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Reef Damage
On 03/16/03 ,Vone Research continued its monitoring of the coral restoration
project . The first site we dove was originally reported on January 5th. The
GPS coordinates are 26'15.319N 080'03.492W.
This is an obvious cable drag and is not shown on any documents that we have
from CSI to date. There are hard corals upside-down, sponges and soft coral
damage. The several barrel sponges we originally photographed are
deteriorating rapidly. Next we dove site #54. Most of the stabilized hard
corals in this area are not marked but they are easy to pick out because of
their bleaching. There are still hard and soft coral to be attached. The south
west section of site #54 used to be a magnificent reef. Knowing what it used
to look like distresses me deeply. Next we dove site # 11 and site # 12. There
is still a lot of work left to be done here. There are hard and soft corals
not yet stabilized. I regret to report that more of the stabilized barrel
sponges have died . Overall, the stabilized hard coral on these two sites is
doing better than any of the other sites we have visited lately.
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