Then in the 1980s, a devastating episode of coral bleaching began, and sea urchins also died by the ton. But humans eventually changed this-first, as early as the 17 th century, by capturing and eating lots of sea turtles. Turtles are so voracious that many sponges have developed complex chemical defenses against them sponges that aren’t so equipped must hide between stinging corals for protection.įor millennia this was the way of life on reefs from Florida to Ecuador. The algae and sponges would happily expand, of course-but they’re constantly trimmed back by sea urchins and sea turtles, respectively, and limited by a lack of resources. Seaweed and other algae should be a fraction of that, and sponges should be lucky to achieve 10 percent coverage. On a normal, healthy Caribbean coral reef, anywhere from 30 to 100 percent of the surface should be covered by coral. Other experts say, however, that Pawlik’s vision of a Caribbean sponge apocalypse is itself a mirage.Ĭoral Reefs 101 The Importance of Predators Everyone agrees that Caribbean reefs, like reefs all over the warming and acidifying ocean, are in trouble. Once they have the real estate it’s not going to go backwards.”īut reef science, like the reefs themselves, is a bit of a war zone these days. “They are taking the space,” Pawlik says. The sponges have banded together with another major player, the algae, to push out the corals and achieve reef domination-thereby adding another grave threat to one of the world’s most important ecosystems. The recent evidence, he says, suggests the battle of the reefs has become somewhat lopsided. Pawlik, an ecologist and leading sponge expert at the University of North Carolina in Wilmington, has surveyed Caribbean reefs for decades. And the sponges, says Joseph Pawlik, are secretly plotting to take over the whole reef. It’s every critter for itself: The angelfish eat the corals, some of which strike back with tiny harpoons the barracudas eat the angelfish, which hide behind sponges. The soft corals sway in the current, colorful fish swim lazily by, and turtles float happily above.īut this is a mirage. One is as a fantastic, calming world of peace and harmony, so different from our hectic lives on shore. Cozumel Island, MexicoDescending into the clear blue water of the Colombia Reef, off Cozumel in Mexico, there are two ways to look at what greets you.
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