tsunami, reef damage
 

Will the recent earthquake/tsunami event affect the health of the coral
and reef life in those areas?

wrote in message
oups.com...
| Will the recent earthquake/tsunami event affect the health of the
coral
| and reef life in those areas?
|

Undoubtedly. Your post prompted me to do a little online research,
and I found a few things. Much of it was studies done after nuclear
tests, many of which were done on S. Pacific islands. The detonations
caused many tsunami. Large amounts of physical trauma to the fragile
reefs were reported. Entire atolls were literally bulldozed by the
force of the waves. This, from what I already know, could be
catastrophic for a reef. The inhabitants of the reef grow where they
do because that area has the environment they need to thrive. The
changes in currents alone from partial destruction of a section of
atoll could decimate entire populations of organisms. Reefs are
highly symbiotic, as all reefers know, so the loss of only a few
species could disrupt everything.
Hopefully scientists will take this opportunity to do more
studies on the after-effects of a natural disaster such as this. Most
of the post-nuketest studies were terminated after the political
interest subsided, and never really came to any conclusions. Despite
all the advances in home aquaria, it's startling to think about how
often I go to research a critter and find: "...little is known about
the life-cycle (breeding, feeding habits, lifespan) of this
creature...."

billy

I am a avid reef aquarist, but who freaking cares! Possibly 100,000 humans
"damaged" and killed. Coral Reefs are the least of my concerns. No offense.

wrote in message
oups.com...
Will the recent earthquake/tsunami event affect the health of the coral
and reef life in those areas?

All the information I read about atoll nuclear testing in the 50s indicated
that the reefs came back to full life long before so much as a blade of
grass grew on the islands themselves. In fact, many of these islands are
even now atomic wastelands with beautiful and undisturbed reefs flourishing
because people don't go to those islands due to the lingering radioactivity.

Storms and tsunami are natural phenomenon and are going to tear down reefs
from time to time, just as forests were naturally meant to burn down from
lightning strikes. The end result is that this destruction is what seeds the
next generations prosperity. After a forest burns down, the new forest that
replaces it can be thicker and lusher than what was there before, if allowed
to progress naturally over hundreds of years. I would imagine the same
pattern would be true of reefs as well.

Im not losing any sleep over the tsunami's damage to reefs, after all, its a
normal part of the way the planet operates. I only concern myself with what
damage people do.

D


"Billy" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
oups.com...
| Will the recent earthquake/tsunami event affect the health of the
coral
| and reef life in those areas?
|

Undoubtedly. Your post prompted me to do a little online research,
and I found a few things. Much of it was studies done after nuclear
tests, many of which were done on S. Pacific islands. The detonations
caused many tsunami. Large amounts of physical trauma to the fragile
reefs were reported. Entire atolls were literally bulldozed by the
force of the waves. This, from what I already know, could be
catastrophic for a reef. The inhabitants of the reef grow where they
do because that area has the environment they need to thrive. The
changes in currents alone from partial destruction of a section of
atoll could decimate entire populations of organisms. Reefs are
highly symbiotic, as all reefers know, so the loss of only a few
species could disrupt everything.
Hopefully scientists will take this opportunity to do more
studies on the after-effects of a natural disaster such as this. Most
of the post-nuketest studies were terminated after the political
interest subsided, and never really came to any conclusions. Despite
all the advances in home aquaria, it's startling to think about how
often I go to research a critter and find: "...little is known about
the life-cycle (breeding, feeding habits, lifespan) of this
creature...."

billy

"Dsybok" wrote in message
link.net...
| next generations prosperity. After a forest burns down, the new
forest that
| replaces it can be thicker and lusher than what was there before,
if allowed
| to progress naturally over hundreds of years. I would imagine the
same
| pattern would be true of reefs as well.
|


Very true, though that wasn't the question. eg :)

billy

here's a related story:

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/12/29/tsu...ver/index.html

wrote in message
oups.com...
Will the recent earthquake/tsunami event affect the health of the coral
and reef life in those areas?

"BSackamano" wrote in message
news:0xGAd.281379$V41.18577@attbi_s52...
| here's a related story:
|


Another impact, on us, in particular, an acquaintance of mine owns a
small LFS, specializing in cichlids, and dabbling in marine fish. He
called 3 suppliers today, and all told him to expect quickly rising
prices on many marine critters, and many other critters may be tough
to find for a while. This issue, however, pales in comparison to the
enormous loss of life, and the guarantee of strife for a while to
come for many people.

On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 10:07:44 -0600, RicSeyler
wrote:

Well I can kinda relate.... just had a 25 foot wall of water tear my
house apart. ;-)

No doubt. It seems you could have had a 100' wave under the right
conditions as well. I would build a monolithic dome if I were you.
How is it going there now?



Marc Levenson wrote:

I agree. It is not even something we can grasp as we didn't endure
this event. I still can't imagine 100 ft wall of water coming at me
at 500 mph! Sounds like a story from a Hollywood production, not a
real event that killed 23,000 people in 20 minutes. :(

Ric, when it comes on would you email me so I can tune in?
I'd like to see it.

Marc


RicSeyler wrote:


There was a dome house built on the island last spring. Ugly thing but
it made it through
the storm with just losing it's steps. And the Discovery channel camped
out in it over night
during the storm. Still waiting for the program to air. The owner got it
built for free as a model
home. But it's butt ass ugly.

--
Personal Page:
http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

The acropora and montipora still hasn't come back in the Virgin Islands
since Marylyn. They still exist, but there are different corals there now.
While storms are a natural occurrence, I think you have problems when you
combine them with pollution, damage from divers and anchors. I don't know
what will happen, but I don't think they will recover soon. I doubt the
corals on nuclear test atolls had to deal with the additional pressures from
human population.

As far as the hobby goes, given the publicity this disaster has gotten, I
wonder about new laws or regulations.





http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3120354.stm

http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/5162488.html









wrote in message
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Will the recent earthquake/tsunami event affect the health of the coral
and reef life in those areas?