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Grand Bahama Reef Assessment

 I'm just back from looking at coral reef restoration needs in Grand Bahama and Abaco. There are only a few small patches of healthy corals left on the south side, Most coral has died in recent years and are overgrown with algae. Some of my colleagues there have recently taken video of the former reefs off the West End of Grand Bahama and plan to take more. It is pretty depressing, but the local divers know the waters well and can show you both the best, worst, and typical sites, all of which need to be included for the results to be representative.

 My own view is that quadrants are a waste of time because they cover too little area, unless you do thousands of them like my father did in the 1960s when he pioneered the method. However the best method is to do very long video transects perpendicular to and parallel to the major environmental gradients covering as much as possible of the entire range, not the short little transects that are currently popular but which are statistically inadequate in most cases to represent the environment being surveyed, much less recognize change.

 I'm forwarding this to a Grand Bahama diver, Gary Simmons, who has spent his lifetime in the water there and is shocked at the changes. 

We are very interested in seeing such surveys made in locations that will allow us to best inform the Bahamas Government and developers about the steps needed to stop sewage pollution of the waters, so I urge your student to contact Gary and ensure that his results will be in the most useful locations for making policy suggestions to clean up the waters and restore the reefs. My Bahamian colleagues will be glad to work with you. There are still some small fairly good areas in the Abacos that also need to be worked on, and I suggest you contact Troy Albury of Guana Divers and Save Guana Cay Reef if there is a chance to do some work there. Bruce Purdy is also a gold mine of information on long term changes in the Bahamas.

 Thomas J. Goreau, PhD