In the aftermath of Hurricane Georges, there is an emerging controversy over the storm damage inflicted on the reef. The Florida Keys Tourist Development Council funded ads saying "The diving seems better." The Key West Citizen ran headlines to a sanctuary article that read "Hurricane may have been good for the reef." Dive industry representatives were quoted saying there was "minimal damage to the reef."
Hurricanes are part of the tropical world where corals flourish but that does not mean that they are necessarily good for the reefs. Jamaican Historical records indicate that stressed coral reefs surviving under eutrophic water quality conditions (like Florida Keys reefs) do poorly after being hit by violent storms. Prior to the hurricane, for the second straight year, Key West area reefs were (and still are) bleaching and the coral diseases Black Band and Yellow Band were widespread. Boulder corals (Montastrea cavernosa) exhibited unusual color patterns and their polyps were not uniform in shape. Elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata) are threatened by disease and bleaching. A cladophora-type macroalgal bloom was documented spreading throughout the elkhorn zones, suffocating corals. Given the poor water quality, this hurricane may have had enough impact to shift our reefs from coral dominated to algae dominated.
The Reef Relief Coral Nursery was scoured at Western Sambo Reef by the violent nature of the hurricane. All fifteen rosettes were accounted for, one of which is now under a massive slab of coral bedrock, weighing tons, that was uprooted and tossed about. The remaining fourteen rosettes were rebuilt by a team of volunteers under my direction. The coral fragments were not as healthy as those left behind by the February gale; it appeared that the coral was abraded much more by the hurricane.
Volunteer Reef Relief diving teams, including Dave Liggett from the Columbus Zoo, surveyed portions of the Western Dry Rocks, Sand Key, Rock Key, Eastern Dry Rocks, and Western Sambo reefs. Our focus has been on the shallow elkhorn zones and the deep ends of the spur and groove formations. Physical damage was documented on the face of the reefs where hundreds of coral colonies and fragments had settled. At Rock Key, dozens of coral colonies were uncovered from a mound of large rubble. Apparently enough water flowed through the rubble to keep them alive, despite having been buried for weeks. As of this writing, we have turned over, stabilized, or reattached over 800 coral colonies and fragments.
A week after the hurricane, a diatom bloom settled on the shallow coral reefs turning the brilliant white scars and ends of the broken coral a bright green. As time passed, the diatoms covered much of the recently turned-over coral rubble in the elkhorn zones. The visibility was good a few weeks after the storm and many of the thirty foot sites also bloomed with diatoms because of the abundance of light penetrating to that depth.
Twenty days later, a second algal bloom appeared on the shallow reefs threatening many of the fragmented corals that have settled on the ocean floor. This same macroalgae was observed blooming after the February 2nd gale. On October 21, the macroalgae dictyota that was believed to have been washed off of the reef by the hurricane was in full bloom covering most everything. A fine white sediment has settled over the reef creating excellent conditions for macroalgae. Visibility was reduced to six feet which places every coral polyp on the reef in a critical situation. We can only hope for clear water and a renewed initiative from government to stop allowing pollution to be discharged into our oceans. The combination of natural disasters and man-made pollution is killing our coral reef. We have no control over natural disasters.