Reefs // Current TV

8 Ton Volkswagon Beetle Sculpture Joins 400 Other Objects in an Artificial Reef in Mexico

Sinking junk and other large objects to create artificial reefs for marine life is... more

lordsbassman
added this
11 months ago
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1 comment

Drowning Beautiful

Sometimes an artist creates something so beautifully simple that it takes your breath... more

neham
added this
1 year ago
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5 comments

Widespread oyster deaths found on Louisiana reefs

Surveys of coastal oyster grounds have discovered extensive deaths of the shellfish,... more

cclark_productions
added this
1 year ago
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2 comments

Oil Spill Puts Significant Cold-Water Reefs in Peril

ScienceDaily (June 6, 2010) — Thousands of barrels of oil are leaking out of the Deepwater Horizon site each day. The oil ascends from depths of approximately 1502 m. (4928 ft.), but not all of it reaches the sea surface. The stratified seawater of the Gulf of Mexico captures or slows the ascent of the oil, and the addition of dispersants near the oil source produces tiny droplets that float for a considerable time in the water column and may never reach the surface.

According to Drs. Gregor Eberli, Mark Grasmueck, and Ph.D. candidate Thiago Correa of the Marine Geology & Geophysics division of the University of Miami (UM), the oil that remains in suspension in the water column and creates plumes poses a serious risk for the planktonic and benthic (sea floor) life throughout the region, including the deep-sea reefs they study.

"The deep water communities within the Gulf of Mexico and in the Straits of Florida are well hidden from us, but they include many species of cold-water corals that live in water at depths of 600 -- 1500 m. (1969 -4921 ft.) in waters as cold as 3° Celsius (37.4°F)," said Eberli. "Unlike their more familiar shallow-water counterparts, these corals do not live in symbiosis with unicellular algae called zooxanthellae, but are animals that feed on organic matter floating through the water column. We know that most of the food consumed by the cold-water corals is produced in the surface waters and eventually sinks down to the corals."

The large plumes being created by the oil spill, some of which are reported to be several miles long, sit in the water column situated between this source of food and these deep-water corals. As organic material sinks through the water column it passes through the oil plumes and is contaminated by micron-sized oil droplets.

"It is most likely that the delicate cold-water corals are not able to digest these oil-laden food particles and will perish in large numbers," said Eberli. "We are especially concerned because the migrating oil plumes have the potential to destroy or greatly diminish these deep-sea coral communities as they are carried by the currents. These corals are important because they are the foundation of a diverse ecosystem that at last count includes over 1,300 marine species, according to Dr. Thomas Hourigan at NOAA."

There is also a danger that these plumes are carried by the Loop Current from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean. Deep-sea coral ecosystems are common at numerous sites from the eastern Gulf of Mexico through the Straits of Florida and northward to the Blake Plateau off North Carolina. This distribution matches the path of the Loop Current that forms from the water masses in the Gulf of Mexico, and enters the Straits of Florida to form the Florida Current and further north the Gulf Stream.

Particularly vulnerable to disturbance are deep-sea fish that form part of this ecosystem because of their late maturation, extreme longevity, low fecundity and slow growth. Deep-water coral reefs in Florida waters are the habitat of the economically valuable grouper, snapper and amberjack. These and other species inhabit hundreds of deep-water coral reefs off the coast of Florida at depths of about 300 -915 m. (1000 to 3000 feet), which were explored by Dr. John Reed from Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute some thirty years ago. This includes the 59,500 sq. m. (~23,000 sq. mi.) of deep-water reefs off the east coast of Florida, which is now proposed as the Oculina Habitat Area of Particular Concern.

There is no known technique to clean the water column from these oil plumes, and as a consequence the hidden oases of corals in the deep, cold waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the Straits of Florida and the Blake Plateau are in severe danger of being decimated by this oil spill.ScienceDaily (June 6, 2010) — Thousands of barrels of oil are leaking out of the... more

cclark_productions
added this
1 year ago
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1 comment

BP Prepares to Take New Tack on Leak After ‘Top Kill’ Fails - The New York Times

Photo: Crews worked Saturday on the failed top kill effort to stanch the leaking oil... more

EthicalVegan
added this
2 years ago
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0 comments

'Top kill' fails to stop flow of oil, BP says - CNN.com

BP's "top kill" attempt to stop the flow of oil from a ruptured well in... more

holdmybackpack
added this
2 years ago
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11 comments

Reefs destroyed by Hurricane Katrina restored according to DMR

Nearly 5 years after Hurricane Katrina destroyed about 90 percent of... more

stormchaser4850
added this
2 years ago
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0 comments

Corals: The Small Marine Organisms

Corals are marine organisms from the class Anthozoa and exist as small sea... more

kev4evr
added this
2 years ago
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1 comment

Don't Ruin The Reefs We Love: Dive Trips That Tread Lightly

Scuba diving is somewhat of an addiction for those that crave that adrenaline rush... more

northrunnnercano6
added this
2 years ago
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0 comments

Hawaii reefs showing strain of overuse, lack of protection from the Illegal State of Hawai'i

Ask Billy Blankenfeld, 72, about his childhood memories of Maunalua Bay, and he talks... more

Kepano
added this
3 years ago
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1 comment

Cayman dining options.

The Cayman Sea Sense project is a sustainable seafood education program dedicated to... more

lockus
added this
3 years ago
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0 comments

The Best Job In the World

Living above the Great Barrier Reef for six months is a pretty unique benefit, but... more

lockus
added this
3 years ago
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0 comments

Climate Deal May Be Too Late To Save Coral Reefs, Scientists Warn

reefs including the Great Barrier Reef off Australia could begin to break up within... more

wlwatkins
added this
3 years ago
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0 comments

Hundreds of new animal species found

Australian scientists discover brilliant soft corals, tiny crustaceans on reefs

starr111
added this
3 years ago
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14 comments

Why we need underwater "National Parks"

"When you create marine protected areas, you end up impacting people's... more

christopherwalls
added this
3 years ago
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17 comments

Canary in a Coal Mine MWV16

Coral reefs are dying a death of a thousand cuts and their disappearance threatens not... more

csuspect
added this
4 years ago
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4 comments

Reef Balls

"About 30% of the world's reefs have been destroyed in my lifetime,"... more

dcsmitty
added this
4 years ago
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2 comments

He Sleeps With the Fishes

... Today, his remains are part of a concrete ball that helps make up an artificial... more

dcsmitty
added this
4 years ago
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3 comments

Hotel Under the Sea

When it opens, The Poseidon Undersea Resort will have rooms 40 feet under the tropical... more

Simon_S
added this
4 years ago
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3 comments

Reefer Sadness

Destruction of coral reef due to global warming.

laser
added this
5 years ago
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16 comments

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