Bleaching 'devastates' Chagos Marine Reserve - BBC News

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Bleaching 'devastates' Chagos Marine

Reserve - BBC News
By Jonathan Amos BBC Science Correspondent

Image copyright Dan Bayley

Image caption Absent of colour: The anomalously warm temperatures have
persisted for months

The UK's largest tropical reef has been devastated in the global
bleaching event now under way.
Up to 85% of the corals in the Chagos Marine Reserve of the
British Indian Ocean Territory are estimated to have been damaged
or killed in the event.

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Bleaching 'devastates' Chagos Marine Reserve - BBC News

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Scientists say the conditions there are worse than in 1998 - the last
major bleaching occurrence.
The problem is caused by anomalously warm water, which prompts
the coral polyps to eject their symbiotic algae.
This drains them of their colour and is fatal unless conditions are
reversed in a reasonably short time.
Unfortunately for the Chagos, the water has been persistently warm
for many months.

Image copyright Dan Bayley

Image caption The hope is that the juveniles will re-invade the reef from
deeper, cooler waters

"In 1998, the temperature that killed all the corals was probably
about 29.5C. Last year, in April, at the beginning of the latest
bleaching event, it was 30.5C and down to 25m. And this year
scientists have been out and it's the same again," said Prof Charles
Sheppard, the chair of the Chagos Conservation Trust.
Prof Heather Koldewey, from the Zoological Society of London and
a CCT Trustee, led the expedition. She described what she saw as
shocking: "I was there two years ago and it's always an absolute joy
to go diving in Chagos because you really get to see what a reef
should look like - rich, living corals with abundant fish and other

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marine life at densities you just don't get in other places. This was
very depressing."
Bleaching is happening globally on a huge scale because of the El
Nino phenomenon, which sees surface water temperatures spike in
many ocean regions.
Reports in the past couple of weeks have highlighted the damage
to the famous reefs off Australia and the Maldives.
The big question now is how well Chagos will recover when
conditions calm down, which they should do as the El Nino
subsides.
The reserve successfully bounced back after 1998, principally say
the scientists because it is normally such a pristine environment.

Image copyright NASA

Image caption Diego Garcia, which hosts a large US military base, is part
of the archipelago

Controversially, the Chagos Archipelago has been maintained

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relatively population free since the late 1960s, but this has had the
effect of limiting the stress factors that can weaken corals.
"This is what makes Chagos such an important reference site for
corals worldwide," explained Prof Koldewey.
"This is not an oil spill, this is not coastal pollution, sewage, or
overfishing or siltation. If anywhere can bounce back, it is the
Chagos Archipelago, and I hold on to that positive point of view."
Prof Sheppard said the hope would be that juveniles in deeper,
cooler water will come up to re-invade the reef and re-establish
communities.
The Chagos Marine Reserve was established in 2010 and covers
an area of 640,000 square kilometres - more than twice the area of
the UK.
The zone covered by reef is estimated to be about 60,000-80,000
square km.
Biodiversity catalogued in the reserve includes - in addition to the
corals - more than 1,000 species of fish; endangered green and
hawksbill turtles; the world's biggest land crab, the metre-spanning
coconut crab; and breeding colonies of terns and shearwaters.
Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter:
@BBCAmos

08-06-2016 02:47 PM