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Cover art by Trevor Cole. Fanad Head Lighthouse, Letterkenny, Ireland

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The FREE Weekly Conservation Post and Jobs List

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Since 2004, SEVENSEAS Media has fostered an informal and non-partisan platform to promote understanding of key issues and challenges while building partnerships across an increasingly diverse group of marine conservation professionals and students.

Our mission is to promote communication and build partnerships across the global marine community and to identify and address gaps in the community’s work. SEVENSEAS Media achieves this through multimedia promotion and partnerships. The community consists of a diverse and growing group of participants, including non-governmental organizations, government agencies, foundations, bilateral and multilateral agencies, fellowship programs, independent consultants, and academia/students.

If you are interested in contributing or getting involved, email us Here. 

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SEVENSEAS FEATURED TRAVEL

Below are a few of our favorite tour centers and operators. Be sure to mention SEVENSEAS Media for special rates and discounts when making your inquiry.

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By Kevin Majoros

The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary is home to North America’s only living coral barrier reef. The reef tract spans 225 continuous miles and is composed of outer reefs and patch reefs containing over 50 species of corals while hosting over 150 species of fish.

Upwards of 90 percent of the live corals that once covered the reefs have been lost over the years to a variety of factors including misplaced boat anchors, ship groundings, pollution, overfishing, storms, disease and warming ocean temperatures.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and partners have begun a decades-long approach to restore corals at seven ecologically and culturally significant reef sites in the Florida Keys. Their efforts will be an attempt to reverse the health of the corals and protect the economy that depends on them.

Coral Restoration with a Focus at the Ecosystem Level

Without the restoration efforts, the corals would no longer be able to provide the structure and habitat for more than 6,000 species of plants and animals. 

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The ecosystem is already changing to an algae-dominated habitat and the need for action has become urgent. In addition to not being able to provide shelter for species such as spiny lobsters and sea turtles, the decline of the coral reefs will force a shift in the economy of the Florida Keys resulting in a change in the local culture.

“The once iconic coral reefs of the Florida Keys have suffered dramatic declines over the last 40 years and now straddle a tipping point,” says Dr Neil Jacobs, acting NOAA administrator. “Quick and decisive action has the very real potential to turn this decline around before it’s too late.”

The Approach to Large Scale Coral Restoration

The sites selected for restoration are Carysfort Reef, Horseshoe Reef, Cheeca Rocks, Sombrero Reef, Newfound Harbor, Looe Key Reef, and Eastern Dry Rocks. 

These sites cover the geographic range of the region and all either have a history of small-scale restoration success or have characteristics that suggest restoration is likely to succeed.

NOAA’s approach is informed by years of research, successful trials, and expertise from more than two dozen coral scientists and restoration practitioners. NOAA will proactively intervene with natural conditions by removing nuisance and invasive species and introducing disease-resistant and climate-resilient corals.

During the phases, sea gardeners will conduct routine monitoring and nurturing of each site. This will include removing marine debris, coral predators, and species that might compete for space. They will also reattach any corals that may have been damaged or disconnected.

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“Ten years ago, this project would be just a wild dream,” says Ken Nedimyer, Reef Renewal founder. “But now we are at a place in time where we have the technology to undertake a project of this size and we have a window of opportunity to do so. Not only can we think about doing it, but the need to do it is overwhelming.”

Partners Working Together on Coral Nurseries

Mission: Iconic Reefs, unparalleled in scope and scale, will require nearly 500,000 stony coral colonies. That number of corals is a huge lift, but by working together, multiple partners are up to the task.

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Some partners, including Reef Renewal, Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium and Coral Restoration Foundation, will raise the quick-growing Phase 1 coral in nurseries in the ocean. Mote and The Florida Aquarium will augment these farms with corals grown in laboratories. These will be slower-growing corals, corals screened for resilience and corals bred to increase genetic diversity.

“We have been working on scaling up our restoration efforts,” says Scott Winters, CEO of Coral Restoration Foundation. “But if we want to save the Florida Reef Tract, we can be more effective if we work together. We have an opportunity to combine our expertise to have a hugely significant impact on the future of our coral reefs.”

The effort to put Florida Keys coral reefs on track for recovery is an enormous undertaking, requiring long-term collaboration between many partners. A cross-NOAA team is engaging world-renowned scientists, local restoration partners, and other federal and state agencies.

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Volunteers have also been invited to assist with invasive species removal and long-term nursery and reef maintenance. The Blue Star Diving program was created by Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary with input from local Keys dive and snorkel shop staff and owners and REEF Environmental Education Foundation.

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Blue Star is a voluntary recognition program established to reduce the impact of divers, snorkelers and anglers on the ecosystems of the Florida Keys.

“The reefs are home to this community. They are part of our way of life,” says Sarah Fangman, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary superintendent. “We want to give people the chance to be part of healing the Keys, and we need the community’s support to make this vision a reality.”

Visit Coral Restoration Foundation on Instagram

Check out NOAA on InstagramInstagram for US National Marine Sanctuaries

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Pfeffer’s flamboyant cuttlefish, Metasepia pfefferi is one of the smallest cuttlefish growing up to 8cm in length and the prettiest of the species making it a favourite subject for scuba divers and underwater photographers.

Flamboyant cuttlefish are found in tropical shallow Indo-Pacific waters off northern Australia, southern New Guinea, as well as numerous islands of the Indonesia, Philippines and Malaysia. They like shallow waters and muddy or sandy substrates and sometimes reef-associated around the rubble zone and are spotted at Lembeh or Ambon dive sites. Often active during the day and have been observed hunting small fish and crustaceans.

Like all cuttlefish have a ‘cuttlebone’ that they use for buoyancy.  The flamboyant’s cuttlebone is extra-small and so they have a hard time with buoyancy, finding it hard to swim and hover midwater like other cuttlefish. They can’t swim for very long without sinking to the bottom. Instead, actually “walk” along the bottom of the seabed, displaying stunning changing colors and patterns, the only cuttlefish species known to do so.

Like other cuttlefish, the flamboyant use their ink to deceive predators. It will eject the ink from its funnel into the water to form an ink cloud while it swims to safety. However, it’s a very small squirt! Did you know that cuttlefish ink was the original sepia which was once used by artists – nowadays replaced mostly with synthetic sepia.

These beautiful cuttlefish get their name from the flamboyant pink, yellow and black ripples they make with their bodies when alarmed. They are the only species of cuttlefish known to have any poisons and they carry a unique toxin in their muscles. Research has shown the toxin to be as lethal as that of fellow cephalopod the Blue-ringed octopus.

Like other cephalopods, the flamboyant cuttlefish breeds once and then dies. Copulation takes place face to face.  The male inserts a packet of sperm into a pouch on the underside of the female’s mantle and the female then fertilises her eggs with the sperm. The eggs are laid singly and placed in crevices or on ledges in coral, rock or wood or even the odd coconut shell! A bit of a hard life for the tiny creature!

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See more of Jack Fung’s underwater photography on Instagram

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