Title: Jamaica’s Coral Reefs: In Hot Water?
By: Geena Duquette
Transcript:
When most people think of the sounds of the ocean, they’ll think of waves or maybe even dolphins or whales. But actually a lot of things in the ocean makes sound: fish, lobster, shrimp, even coral itself makes noise. The noises made by all these creatures makes up the reef soundscape which sounds like this. My name is Geena Duquette, I'm a student at the University of Waterloo and my research in the Jamaica field course focuses on how to define and measure the success of reef restoration projects. Acoustic ecology using reef soundscapes is an exciting new way to measure reef restoration success. Marine life uses sounds to navigate, find mates and food, and to deter predators. Acoustic profiles from restoration sites can give an indication of how active the reef is and how diverse the species population is. The noisier the reef, the more successful the restoration. Due to climate change, hurricanes, overfishing, and tourism, Jamaica’s coral reefs are some of the most degraded in the world. During my time researching reef restoration in Jamaica, I had the honor of talking to Andrew Ross; a coastal ecosystems expert with a PhD in coral biology and the owner of Seascape Caribbean. He describes how Jamaica’s coral reefs have experienced tremendous changes in recent history. “In the case of work, an escapade right here in 1975 would have been either help or a big struggle for the tree coming up in the shallows and as you get a little bit deeper anywhere that was protected by those single tree coral, you would have had static of some sort which is just the finer version of the same thing. Everything was shaded inside of it. Everything was shaded from light, from direct UV exposure to one extent or another and also a hydrological barriers so you now have a canopy within which everything was more or less stable. So, what happened when all of the coral, all of the structure, disappeared over less than ten years?” Hurricanes destroy the tall elkhorn and staghorn corals; which make up a sort of second layer ecosystem, a reef canopy, taking that level of species diversity and resilience along with it. Staghorn is commonly used in restoration projects because of its growth rate, a rapid 25 centimeters per year. I explore this sustainability of using staghorn coral, a critically endangered species in restoration projects. Does it really make sense to use a species so easily wiped out by hurricanes? Perhaps the species is critically endangered for a reason and reefs will never be what they were in 1975. Human-built model ecosystem reefs are designed using species that can withstand increasing ocean temperatures, increased sentiment from pollution, and stronger, more frequent hurricanes caused by global climate change. Now the reefs are the future of reef restoration, however, new monitoring and restoration methods are being developed constantly. Perhaps only time will show the true success every restoration in Jamaica.