| 2006 ARUBA REUNION -
REEF CHECK NEWS |
| This article was in
Aruba Today. It was sent in by Al & Ann Leak about the team that
conducted the Reef Check while in Aruba attending the reunion.
Scroll down to see typed copy of the article. |
 |
| Sorry about the
quality. Al & Ann sent along this typed copy with the
article. |
Oranjestad - "On June
21st a group of Lago High School Alumni
will lead a resurvey of
the Aruba reef sites they monitored 3 years ago. They will examine
2 sites at Pos Chiquito and a third off Baby Beach.
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Two teams of 4 to 7 snorkelers will study the shallow reefs and two
teams of scuba divers will survey the deeper reefs. They will be
looking especially for signs of bleached coral and damage that may
have been caused by the recent hurricane." The group will
employ the survey technique "Reef Check" that they used in 2003
. It is a system designed to measure the health of coral reefs on
a global scale. It has been extremely successful in 82 countries.
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Reef Check is a volunteer, community based
monitoring protocol. It is
designed to educate the
public about the coral reef crisis and stimulate community action to
protect the remaining pristine reefs and rehabilitate damaged ones. It
is creating a global network of volunteer teams which scientifically
investigate coral reef processes and regularly report on reef health.
Reef Check also facilitates collaboration among academics, government
and the private sector. |
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The
Lago alumni teams will be training on the beach outside the Aruba Resort
Spa & Casino on the afternoon of June 20. Any divers or snorkelers who
would be interested in joining the group will be most welcome. They can
contact Reef Check leader Jim Rosborough who will be a the Aruba Resort
Sunday evening, June 18. |
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The
Aruba Reef Check is enthusiastically supported by the Aruba Tourism
Authority through its Ecotourism Project Manage Castro Perez, Pelican
Water Sports, Unique Sports of Aruba, SEAruba Fly 'n Dive, JADS Dive
Center, and the International School of Aruba. |
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REPORT ON THE REEF CHECK SURVEY IN ARUBA |
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July 17, 2006 |
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Report on Reefcheck Survey at Aruba |
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A team of 28 volunteers surveyed three reefs on Aruba on June 21, 2006.
The reefs were all off the Mangel Halto beach in Pos Chiquito: |
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A shallow reef (4 meters) at the opening to the lagoon, 200 meters south
from the GPS reading on the shore. Only two 20 meter segments were
surveyed due to the current and chop which limited the snorkelers. |
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Two deep reefs (10 and 12 meters deep) another 200 meters south of the
lagoon opening at the reef face. Four 200 meter segments were surveyed
on each. |
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We had hoped to survey a reef off of the Club Point in Seroe Colorado
but the seas were too rough. |
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Pictures of the 10M transect are included. I expect more pictures and
possibly a video. |
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The coral was relatively healthy. Some white band disease, little
recently killed coral (none in data), No bleaching. This area has a
steady current that flushes pollutants and keeps the water relatively
cool. They had a glancing blow from a hurricane in 2004 but no
noticeable effect at this site. At the site we had to pass up, a lot of
dead stag and elk horn coral was piled up by the waves and some brain
and star coral knocked over. Sue Hieter plans to start surveying this
area. |
We did 3 hours of training the day before the survey with the PowerPoint
presentation and a one hour review before the survey. I was supervising
the shallow survey along with Carl Curtiss who participated on the last
survey. Steve Fremgen supervised the 10M survey and John Turner
supervised the 12M survey, both experienced Reefcheck participants from
our last survey. I interrogated the volunteers and feel we have good
data. The data sheets are attached. The deeper reefs had 50 to 60% live
coral coverage, mostly hard coral. The shallow reef had more rock and
sand and had 27% live coral coverage. As expected we found a lot of
grunts a few butterfly fish, parrot fish and snapper; and one grouper.
In the invertebrates we founds lots of
gorgonian, several diadema urchins and pencil urchins, a flamingo tongue
and the Mintons found two lobster. |
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The support from your staff and the resources on your CDs were extremely
helpful. The practice video was a good model for our training. We got
complementary tanks, BCs and regulators from 3 dive shops: Unique Sports
of Aruba, Pelican Adventures, and JADS Divers. |
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Jerry Van Daalen from Pelican arranged for an introductory training with
3 Dive Shops (Pelican, SE. Aruba Fly'n Dive and Unique Sports) and a
group from the Dutch Marines stationed in Aruba. I reviewed the protocol
and provided the information on the EcoAction Program. I left the
EcoAction folder with the CDs with Jerry. The JADS group took the full
training and participated in the survey. |
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There is a growing interested in reef monitoring. Jerry has been doing
fish surveys using the REEF protocol. Susan Hieter, Science Teacher, and
Bob Werner, Headmaster, of the International School of Aruba
participated in the project and are interested in incorporating the reef
surveys in their work with the students. They have a SCUBA club of 25
students. Sue is also a dive master with the JADS dive shop and has your
CD with the manual and data files. She is ready to get started on a
monitoring program. With her academic background, SCUBA experience and
participation in our training and data gathering, I feel she has the
knowledge to be a Team Leader. |
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Jim Rosborough |
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Cc: Team Participants |
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4 Meters |
10 Meters |
12 Meters |
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Carl Curtis - lead |
Steve Fremgen - lead |
John Turner - lead |
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Eddie Brewer |
John Kilpatrick |
Jane Turner Harding |
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James Minton |
Doug Frazier |
John Tully |
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Joseph Minton |
Walt Minton |
Bop Werner |
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Carol Ann Leonard |
John Minton |
Ron |
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Al Leak |
Susan Hieter |
Paula |
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Don Rosborough |
Walter |
Debbie |
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Ruth Willis Preissman |
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Rudolph |
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John Stephan |
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Kay Young |
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Jane |
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Norman Owen |
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Report submitted by:
Jim Rosborough |