Patong Coral Reef Restoration kicks-off in Phuket

[webfact]

Patong Coral Reef Restoration kicks-off in Phuket
National News Bureau of Thailand


Damaged coral was rescued and new embryos put into the sea during the campaign.

PHUKET: -- More than 150 divers and nature lovers gathered at Patong Bay yesterday (February 15) to take part in the Patong Coral Reef Restoration project.

The project is a cooperative effort between the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources and the private sector. Presiding over the opening ceremony was Patong mayor Chalermluck Kebsab.

Participants in the activity, consisting mainly of divers, were asked to rescue damaged coral by taking it to a nursery, and by putting coral embryos into the sea. Other tasks included garbage collection under the sea, and the repair of buoys.

The campaign is expected to speed up recovery of the coral reefs in Patong Bay which has been affected by pollution, an increase in number of the coral-eating star fish, and the disaster of the 2004 Tsunami.

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/patong-coral-reef-restoration-kicks-off-in-phuket-51031.php


-- Phuket News 2015-02-16

[DeepInTheForest]

This effort is all very well, and organizers deserve kudos. But there are two elephants in the room.

One is the local pollution issue, which resulted in the 2013 triathlon being abruptly cancelled due to poor water quality. The beach at times has been covered with bright green algae. This is the result of nutrient loading, the main source of which is Klong Pakbang, which discharges itself at the southern end of the beach. Monitoring is underfunded. The water is tested for bacteria only once every two months. Unless this issue is addressed, transplanting coral will be futile. As fans of the endangered Great Barrier Reef know, excessive nutrient runoff from the land encourages algal growth that can smother coral reefs.

The other elephant is global warming, and the continued acidification of the world's oceans. Unless human CO2 emissions are reduced dramatically, the seas will continue to acidify (they will continue to increase in acidity, anyway, due to slow absorption of atmospheric CO2). When the seas reach a certain pH level (between 7.4 to 7.6; scientists are still learning about this), the calcium carbonate that houses the coral organisms will dissolve, and then, it's adios, coral reefs. Interestingly, it's believed that this has happened before in our planet's past, and that coral organisms have survived in a "soft" form. But it's something to be avoided-- huge numbers of fish and other organisms depend on reef structures.

Perhaps the biggest contribution the posted event makes is to raise public awareness. That's no mean feat, and organizers and participants are to be applauded.

http://www.thephuketnews.com/international-triathlon-event-in-phuket-cancelled-40082.php

http://www.coralscience.org/main/articles/climate-a-ecology-16/reefs-at-low-ph

Edited February 16, 2015 by LivinginKata
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