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