Humans pose main trouble for isles’ coral, report says

Coral reefs near Hawaii are in better shape than reefs in other parts of the United States, particularly those in the Caribbean Ocean ravished by rising ocean temperatures, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said yesterday.

But reefs in heavily populated areas, such as Oahu, commonly suffer more degradation than reefs around some of the other islands, state officials said.

Despite bleak news of poor coral reef ecosystems in U.S. states and territories released in a federal report yesterday, coral reefs around the main Hawaiian islands are good, on average, and good to excellent in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

Almost half the coral reef ecosystems in U.S. territory are in poor or fair condition, mostly because of rising ocean temperatures, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report.

The reefs discussed in the report serve as breeding grounds for many of the world’s seafood species and act as indicators of overall ocean health.

“They are a major indicator of something that could go wrong with the environment,” said Timothy Keeney, NOAA’s deputy assistant secretary for oceans and atmosphere.

But Hawaii has not seen the kind of massive mortality caused by cells of hot water sitting for weeks over corals such as in the Caribbean, said Athline Clark, who helped prepare the report and is state superintendent for Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands reefs are isolated and pristine, while those around the main Hawaiian islands are generally and on average in good condition, but are in fair or poor conditions in other areas, she said.

Waters off heavily populated areas, such as Oahu, commonly suffer more reef degradation than waters around some of the other islands, said Clark, who works for the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Clark cited isolated incidents of higher ocean temperatures in the northern part of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands in 2002 and 2004, and the main Hawaiian islands in the 1990s, though not to the degree that they have occurred in the Caribbean.

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(Source: Honolulu Star-Bulletin)