Post by LSDeep on Mar 24, 2006 8:34:36 GMT -5
Scientists say coral bleaching is a result of Lake Okeechobee discharges
By SUZANNE WENTLEY
suzanne.wentley@scripps.com
March 23, 2006
ST. LUCIE INLET STATE PRESERVE — Covered in murky, brown water for months, this isolated park's coral reef is beginning to die.
Local scientists who dived the reef recently discovered the first major outbreak of coral bleaching — a sign of stress that can lead to death — with around 15 percent of the coral reef already dead.
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"It's the worst we've ever seen it," said Jeff Beal, marine habitat coordinator with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "It probably took many months of water quality problems for those corals to finally start bleaching and dying."
The six-square-mile reef, the northernmost tropical coral reef in America, is just south of the inlet — where polluted, freshwater discharges from Lake Okeechobee and nearby homes and farms have created a dark water plume for miles into the Atlantic Ocean.
Scientists said the murky waters, along with last summer's high ocean temperatures, are to blame for the poor health of the reef, where an estimated 40 percent of the coral show signs of stress.
"The corals have died because of the hurricanes and the secondary effects of the hurricanes, all the releases," said Beal, who also plans to install yellow boundary and white-and-blue mooring buoys throughout the park by summer.
Along with scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, Beal discovered the bleaching after trying to dive the reef three separate times.
Visibility has been a problem there since water managers initiated heavy discharges from Lake Okeechobee.
Karen Smith, the director of the South Florida Water Management District's Stuart office, said water managers consider the health of near-shore reefs to be under "extreme conditions" and regularly monitor the health of oysters, sea grass and fish instead.
When corals become stressed, they evict microscopic algae, called zooxanthellae, which live in the corals' tissue and provide food for the coral. Without the algae, the coral turns stark white — and, within a few weeks, normally die.
State scientists are monitoring the reef along with Harbor Branch scientists, who are documenting the impact of seaweed smothering the reef.
"Because of the historical impacts of the St. Lucie Inlet on that area, we thought it was imperative that the area be monitored closely," said research assistant Chip Baumberger.
"When a lot of freshwater is coming out from the St. Lucie River, we'll be able to say, 'Here's what's in the water to the reef and the reef's response to that.'"
With the recent dry weather and clearer water, it is possible some of the corals could rebound — but it is unlikely if polluted freshwater discharges continue to plume into the ocean, Beal said.
"A lot depends on what happens this spring and summer," he said. "If they get another onslaught of dirty fresh water for a long duration, that might push some over the edge."
By SUZANNE WENTLEY
suzanne.wentley@scripps.com
March 23, 2006
ST. LUCIE INLET STATE PRESERVE — Covered in murky, brown water for months, this isolated park's coral reef is beginning to die.
Local scientists who dived the reef recently discovered the first major outbreak of coral bleaching — a sign of stress that can lead to death — with around 15 percent of the coral reef already dead.
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"It's the worst we've ever seen it," said Jeff Beal, marine habitat coordinator with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "It probably took many months of water quality problems for those corals to finally start bleaching and dying."
The six-square-mile reef, the northernmost tropical coral reef in America, is just south of the inlet — where polluted, freshwater discharges from Lake Okeechobee and nearby homes and farms have created a dark water plume for miles into the Atlantic Ocean.
Scientists said the murky waters, along with last summer's high ocean temperatures, are to blame for the poor health of the reef, where an estimated 40 percent of the coral show signs of stress.
"The corals have died because of the hurricanes and the secondary effects of the hurricanes, all the releases," said Beal, who also plans to install yellow boundary and white-and-blue mooring buoys throughout the park by summer.
Along with scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, Beal discovered the bleaching after trying to dive the reef three separate times.
Visibility has been a problem there since water managers initiated heavy discharges from Lake Okeechobee.
Karen Smith, the director of the South Florida Water Management District's Stuart office, said water managers consider the health of near-shore reefs to be under "extreme conditions" and regularly monitor the health of oysters, sea grass and fish instead.
When corals become stressed, they evict microscopic algae, called zooxanthellae, which live in the corals' tissue and provide food for the coral. Without the algae, the coral turns stark white — and, within a few weeks, normally die.
State scientists are monitoring the reef along with Harbor Branch scientists, who are documenting the impact of seaweed smothering the reef.
"Because of the historical impacts of the St. Lucie Inlet on that area, we thought it was imperative that the area be monitored closely," said research assistant Chip Baumberger.
"When a lot of freshwater is coming out from the St. Lucie River, we'll be able to say, 'Here's what's in the water to the reef and the reef's response to that.'"
With the recent dry weather and clearer water, it is possible some of the corals could rebound — but it is unlikely if polluted freshwater discharges continue to plume into the ocean, Beal said.
"A lot depends on what happens this spring and summer," he said. "If they get another onslaught of dirty fresh water for a long duration, that might push some over the edge."