Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Thursday 28 November 2019
How a small stretch of ocean stirred a conservation movement

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — planet over the past half- "they're for our nation." dance of diversity of inver- U.S.'s protected areas. Bush
From the surface, these 22 century has taken place in ___ tebrates," Roberson notes. created the Papahanau-
square miles of water are the ocean. On a National Oceanic Without that designation, mokuakea Marine National
unexceptional. That has had dramatic ef- and Atmospheric Adminis- the habitat could have Monument off Hawaii and
But dip beneath the sur- fects in the waters that tration expedition to Gray's vanished due to high- Obama extended it late in
face — go down 60 or 70 his presidency to a whop-
feet — and you'll find a ping 582,578 square miles.
spectacular seascape. Smaller protected areas,
Sponges, barnacles and such as the 5,000-square-
tube worms cover rocky mile Northeast Canyons
ledges on the ocean floor, and Seamounts National
forming a "live bottom." Monument off New Eng-
Gray's Reef is little more land, created by Obama
than a drop in the ocean 19 in 2016, also have been es-
miles off the Georgia coast, tablished.
but don't confuse size for Nine years ago, the U.N.
significance. In one of his Convention on Biological
last official acts, President Diversity agreed to the goal
Jimmy Carter declared of protecting 10% of the
the reef a national marine world's oceans by 2020. The
sanctuary at the urging of UN said in 2017 that it was
conservationists who said on its way to meeting that
its abundance of life was target and that protected
unique and worth saving areas "contribute substan-
for future generations. tial social, economic and
For nearly 40 years, the U.S. environmental benefits to
government has protected society" and "provide food
the reef, home to more Atlantic spadefish swim along the reef at Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary Monday, Oct. 28, security and livelihood se-
than 200 species of fish and 2019, off the coast of Savannah, Ga. curity for some 300 million
an amazing array of nearly Associated Press people."
1,000 different kinds of in- ___
vertebrates. Recreational cover 70% of Earth's sur- Reef, the federal research impact industries such as One commonly cited prob-
fishing and diving are al- face. Scientists have tied vessel Nancy Foster is bottom-trawl commercial lem with the protected ar-
lowed, but commercial the warming to the rise of packed with scientists con- fishing, which are now pro- eas is the difficulty of en-
fishing and other kinds of sea levels, the disappear- ducting research on sub- hibited there. forcing rules that restrict
exploitation are not. ance of fish stocks and the jects ranging from whether "In some ways, it's a test of commercial fishing and
And Gray's Reef has served bleaching of corals. The invasive lionfish are present what a marine protected other intrusive industries
as a global inspiration. Fol- ocean also has become to how changing ocean area can do for surround- from vast areas where few
lowing the lead of the U.S., more acidic as humans conditions are affecting ing areas," says Clark Alex- people ever venture, par-
other nations have des- have released higher con- coral species. ander, director and pro- ticularly in developing parts
ignated similar sanctuar- centrations of carbon di- Sanctuary research co- fessor at the University of of the world where resourc-
ies and protected areas, oxide into the atmosphere, ordinator Kimberly Rob- Georgia Skidaway Institute es are limited.
which now cover about and that jeopardizes valu- erson and other scientists of Oceanography and Creating new protected
6% of the world's oceans able shellfish and the plank- prepare to dive to collect a former member of the areas without reducing fish-
— a bonanza for research- ton that form the base of data about what fish can sanctuary's advisory board. ing quotas won't save spe-
ers but, more importantly, the food chain. be found in the area, while "It was sort of an ideal spot cies, says Daniel Pauly, a
an important tool for safe- The supporters for the pro- Craig Aumack, an assis- to preserve this kind of professor of fisheries at the
guarding the seas. tected areas range from tant professor of biology at habitat and make it avail- University of British Colum-
Doubts remain about how sustenance fishermen on Georgia Southern Univer- able for research and rec- bia in Vancouver.
much of the ocean they the tiniest islands of the Pa- sity, peers through a micro- reation." And that is not a small issue,
can truly save. Last year cific to researchers at the scope at algae. In the decades since Gray's as some estimates say the
was the hottest on record most elite institutions of ac- Aumack notes that more was established, large and number of fish in the ocean
for the planet's oceans, ademia. types of seaweed and more stringently protected was reduced by half from
and protected areas can't "We're not protecting these tropical species of fish are zones have popped up all 1970 to 2015, with warming
slow the biggest source of areas just for ourselves," appearing on the reef as over the world. oceans expected to add
that warming — increasing Roldan Muñoz, a research waters warm, like the odd- Phoenix Island Protected to that loss.
greenhouse gases. The fed- fishery biologist with the looking and colorful clown Area, established in Janu- "Rebuilding will require not
eral government says more U.S.'s National Marine Fish- wrasse, a fish native to the ary 2008, covers more just new protected areas,
than 90% of the warming eries Service, says during Caribbean Sea that was than 150,000 square miles but it will require quotas re-
that has occurred on the a research trip to the reef, found off the coast of Geor- off the tiny island republic duced," Pauly says.
gia this summer, most likely of Kiribati and has been Many scientists believe pro-
pushed hundreds of miles cited by scientists for bring- tecting broad swaths of the
to the north by changing ing back species of fish in ocean simply might not be
ocean temperatures. just over a decade. And enough.
The sanctuary is named af- an area nearly twice as Last year, a group of re-
ter Milton "Sam" Gray, a bi- large, the Rapa Nui Marine searchers led by University
ologist who studied it in the Protected Area, now sur- of North Carolina marine
1960s and identified it as an rounds Easter Island after ecologist John Bruno pub-
ecosystem worth saving — its creation in 2018. Former lished a pessimistic study
a reef not far from the U.S. U.S. Presidents George W. of the effects of climate
coast that teemed with Bush and Barack Obama change on the world's ma-
life, especially an "abun- greatly expanded the rine protected areas.q