Founder of the International Association of Dive Professionals. Marine entrepreneur, war refugee, adventurer & Ocean activist; he currently leads initiatives that promote the health and sustainability of our oceans.
Well observed, something I have said over and over again for years now. We will not stop ocean warming in our lifetime, we will thus also witness total devastation of coral reefs in shallow non tempered, or non geo engineered resilient reefs.I have worked on the frontlne of Ocean waming in Sudan, the results of 3 years full time on the ground witnessing 3 summers is quite alarming. Some simple truths emerge: 1. Our slow reactive way of dealing with this extinction in the making is not adequate. We need to look forward, with a worst case scenario mentality. 2. We do not have adequate funding, political support, nor the man power, to really tackle the problem on a worldwide scale. 4. Since there's delay of an estimated 30 years between cause and effect, in other words: If today society all of a sudden embraces a balanced symbiotic relation to the planet it occupies; it would still mean another 30 yrs of regression , before thngs get better. 3. The shallows and fringe reefs are a lost cause, unless they can be geo engineered to become clean and tempered waters (which only rich countries will be able to afford). A strategic fallback is thus in order to focus on reef systems that are located in cold under current areas
PM at AIMS | Artificial Reef Design & Construct | Reef CPR and Coral Relocations | Mentor | Marine Trainer
I wanted to draw attention to something that is starting to worry me. Interested in what you think. The world has become quite obsessed with saving corals and while that is great, and long over due, especially for someone like me and colleagues that have spent literally years and hundreds of thousands of dollars campaigning and pushing for coral restoration but no one cared...I'm noticing a worrying trend in some artificial reef designs for reef restoration and coastal projects looking to save and/or enhance coral cover. Many artificial reef units I'm seeing for reef restoration are not including features attractive to fish (and other marine life). This may be partly due to the belief that if we grow coral the fish will come...by default. But... 1. Its been shown that coral reefs do better and can have a higher resilience to warmer water if they have a healthy fish population. 2. There is a real chance we are NOT going to halt climate change quick enough to save a large number of corals, and in 10, 20, 30, 40 yrs all the artificial structures designed specifically for corals may not have any living corals, or at least minimal cover. I hope I'm wrong. However, planning restoration for the worse case scenario is smart I think. Therefore 'coral focused' reef units run the risk of being of limited use other than structure for some food to grow on, essentially making them expensive rocks. This is a costly mistake, and equals a missed opportunity to design for the future, not just the immediate desire to grow corals. We saw the horrific loss of 10yrs of coral planting in the Florida keys this last summer and the Great Barrier Reef is now having a mass bleaching event. So the reality is there, we need to design structures for more than just corals. 3. Incorporating design features (and reef configurations) that will support a diversity of fish and food such as crustaceans and molluscs is not hard and doesn't really cost extra but could have significant long term benefits, and avoid wasting a huge amount of time and money. And having structures that support the smaller shrimp and crabs helps control COTS babies hiding in the reef as they eat them, therefore giving an extra protection for corals that do survive. So there you go. If you are designing reef units and reefs, commissioning artificial reefs for coral restoration, or building coastal developments looking to have coral gardens, please please please don't forget the fish. Happy to discuss further! . #artificialreefs #reefrestoration #reeffish #reefdesign #coralrestoration
