Join Lara and her team on a journey to one of the world's most beautiful coral reefs. Learn how WWF is studying this environment and its role as an indicator of the effects of climate change.
Thursday, March 1st
We finally get a break in the weather - no thunderstorms last night - so we can do the near-shore reefs with relatively good visibility. The first site we visit is adjacent to the new resort development. The reef flat is largely dead and covered with sediment. This was clearly once a thriving reef, but the sediment from the construction smothered it all. The reef drops off sharply along its outer edge, and there are signs of life here, but it is a stark contrast to the surface. The reef flat does still harbor many beautiful blue sea stars, called Linckia. They stand out even more dramatically on the dead substrate.
In the afternoon we go out again. Our first stop was a fringing reef just off of Seashell Cove resort. This reef also seemed to have declined from its former glory, but still sported a nice diversity of corals and other animals. We saw a very plump (about as big around as my calf) sea cucumber that was reddish in color but almost completely covered in sand grains. Sea cucumbers are considered a delicacy in Asia and are being over harvested in many locations.
Being covered with sand grains or other living things provides excellent camouflage, and also protects these shallow, tropical animals from damaging ultraviolet radiation. We also saw two Crown-of-thorns seastars. These animals eat coral, and in many reef areas have periodic "outbreaks," or population booms, that can be devastating for the coral.
