Roatan Reef Restoration & Surveys

Roatan's coral reefs have been struggling for over 20 years. Contending with hurricanes, bleaching events, disease outbreaks, and increased sedimentation has led to a massive decrease in the health of reefs globally. In response, scientists and conservationists have begun coral restoration programs, building coral nurseries and doing fish surveys in different reefs to determine their health.

We stayed at Anthony's Key, a snorkeling and diving resort. During our time there, we learned how to conduct fish surveys on the indicator species in the area, and about the coral nurseries they have.

It has been found that simply making an effort to conserve reefs is not enough, the reefs in Roatan and elsewhere have been damaged to such a degree that they need outside help. Thus, coral nurseries have been created.

These nurseries are made by taking small pieces of staghorn and elkhorn coral and tying them to the structures pictured above. They can then grow unharmed until they are ready to be transplanted to degraded reefs. Staghorn and Elkhorn corals were picked for this process because they have a high growth rate, asexually reproduce, and heal rapidly. Larger corals are harder to use for this process because of their slow growth, although this has recently changed following advancements in micro-fragmentation, which can stimulate rapid growth.

Most of our snorkeling and diving expeditions were spent doing 30-minute fish surveys of the various reefs on the coast of Roatan. We looked for indicator fish species and counted how many of each we saw. The indicators signal to researchers how healthy different reefs are, if there is a lot of diversity in a reef, it can be considered relatively healthy. Conversely, if there is an overabundance of a certain species, that could indicate that the reef is struggling.

We were looking for specific fish in the Butterflyfish, Angelfish, Damselfish, Surgeonfish, Grouper, Wrasse, Triggerfish, Parrotfish, and Jack families. Once we saw an indicator species, we would make a tally on our sheets, this data was later compiled. Blue Tang (surgeon fish), Stoplight Parrotfish, and Yellowtail (Damselfish) were the most common fish.

This is the data we collected during the fish surveys throughout the week.

All in all, we had a wonderful time. We learned about reefs, what's ailing them, and how to help. We also collected data that helps monitor the health of the reefs. What a fun time!