[i2i]

Several famous reefs, including those found in the Philippines and Australia are being endangered by human activities. Poaching is prevalent in tubataha reef in Palawan.

[littlefranciscan]

What is being done to the reefs that is making the reefs endangered ? Are they uprooting them? If so why?

[Barkely]

I have heard that global warming is causing havoc on some of the reefs and oceanlife. They say the warmer temperatures are killing some of the reefs. Is this what you are talking about? Has anyone else heard this, or am I confusing my information?

[ACE]

I also heard that global warming is part of the cause.

[tyoung]

Just the other evening, I watched a special on the great barrier reef and it was about how the crown of thorns, a type of starfish< eats and destroys corals, they went on to say that the numbers were growing at an alarming rate due to the lack of time between their life cycles, it was very interesting to say the least

[ericwebster]

TY, I saw the same thing. They also mention that fertalizer used on the mainland is running off into the ocean helping them grow quicker.

[DEWAYNE]

my question is, if the reef's are in so much danger, then why? can we still purchase item's from reef's......... I agree with the rain water run off into the ocean, alot chemicals go in and harm ocean life. I love the ocean, and just having a small peice of it in my home, is simply awesome.

[e_baer]

well, over fishing, anchors, storms, global warming, scuba diving, boating, fertalizers are all reason why the reefs are in so much danger.

storms bring such violent waves that rocks get tumbling around cruchgin full coral colonies!

in the caribean right now, when storms come, rocks fall, and kill the urchins the fend off the algae! with this happening, what is to stop the algae from growing right over the croal and taking all its sunlight?

boats may run into a patch of reef, and kill all the life that lives there.

i forget when but many years ago, there was an oil tanker that leaked thousands of gallons killing a lot of sea life. fortuantely oil and water dont mix well, but there was still a lot of like that died that corals depend on to live.

some people used to throw explosives in the water to kill the fish, when this happened, it would also destroy the reef

boats drop anchor and it lands on coral.

a big one is rec diving. many poeple dont realize it, but if you are to swim by and touch a coral, you may be damaging it.

we are all reefers here, and know how hard it is to take care a small ocean in our own home. just imagine throwing in a few firecrackers, some boats, a bunch of oil, kill a few urchins, and then try to care for your tank, oh yeah, and raise the temp 3 degrees and lower the salinity a bit, and see what happens.

unless we act soon, our grandchildren may not be able to experience the amazing beauty of our oceans coral reefs. you may be thinking "well there is so much coral all over the place!"

well, think about when the settlers came to NA. how many buffalo were there? how many were there 50 years ago? thanks to the pretection of the buffalo, they were able to repopulate and now have a polpuation of around 350,000 in NA.

[Jeremy0322]

I am actually doing an informative speech on just this for a public speaking class in college and another one of the huge problems is plastics that make their way into the water. There are now 6 pounds of plactic in the ocean for every pound of algea(says a recent study by Algalita researchers?)

Elliott(did i spell that right?) is also talking about the Exxon Valdez. The damage from the spill was tremendous. Between 100,000 and 600,000 birds, 5,500 sea otters, 30 seals, and 22 whales were killed. Many other animals likely died as well and were never found. Other animals, such as bald eagles, that ate the oil-poisoned fish from the spill area were also killed. More information can be found here...Exxon Valdez

There are so many things that can be controlled better but we are doing nothing about alot of it. Another one of the big ones is Cyanide. Cyanide is a poison that the divers pour on the reef, which stuns the fish and kills the coral. Then they rip open the reef with crowbars and catch the fish while they are too sick from the poison to swim away. This poison kills 90% of the fish that live in the reef and the reef is completely destroyed both by the poison and then by being ripped apart.

For being the superior species on the planet some of us are real @$$holes...lol.

[e_baer]

im gonan take a public speakign class in the spring, this will definately be one of my topics!

[jimw369]

Originally Posted by DEWAYNE

my question is, if the reef's are in so much danger, then why? can we still purchase item's from reef's......... I agree with the rain water run off into the ocean, alot chemicals go in and harm ocean life. I love the ocean, and just having a small peice of it in my home, is simply awesome.

The day is coming when you will not be purchasing things from the reef.

Not talking about you Dewayne but everytime some one kills something out of stupidity in their tank and they have the money to rush out and buy more animals puts us that much closer to aquacultured species only. And maybe thats a good thing. People as a whole are pretty irresponsible and maybe having the reefs closed up to the hobbyist will help preserve them.

Enjoy the hobby while you can.

[e_baer]

amen to that, even though most, if not all my coral is all wild caught, i have a frag tank to sell corals that i ahve too many of. its good for me and the environment.

[jimw369]

Originally Posted by e_baer

amen to that, even though most, if not all my coral is all wild caught, i have a frag tank to sell corals that i ahve too many of. its good for me and the environment.

Elliott, most people in this hobby are only here for a short while and never give thought to the consequence of their actions.

I applaud some one like yourself that wants to start a frag tank with the motive of selling and giving frags away to help promote what we do. Glampka once told me it could be the hobbyist thats called upon to help straighten out this mess someday!

Spooky thought huh?

[jimw369]

Originally Posted by Jeremy0322

I am actually doing an informative speech on just this for a public speaking class in college and another one of the huge problems is plastics that make their way into the water. There are now 6 pounds of plactic in the ocean for every pound of algea(says a recent study by Algalita researchers?)

Elliott(did i spell that right?) is also talking about the Exxon Valdez. The damage from the spill was tremendous. Between 100,000 and 600,000 birds, 5,500 sea otters, 30 seals, and 22 whales were killed. Many other animals likely died as well and were never found. Other animals, such as bald eagles, that ate the oil-poisoned fish from the spill area were also killed. More information can be found here...Exxon Valdez

There are so many things that can be controlled better but we are doing nothing about alot of it. Another one of the big ones is Cyanide. Cyanide is a poison that the divers pour on the reef, which stuns the fish and kills the coral. Then they rip open the reef with crowbars and catch the fish while they are too sick from the poison to swim away. This poison kills 90% of the fish that live in the reef and the reef is completely destroyed both by the poison and then by being ripped apart.

For being the superior species on the planet some of us are real @$$holes...lol.

All good thoughts Jeremy but a lot of what you mention are islolated incidents that nature can handle on its own with time.

Where does your garbage go? Do the foods you eat need fertilizer and insecticides to grow? What about all the soap and stuff we pour down our drains? Want to talk about car and factory emissions? These are everyday, all day, everybody things that if not changed will someday not be able to be turned around.

I am not critisizing you Jeremy as I am part of this big machine we call life also.

If it were not for the fact I believe what the Bible (gods word) says ( and God gave man dominion) from cover to cover, I would seriously doubt we are the superior species on Earth.

[NATIVEVAMAN]

I once recomended that everyone that has reef tank have a frag tank so that at some time in the future we could begin to repopulate the reefs and I got laughed at.
Fisherman in the marshal islands and around figi use dynamite to catch fish off the reefs because the coral tears there nets and its legal,go figure.

[e_baer]

hey Dale, i completely agree with you!

in fact, some states (NC) have started getting old military planes and vehicles and ships and sinking them off the coast for coral to grow on. i forget what type of coral it is, but it is able to grow in a cooler climate like that. even here in NJ, there are some reefs.....so ive been told.

[NATIVEVAMAN]

Pssssssssst.........ellio t those are beer cans and oil drums lol.

[NATIVEVAMAN]

U.S. acts to protect warming coral - Environment - MSNBC.com

[e_baer]

Originally Posted by NATIVEVAMAN

Pssssssssst.........ellio t those are beer cans and oil drums lol.

lol, most likely.

[e_baer]

Redbird Scrap Line/Reef Photos

http://www.tripcart.com/usa-regions/Jersey-Shore,Fishing.aspx#Guide| |||||Top||||||||

[CyberJester]

I even read somewhere while doing research on fish. That in poorer countries they actually use poisons (Cynaide) to stun fish to catch for sale to the hobbiest industry (IE us fish tank owners). I bet your saying wouldn't that kill the fish. No, at least not quickly, they tend to make it long enough to come to your home die in our tanks. Worse yet this weakens their immune systems and these type of fish bring a higher desease rate.

The other really big down side of this is this kills the corals that it comes in contact with. So not only are they killing your fish, the fish in your tank. But they are also killing the reef that spawns these beautiful creatures.

Establishing standards for aquarium trade - Marine Biology USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education) - Find Articles

Fishkeeping - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[e_baer]

I vote we all get big and buff and go fight the people who do that!

but on a more serious note, that really is awful that people would even think of doing such a thing.

[Jeremy0322]

The thing with Cyanide is it does kill a lot of the fish. Then these people that are doing it go down there with crowbars and rip the reef to shreds to get the fish that are still alive.

Another way that divers catch coral reef fish is with cyanide. Cyanide is a poison. The divers pour this poison on the reef, which stuns the fish and kills the coral. Then they rip open the reef with crowbars and catch the fish while they are too sick from the poison to swim away. This poison kills 90% of the fish that live in the reef and the reef is completely destroyed both by the poison and then by being ripped apart.

That was taken from CORAL REEF DESTRUCTION AND CONSERVATION - Coral Reefs - Ocean World.

[NATIVEVAMAN]

CITES rejects proposal to protect Banggai cardinal | Practical Fishkeeping magazine