The Future of Sosua Coral Reef

JD Jones

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Jan 7, 2016
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windeguy

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Do to the circumstance that the old The future of Sosua Coral Reef thread is closed an update to it here (mod feel free to ad it to the existing one)

One statue dumped in the bay is going to replenish the coral?
 
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jd426

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Dec 12, 2009
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One statue dumped in the bay is going to replenish the coral?
It will definitely bring the Fishies around .. Something this Simple is also a huge Boost to Scuba Diving business (maybe our resident Scuba Guy will chime in)
,, Everyone will want to see the underwater statue and get a Picture ..
 

windeguy

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No
It will be used to attach corals on it and will be used to trigger the awareness about the issues regarding the problems corrals/marine life face .
I see. I hope it has the desired impact.

What exactly will triggering awareness of the problem do?
 

Northern Coast Diver

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Feb 23, 2020
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It is great to see the statue of Atabey finally in the water. The statue will attract some fish. But the original plan of the creators included an on shore coral growth operation which would be connected with a local school. Also an under water coral program was started near the site where Atabey was installed. Without progress on these two coral sources the project will be stagnated.
 

Auryn

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Apr 22, 2012
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I went out to see the statue today. I’ve been working with a foundation planting coral throughout Sosua Bay. Their funding is very limited but they try to go every day. It’s mostly volunteers.

There is a huge problem with fabric and clothing being dumped in the bay which wraps around the coral and kills it. Interestingly, what I’ve seen is often cut in strips, but not always. They clean out tons of it every year.

Parrot fish are also only protected until July, after that it’s open season. As most people know, they help to restore coral by eating toxic algae that grows on it. But all the restaurants in the bay serve it.

Hogfish eat the snails that kill coral, but they aren’t protected and are in steep decline. There are countless other species that aren’t seen in abundance anymore. Unless all reef fish have some sort of protection, there likely won’t be a living reef beyond my lifetime. A wasted tourism opportunity.

Fishing in the bay is illegal but I’ve seen the tourist yolas pulling in nets on their down time. It’s not enforced.