Researchers Find Large-Scale Death of Coral in Indonesia

By Chad Bouchard
Jakarta
23 April 2007

Scientists have discovered that an earthquake two years ago in Indonesia lifted hundreds of kilometers of sea floor out of the water, causing the largest death of coral reefs ever recorded. As Chad Bouchard reports from Jakarta, this is only one of several threats facing Indonesia's fragile marine ecosystems.

During a recent survey of Indonesia's Simeulue Island, off the northwest coast of Sumatra, scientists discovered that an earthquake in 2005 had lifted part of the sea floor by more than a meter. The upheaval killed off a massive ring of coral along the island's shores.

Andrew Baird is a scientist with the Australian Research Council Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. He says the effects of the earthquake were totally unexpected.

"I thought I was ready for what we saw, but the scale of the uplift was quite incredible," he said. "You know every day, every site we went to, there was more reef which had been completely thrust out of the water. The entire perimeter of an island - about 400 kilometers of reef - had been thrust out of the water, literally overnight."

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WWF objects to gas project on coral reef

CONSERVATION group WWF Australia says the development of a gas project on a coral reef off the Western Australian coast will spark global outrage.

Woodside Petroleum is considering building a processing plant on Scott Reef for its $12 billion Browse gas project.

The company said yesterday it might build a lagoon-based plant on the reef, halfway between Indonesia and the Kimberley coast rather than a facility on the environmentally-sensitive coast.

But WWF Australia chief executive Greg Bourne said his organisation did not believe there was any place for a gas plant in such a sensitive area.

"We do not believe that everywhere can be up for grabs ... some places are indeed off limits," Mr Bourne told the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA) conference.
"Coral reef systems such as this represent an important and increasingly threatened marine ecosystem.

"To construct a facility there would attract global attention, generate global outrage."

Mr Bourne said he wanted Australian oil and gas operators to be known for their legacy of sensible development and environmental leadership.
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WWF: Harmful starfish threatening RP corals again

COTS or crown-of-thorns starfish (ancanthaster planci), which can decimate entire sections of coral reef in weeks, are back in the Philippines and in greater numbers.

This was the warning aired Wednesday by environmental group World Wildlife Fund (WWF), which said outbreaks have been reported in coastal areas in Luzon and Mindanao.

"This year the COTS have returned – in ever greater numbers. Yesterday, outbreaks were reported in Mabini, Batangas., WWF said in a statement on its website.

WWF said a check through its sites throughout the country revealed that COTS outbreaks had also hit Apo Reef and Puerto Galera in Mindoro, Roxas in Palawan, Bolinao in Lingayen Gulf, Kiamba and Glan in Sarangani Bay.

WWF said "it is possible that many other coastal areas have been affected as well,"

A single COTS can totally consume six meters of healthy reef yearly, it said.

WWF said COTS outbreaks usually occur during summer, when ocean temperatures and nutrient levels increase and give rise to algal blooms.
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