral must be firmly attached to the rocks to survive and grow.

 

It would be best if the bay was never reopened,as all the good work

of reestablishing the Coral and other marine life,would quickly be

destroyed by hordes of tourists in no time,but the pressure for the

tourist $ ,where money comes first ,can not see that happening.

regards worgeordie

 

There wouldn't be much point in fixing it if they were to keep it closed to tourists.

2 hours ago, phantomfiddler said:

If superglue had been around a few hundred years ago Stradivarius would have had a 50 gallon drum of the stuff in his workshop ????

 

Unlikely, his violins can be taken apart by melting the hide glue he used, they are 100% serviceable, its only your cheapo violins which are assembled with permanent glues.

As a SCUBA diver I am shocked at damage done to reefs by boat anchors, it is criminal.

 

Just another bodge job, gluing the the coral back with a not so environmentally friendly glue instead of tackling the real problem of the boat crews. 

8 hours ago, Basil B said:

As a SCUBA diver I am shocked at damage done to reefs by boat anchors, it is criminal.

 

Just another bodge job, gluing the the coral back with a not so environmentally friendly glue instead of tackling the real problem of the boat crews. 

 

They banned the boats already, what are you talking about?

glue, looooooooooooooooool, TIT

by glueing dead portions of it back onto the rocks; and futile as it sounds, the painstaking process is working. After about a week, the coral is stable enough to grip the terrain independently, the glue dissolves and the reef can flourish.

 

(I have highlighted the relevant word in the above quote).

 

So Thai scientists have found the secret of life itself!  Superglue can bring dead things back to life.....

2 hours ago, simon43 said:

 

 

 

(I have highlighted the relevant word in the above quote).

 

So Thai scientists have found the secret of life itself!  Superglue can bring dead things back to life.....

 

I don't think it was unknown that physically holding together fragile elements of an ecosystem can allow it to grow and hold itself together, they've done much the same with plastic netting to stabalise soil, for instance.

 

As for the glue, they just bought a product, the news is that they are doing it in Maya bay.

 

 

 

4 hours ago, Kieran00001 said:

 

They banned the boats already, what are you talking about?

I am talking about the many dives have done over 25 years at many dive sites in Thailand...

1 hour ago, Basil B said:

I am talking about the many dives have done over 25 years at many dive sites in Thailand...

 

Right, so nothing to do with the topic then, this is about Maya bay, they have already banned boats.

I imagine many boats had open sewar drains, leaking gas and oil over the years in such a confined bay.  I dove koh phi phi.  The net drag marks started right at the edge of the coral .  I could see the drag lines.  Remnants of nets and broken coral out in the sand flat.   Mexicans are smarter than Thai.  They made places like Cuzuumel a no fishing zone and Caribbean had tie up buoys 30 years ago.  

That cyano in cyanoacrylate always gets me trying to sniff almonds..

Edited April 29, 20197 yr by DrTuner

On 4/28/2019 at 5:03 PM, pacovl46 said:

Superglues are cyanoacrylates which polymerize in the presence of water and they are not water based. Water will break the bond over time, though, especially if it is warm. Then there’s also the force of the waves/water movement which will eventually break the bond because superglue isn’t really good when it comes to shearing forces. Superglues are also mildly toxic. 

True, as I once was a sales engineer for Loctite and this was one of the "special glues" that we used and sold back in the days when it wasn't available anywhere else.

 

Because water will affect the bond, it was never specified for anything which was affected by water, although in some cases there was a way of keeping the bond for a bit longer by painting the outside of the bond line/glue line with a rubber based solution, but in the case of coral I would suppose that would be very difficult.

 

And quite right about the shear force.......not a particularly good glue to recommend where that is at play. 

I don't believe in these coral restoration projects. Time is all that is needed, but more time than we, humanity, are willing to spend.

1 hour ago, stevenl said:

I don't believe in these coral restoration projects. Time is all that is needed, but more time than we, humanity, are willing to spend.

Yep.  10,000 years is a long time.

8 hours ago, Kieran00001 said:

 

Right, so nothing to do with the topic then, this is about Maya bay, they have already banned boats.

All to do with topic...

 

Boats dropping and dragging anchors through coral, it is happening all over Thailand.

6 hours ago, Elkski said:

I imagine many boats had open sewar drains, leaking gas and oil over the years in such a confined bay.  I dove koh phi phi.  The net drag marks started right at the edge of the coral .  I could see the drag lines.  Remnants of nets and broken coral out in the sand flat.   Mexicans are smarter than Thai.  They made places like Cuzuumel a no fishing zone and Caribbean had tie up buoys 30 years ago.  

Too true, well in Thailand anyway, I do not think I have ever been on a Thai dive boat where we have not been requested not to use the toilet on a dive site.

One of those good news stories which might keep you happy while we turn the world in to a furnace.

13 hours ago, stevenl said:

I don't believe in these coral restoration projects. Time is all that is needed, but more time than we, humanity, are willing to spend.

 

Providing coral the time and space it needs to regenerate is a type of coral restoration project, just one with minimal interference, so what you are really saying is that you don't believe in invasive coral restoration projects, and this one is not actually very invasive so I recon you'll get over it.