Page 65 - Dive the Seas and More-2

Coral Reef Teacher’s Guide Benefits, Threats, and Solutions

At ever-popular reef mooring buoy splicing parties, In the previous year, ichthyologists from Cuba’s
locals learned the nautical art of splicing lines Institute of Oceanography had visited Key West
for reef mooring buoys. Charts were produced to perform baseline fish counts to confirm
showing the locations of the buoys and how to the conclusions of their research in Cuba. As
use them along with reef tips that are distribut- a result of the patterns of ocean currents, larval
ed to boaters, residents and visitors. spawning cy-cles of fish, corals and lobsters in
Cuba are closely linked to the productivity of
To insure that educational programs will be of-
fered on an on-going basis for visitors and resi- fishes in south Flor-ida. REEF RELIEF facilitat-
dents of all ages, Reef Relief opened an environ- ed the Cuban scientist’s work in the Florida
mental center at the Captain Robert’s House Keys, describing local condi-tions, explaining
in New Plymouth, the first historically-restored the impacts that have affected our reefs, and
home in the Bahamas. The facil- ity offers a providing boats, fuel, and expertise for their
video classroom, a children’s activity room, field work. The relative lack of develop-ment
and educational displays on coral reefs, man- and overpopulation in Cuba heightened our
groves, seagrasses, sea turtles and de-scriptions hopes of documenting healthy coral reefs, of
of the Reef Relief Green Turtle Cay reef mooring finding a clean “baseline” against which ailing
buoy, coral nursery and coral survey proj-ects. coral reefs could be measured. We would dive
in two differ-ent regions, one on the North Cen-
CORAL REEFS IN CUBA tral coast in the Archipelago of Camaguey at Cayo
by Robin Orlandi, REEF RELIEF Board Member Cocos; the other near Cuba’s southwestern tip
at Maria La Gorda, adjacent to the Pinar del
Monday, June 23rd, watching Key West disap- Rio biosphere pre-serve.
pear i nto the gathering dusk, I think of the
Underseas World of Jacques Cousteau specials Before the end of the first day, we realized that
that mesmer-ized me as a child. We are on REEF Cuba is a country of contradictions, where pa-
RELIEF found-ers’ Craig and DeeVon Quirolo’s tience, in- genuity, toilet paper and a sense
sailboat Stormy Weather and we are headed of humor are a prerequisite. Our guide for the
for Cuba. Through-out the night as we cross week, marine ecosystem conservation special-
the Gulfstream, watchful for tankers and other ist Dr. Juan Pablo Garcia, welcomed us at the
sailboat- crushing ships, we hallucinate brine Institute. A tour revealed scientists crunching
encrusted Balseros bobbing on the deep blue. data on aging com-puters, coping with paper
The sea out here is muscular and un-forgiving. shortages, broken win-dows and balky tele-
I think about our origins in this diato-maceous phones. Only the new equip-ment in the pollu-
soup and the allegiance all living crea-tures owe tion research division benefited from air con-
it. El mare es sin fronteras. The sea is without ditioning. The friendliness and open-ness with
boundaries. In both languages, this will become which we were greeted became a hall-mark of
our mantra over the next two weeks. our trip.
Our voyage has been federally permitted as A chronic shortage of vehicles and boats makes
a preliminary research trip to examine and field work difficult to accomplish. Our trip would
document the condition of Cuba’s coral reef provide an infrequent opportunity for the Hava-
ecosystems. REEF RELIEF’s mission includes na scientist to visit the Institute’s distant field
outreach throughout the Caribbean to assess lab at Cayo Co-cos. One of a chain of coral
coral health and assist local groups in de- rock barrier islands, the 370 sq. km. Cayo
veloping their own protection and monitoring Cocos is separated from the mainland by the
programs. This work represents part of a global Bahia de Perros (Bay of Dogs). In 1988, a 27 km
effort during the International Year of the Reef (16.7 mile) long causeway was built on solid
to conduct rapid assessments of the Earth’s fill across the Bay to facilitate tourist access.
coral reefs, the “rainforests of the sea” (Fig- What was once a man- grove estuary filled with
ure 3-15). flamingos and pelicans has

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