and a couple
of photos of 'El Niņo'
Comparison
photos: before El Niņo and 6 months, 2 years, 4 years and 6 years later
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and a couple
of photos of 'El Niņo' |
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Staghorn Corals - Acroporidae |
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These corals grow in the shallow areas of the sea and they died by the extreme temperatures completely and were already covered completely with algae after few months. I met some of these Staghorn Corals in the Baa atoll already as of May 2000 in the lagoon. |
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Table Corals - Acroporidae |
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Although the table corals grow only below 4 m of depth, the thin, soft constructs also were destroyed completely and already 6 months after "El Niņo" i saw only more alga covered, wretched fragments everywhere. Unfortunately, I couldn't discover any single track of new table corals also in May 2000 and April 2001 yet. |
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Pore Corals - Poritidae |
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Pore corals are the largest reef chunks actually and therefore didn't warm themselves so quickly but I noticed more than 20% damages also here. However, I saw numerous gray, green, pink, yellow and blue pore corals: in all quantities at the house reef of Fonimagoodhoo again in May 2000. |
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Brain Corals - Faviidae |
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Brain corals therefore are mostly larger pieces and so fast either didn't warm themselves. About 70-80 % of these brain and star corals have survived and her grow again relatively beautifully again, too. |
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Star-, Crystal- and Lawn Corals - Faviidae |
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At the numerous ways of the star corals it behaves as in the case of the brain corals. I only could notice few damages also here. I saw more star corals as 1998 in the Lhaviyani atoll in the Baa atoll in May 2000. I cannot judge whether they grow again so numerously again, or whether it only is due to the atoll. |
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Soft Corals - Alcyoniidae |
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By the Leather corals (on the right) I didn't notice any differences compared with in the past, (on the left). I saw only little none Tree Soft Corals since 1998. Thatalso soft corals were affected by the "Coral Bleaching" you see at the Xenia species (middle figure), however, they having increased beautifully until May 2000 again. Soft and leather corals also live with Zooxanthella into symbiosis and the "Coral bleaching" therefore affected these species just the same. |
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Giant Clam - Tridacnia |
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1998 all small Tridacnias were the victim of El Niņo in the shallower water and only the empty seashells gaped from the corals everywhere in fall 1998 but I didn't see only many great species but also very much of these small Giant Clam mussels in the Baa atoll in May 2000. |
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Anemones (Heteractis magnifica) & Maldives Anemone Pisces |
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Also about 80 % of these anemones which I saw in fall 1998 are numbly and the usually one were very small and almost still white. Without her protective anemones, unfortunately, also many anemone pisces were the victim of her enemies. There still were little new anemones as of May 2000 but they look at least healthy again. |
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these corals already grew again within the years 2000 and 2004 |
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Protect the Maldives |
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Although the corals started to grow everywhere again, the reefs aren't yet for a long time in the state in which they were in front of "El Niņo" and, only if we really spare her, they will have regenerated completely within the next 10-20 years again! If I reads on the Internet in travel stories: "... where so many stones are about which we must increase only to come into the water and then which has ones in the water, too ..." I really wonder there that many of the tourists don't know any more, what nature is? The Maledive Islands are the perfect example of the paradise anyway and the paradise is now the nature and nothing from people created. Asphalt ways and sifted lagoon sand simply have lost nothing there! Except for it, there are no natural stones in the complete atoll field of the Maldives, only corals! What the travel story writer has so disparagingly described as stone were corals, before they were destroyed and trampled down by us peoples!
If you should take these simple guidelines to heart anyway, then I see the future of the Maldives Islands a little more optimistically and perhaps(!) again our children here also still can dive and snorkelling! Vienna, 15th July 2000,
Gerhard Geyer |
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Š Gerhard Geyer - The use of any part of texts and pictures, also in an abridged version, is allowed only by a written permission!
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