Human activities major threat to corals
0 Comments | New Straits Times, Jul 26, 2010
KUALA LUMPUR: Underwater photography has been identified as one of the many threats from human activities that could jeopardise corals and reefs.
Reef Check Malaysia eco-diver Shafinaz Suhaimi said trawling and dynamite fishing were seriously damaging the reefs.
“The activities ruin our seabed while overfishing throws the marine ecosystem into imbalance, as fishes that keep algae in check disappear.”
She said underwater photographers also partly contributed to the destruction of corals and reefs.
“Lately, underwater photography has become the cool thing. But (amateur) photographers kneel, squat and stand on corals to prop themselves against the current. This causes the corals to break.”
Corals grow slowly at 0.5cm to 2cm per year, depending on the species and water conditions.
Shafinaz said the closure of 12 dive spots as announced by the Marine Park Department was a good thing as it would allow the reefs to recover from bleaching.
“Let nature takes its course. It won’t take long for the reefs to recover, but we must also minimise other impacts,” she said.
Malaysia is not the only country hit by mass coral bleaching.
Neighbouring countries like Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines have reported mass coral bleaching, especially in April due to rising temperatures in the Southeast Asian waters.
A similiar event was reported during the 1998 El Nino episode.
The unusually warm waters, between 30 and 32 degrees Celsius, are said to be caused by the onset of La Nina.
Beginning April, easterly winds from the cooler waters of the Pacific Ocean have been pushing warmer waters into the Southeast Asian region.
About 70 per cent of corals at diving areas in Phang Nga and Phuket provinces and Similan islands in Thailand are bleached.
Universiti Malaya marine biologist Lau Chai Ming said climate change was just one of the threats affecting the wellbeing of reefs.
“Climate change takes a long time to mitigate.”
The Marine Park Department issued a ban on all recreational activities, including diving and snorkelling, at the dive sites when coral bleaching of up to 90 per cent was observed