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Reef Damage
(March 16,2003)

    
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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