Reef Damage
(January 12,2003)
On 01/12/03, Vone Research continued
monitoring the coral restoration
work.
We dove the damage area near Hillsboro Ledge. This area is vast. I was
impressed to only find one hard coral that still has not been turned
over. There is still a lot of soft coral that needs stabilization.
There are also three large severed barrel sponges that are still alive.
Next , we dove the area which was discovered on 11/16/02. The work here
is further along. There are still many soft corals to be stabilized.
Surprisingly, some of the barrel sponge bases that were regenerating
now are dead. Of the over 500 severed sponges there are probably less
than 6 that possibly can be saved. Next we dove the area that had over
1600 pounds of dredge teeth. We are happy to report that most of them
have been removed. There is still approximately 25 teeth left, 2 on the
reef , where the bulk of the teeth were removed and a trail of teeth
west to the patch reef. This was first reported on 11/28/02 and then
counted and numbered on 12/15/02. The discrepancy between the site #
and the location was pointed out on 01/05/03 .