Roatan Reef Health

As part of the study abroad course Marine Wildlife Ecology, I traveled with a group of students from SUNY Oswego to Anthony's Key Resort on the island of Roatan in Honduras. Over the course of the week we spent time conducting research, attending daily lectures, helping run aspects of the resort's dolphin facility, and more.

We took regular fish surveys while snorkeling and diving off the coast of Roatan, counting and cataloging important reef indicator species for our class's research. On one occasion we were able to help prepare a meal for the dolphins at Bailey's Key, the resort's dolphin facility with a large pod of many adults and calves. We learned about the dolphin training process, as well as the social dynamics of the dolphins. Similarly we were able to learn about the reef indicator species, which are the species of fish that are signs of a healthy and balanced reef ecosystem. The corals themselves were also included in lectures, which helped us to familiarize ourselves with the species of coral, as well as the degradation of coral populations in the past few decades.

It was during one of our daily lectures that we learned about the significant amount of coral degradation worldwide, but specifically in the Caribbean since the 1990's. Coral reefs are essential to the Earth's wellbeing, helping to create an ecosystem for diverse and important underwater life and create wave barriers that protect land. The main causes of reef stress and harm come from both human and natural sources, including hurricanes, coral bleaching and disease outbreaks, increased sedimentation, nutrient enrichment, and overfishing. 

Long term reef monitoring began in Roatan in 1996 and continued until 2020, focused on examining coral population changes on the northwest coast of the island. Researchers aimed to discern whether the Roatan Marine Park was faring better than other unprotected parts of the reefs, selecting several sites scattered down the coast of the island. Using the "quadrat" monitoring method, photos were taken at 10 different photo stations each at 12m depths. These photos measured the projected surface area of corals, and compared year after year to estimate total coral cover and species contributions. During the study, the average percent of coral cover went from about 30-34% in 1996 to just 17-19% in 2020.

The loss of over 50% of coral coverage within these 20 years has been devastating to the reef ecosystem, changing the species composition specifically in the loss of over half of frame building corals, such as Staghorn and Elkhorn corals, as well as 50% loss of original coral colonies. Though the most dramatic decrease was seen after Hurricane Mitch in 1998, no recovery was seen due to chronic stresses continually put upon the reef. The increase of human development on the island and mainland Honduras has created increased sedimentation in water, which sit on the coral and choke them of necessary sunlight and nutrients. Furthermore, the growing human presence has created a greater use of pesticides and growth sprays, which promote algal growth and in turn block essential nutrients from getting to corals.

Though there are many valiant efforts to conserve reefs and aid natural recovery, these methods are too slow and not enough to preserve reefs effectively. In addition to these strategies, conservationists are also working to assist the recovery of damaged reefs such as the Caribbean reefs. One of these methods is coral gardening, where coral is collected from far and wide for genetic diversity, then grown in underwater nurseries where parts of the coral are taken and distributed to grow and repopulate. Our class was lucky enough to be able to participate in helping maintain one of these coral nurseries, in which many of the group scuba dove down to the growth trees and cleaned off any algae and debris to allow the corals to stay clean, disease-free, and able to access nutrients.

The 2024 reef restoration operations plan to double the number of coral nurseries in established locations, create a genotyping of nursery and wild coral populations, as well as work with massive corals using micro-fragmentation. This method is used to help more massive corals rapidly reproduce, in as little as one year as opposed to the 15-20 years this process would take in the wild. These efforts could go a long way in restoring the coral reefs to better health and preserving their integrity in the future. 

During our short but productive stay in Roatan, we were able to experience a multitude of enlightening experiences which helped us to understand the immense importance of coral reefs and their significance to the Earth's wellbeing.