Roatan Reef Risks

Roatan, Honduras Location

Located approximately 35 miles from the mainland of Honduras, Roatan is surrounded by the Mesoamerican Reef System. This reef system covers 1000km, stretching from Cancun, Mexico to nearly the whole coast of Honduras making it the second largest reef system in the world. The island of Roatan is located next to one of the biggest trenches in the world, the Cayman trench, which stretches across the ocean from Mexico to Cuba and reaches a depth of approx. 7.5k meters.

Causes of Reef Damage

Reef damage has increased rapidly over the past 20 years, posing a major threat to reef systems including the Mesoamerican and the Great Barrier Reef. Major threats to coral reefs include; hurricanes, bleaching, disease outbreaks, nutrient enrichment, and increased sedimentation.

A perfect example of coral bleaching is shown in the photo to the right. Coral bleaching is a reaction to the rising temperatures in ocean waters and pollution in the water. The coral in this image is reacting to environmental stress by expelling the marine algae symbionts or pigments that live within the coral. This algae also helps them reproduce, so expelling them due to stress reduces chances of coral reproduction.

Hurricanes also have a role in damaging the reef. With strong hurricanes picking up the waves, some smaller branching coral like staghorn coral can be damaged with branches broken off. Hurricanes can also bring sediment and waste from land into the waters, polluting them. With increased sedimentation in the water it decreases the available light for the coral.

Coral disease also effects the reef's of Roatan heavily. Diseases like yellow band, black band, white pox, white plague, black spots, and red band hurt and damage the coral. In the image shown below of a diseased Elkhorn coral, you can see white spots, which indicate white pox. White pox can to lead to the death of the coral while it loses spots of living tissue. This disease is thought to be caused by human and animal feces that can be brought into the waters via storm water runoff or sewage outflows.

Efforts to Help the Mesoamerican Reef System

Efforts have been made within these past 20 years to help the reef surrounding Roatan, Honduras. A non-profit organization called the Roatan Marine Park was established in 2005 for conservation of Honduras’ marine and coastal ecosystems. The area on the map to the right is the reef covered and protected by the Marine Park which is approximately 6500 square kilometers. One of the organizations sponsors, Anthony's Key Resort has a marine institute on site named Roatan's Institute of Marine Sciences (RIMS) in which they have opened efforts to try and regrow back some of the coral that are declining rapidly.

On the map to the right, the pinged location is where the coral nursery is located that is run by RIMS. Natural coral growth can be extremely slow when compared to the speed of the damage that is being caused to the coral. This is where the coral nursery comes into play. "Coral gardening" is a method of propagation of coral. The steps for this include:

1. Take a piece of coral and hang on the tree (shown to the right below the map)
2. If there is a storm, lower the trees to 30ft below the surface to prevent damage
3. Once the coral has grown significantly, replant the grown coral piece

The restoration done by these coral nurseries focus on both Staghorn and Elkhorn coral. This is due to multiple factors like; costal buffering, high growth rates, the fragment reproduces asexually, and heals rapidly from wounds. Both the Staghorn and Elkhorn coral meet these requirements as they protect the coast from wave surges, they grow and heal rapidly and also reproduce asexually. For reference, Staghorn coral grow at a rate of 10-20cm/year while Elkhorn grow at a rate of 5-10cm/year. This means a large amount can be added and replanted to the reef.

The efforts with this coral nursery right off Anthony's Key have been proven to be extremely beneficial to the reef system. In March of 2016, 2 suspended coral trees were added and in July of 2016, 2 more were added. These 4 trees produced 400 new corals to be replanted. A year later in July, 2017, the Coral Restoration Foundation helped to add 10 more trees which helped to create 600 more corals to be replanted. The plans for 2023-2024 include doubling the amount of trees at the Anthony's Key location and offering more opportunities for recreational divers to help out with the nurseries.

In addition to the nurseries provided by RIMS, recent discoveries by Dr. David Vaughan in Florida show that massive corals can be reproduced as well. They were traditionally overlooked due to their size, their thick skeleton and the slow growth rate. Due to their slow growth they cannot be regrown on the trees, however they are grown on discs to be replanted, also known as a method called micro-fragmentation. With micro-fragmentation, the growth rate increases to 25 times faster than in the wild. The video below shows the efforts and the accomplishments that micro-fragmentation has introduced.

Why Is Reef Restoration so Important?

Restoring our coral reefs is so important to our oceans ecosystem. Some fish and invertebrates that live off the coast and in the reef feed off of coral, some of those being indicator species. Which means, a decline in healthy coral can mean a severe decline in other forms of life including our indicator fish species and other invertebrate species. Being an indicator species means that the species can show signs or signal a change in the condition of an ecosystem.

In addition to changing the population sizes of fish and other life, coral in some instances can help act as a barrier for storms. For example, Roatan's reef acts as a barrier for some harmful storms, helping the land from potential damage or flooding and without these reefs to protect, the island of Roatan would be put in danger. So reef restoration is extremely crucial.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the efforts by Roatan's Marine Park, RIMS, and the Mote Marine Laboratory in Florida have helped to start and continue the restoration of the Mesoamerican Reef System. We still have a long way to go conservation wise and at the same time, the temperatures are still rising due to climate change, however with the work done by these organizations we can strive to save our reefs before the damage caused by hurricanes, disease, bleaching, and sedimentation becomes irreversible.

You personally can help out the conservation efforts for the Mesoamerican reef system by going to the Roatan Marine Park website and donating or sharing their story.

References

Australian Marine Conservation Society. “What Is Coral Bleaching and What Causes It - Fight for Our Reef.” Australian Marine Conservation Society, 2018, www.marineconservation.org.au/coral-bleaching/.

Baker, Harry. “Microfragmentation: How Smashing up Corals Helps Them Grow Faster.” Marine Madness, 4 Mar. 2019, marinemadnessdotblog.wordpress.com/2019/03/04/microfragmentation-how-smashing-up-corals-helps-them-grow-faster/.

“Coral Reef | Roatan Marine Park | Sandy Bay.” Roatan Marine Park, www.roatanmarinepark.org/.

Heron, Scott, et al. Hurricanes and Their Effects on Coral Reefs. 2008.

Verheij, Sunniva. “White Pox Disease.” Fix the Reef Foundation, 2 Jan. 2023, fixthereef.com/white-pox-disease/.