I thought that this week I'd show a bit of practical fieldwork. Dave Burdick (whom I've profiled in the Cool People section during week 5) works for the Government of Guam, performing coral reef monitoring and reef mapping. He deals a lot with GIS (geographic information system) and he monitored Guam's reefs extensively for a Guam Coastal Atlas. He truly is a Hercules of effort and passion for coral reefs and, while an outsider to Guam culture, he has dedicated his life to protecting its reefs.
The US military owns about 30% of the island of Guam for various military bases and air strips. Due to controversy over the US military presence in Okinawa (where several locals have been killed by wreckless driving of US soldiers and a young girl was raped by US servicemen), the US military has been shifting its personnel away from Okinawa to Guam since Guam has geographic importance regionally. The military build up on Guam will likely see 30-40,000 military personnel, dependents, and contractors needed to handle the increase. This will result in a 20+ percent bump in Guam's population. While most infrastructure strain will be on military-owned lands, congestion and other effects will be felt in the local communities.
Many Guamanians view the build up as beneficial since Chamorros are very patriotic and also because more military presence = more military spending = more money for many locals. However, some locals view the build up negatively.
One area of concern for Dave Burdick (the topic of this week's post) is that the military build up will potentially require dredging of many local reefs to deepen the harbor where aircraft carriers will come through. The dredging appears to not be necessary for bringing ships in, but rather, for keeping them in dock longer.
I wanted to share below an article that Dave Burdick wrote about one such reef on Guam that is slated for dredging. His words below. And his video of the reef can be found on YouTube by searching Apra Harbor Reef Guam under user "guamreeflife."
............... Dave Burdick text below .................guamreeflife — February 24, 2010 —
This unnamed reef, found to the west of Jade Shoals in Apra views Harbor, Guam, is one of the healthiest reefs in the harbor. It's also one of the reef areas planned for dredging in order to accommodate the berthing of a nuclear aircraft carrier. The aim of this video is simply to raise awareness among decision-makers and the general public that this special reef exists, and that there are other, similar reefs within the area planned for dredging.
Lush with coral, sponges, and teeming with reef fish, this reef has remained unnoticed by all but a few people. It isn't visited by thousands of tourists each year and probably isnt regularly fished, as it lies close to the main shipping channel. But it is an important piece of the mosaic of Apra Harbor's surprisingly vibrant reef ecosystem, which supports local fishermen and recreational users, as well as numerous commercial tourism operators. This reef is inextricably tied to the more commercially valuable reef sites through the transient species moving from reef to reef and through the currents that carry young corals, fishes, and other reef organisms to and from each of the harbors reefs and beyond.
While the reef depicted in this video is exceptionally vibrant compared to much of the remaining reef area that would be impacted should dredging occur, these reefs are of still great value. Some reefs are loaded with corals, sponges, and fish, while others are covered mainly by algae, sand, or bare rock. But different species prefer different types of habitats, and some species require different habitats at different stages in their life history. Consider it a patchwork of marine habitats, woven together like the patches in a beautiful, delicate quilt.
There is no doubt that Apra Harbor Guam's only deep lagoon is a very special place. But even within the harbor, different types of reef zones can be found, each with its own distinct look and feel. While some of these zones do host species not found in other zones, many are distinct in their reef organisms assemblages, meaning that some species common in one zone may be less common in another, and vice versa. Much of the area planned for dredging falls within one of these zones, distinct from other zones by its unique physiographic and biological characteristics. Amazingly, about 90 species of coral were found in the planned impact area during surveys conducted in the spring of 2009 this is almost twice the number of corals species found throughout the entire Caribbean basin! More importantly, several of these species have not been found outside the harbor and and a few may actually be species not previously known to scientists anywhere in the world. The same could also be said for sponges and other reef organisms found in this area.
In the recently released Guam and CNMI Military Relocation Draft Environmental Impact Statement, the Department of Defense proposed two action alternatives for the berthing of a nuclear aircraft carrier (a.k.a. CVN). Both of these alternatives are highly similar, and would require the dredging of approximately the same area of reef. Dredging to a depth of 51.5 feet would be required for about 70 acres of reef area. To put this into perspective for Guamanians, this is equivalent to more than 7 Micronesian Malls! Or to put it another way, it would also be equivalent to about 53 American football fields! The reef within the dredging footprint would be completely destroyed, and recovery would be interrupted by regular maintenance dredging. But an even larger area of reef will be affected by the indirect impacts of dredging, which would include injury to nearby corals and other reef organisms by pieces of living and dead coral dropped during dredging, and by the large amount of sediment released into the surrounding waters. This sediment will eventually settle onto corals and other bottom-dwelling organisms, possibly injuring or even killing them.
Watch the brief underwater footage of this unnamed reef and start asking questions of your friends, family, community leaders, and yourself in an effort to understand the true value of this reef and other reefs in Apra Harbor and how impacts to these reef resources will affect you and your island community.
The US military owns about 30% of the island of Guam for various military bases and air strips. Due to controversy over the US military presence in Okinawa (where several locals have been killed by wreckless driving of US soldiers and a young girl was raped by US servicemen), the US military has been shifting its personnel away from Okinawa to Guam since Guam has geographic importance regionally. The military build up on Guam will likely see 30-40,000 military personnel, dependents, and contractors needed to handle the increase. This will result in a 20+ percent bump in Guam's population. While most infrastructure strain will be on military-owned lands, congestion and other effects will be felt in the local communities.
Many Guamanians view the build up as beneficial since Chamorros are very patriotic and also because more military presence = more military spending = more money for many locals. However, some locals view the build up negatively.
One area of concern for Dave Burdick (the topic of this week's post) is that the military build up will potentially require dredging of many local reefs to deepen the harbor where aircraft carriers will come through. The dredging appears to not be necessary for bringing ships in, but rather, for keeping them in dock longer.
I wanted to share below an article that Dave Burdick wrote about one such reef on Guam that is slated for dredging. His words below. And his video of the reef can be found on YouTube by searching Apra Harbor Reef Guam under user "guamreeflife."
............... Dave Burdick text below .................guamreeflife — February 24, 2010 —
This unnamed reef, found to the west of Jade Shoals in Apra views Harbor, Guam, is one of the healthiest reefs in the harbor. It's also one of the reef areas planned for dredging in order to accommodate the berthing of a nuclear aircraft carrier. The aim of this video is simply to raise awareness among decision-makers and the general public that this special reef exists, and that there are other, similar reefs within the area planned for dredging.
Lush with coral, sponges, and teeming with reef fish, this reef has remained unnoticed by all but a few people. It isn't visited by thousands of tourists each year and probably isnt regularly fished, as it lies close to the main shipping channel. But it is an important piece of the mosaic of Apra Harbor's surprisingly vibrant reef ecosystem, which supports local fishermen and recreational users, as well as numerous commercial tourism operators. This reef is inextricably tied to the more commercially valuable reef sites through the transient species moving from reef to reef and through the currents that carry young corals, fishes, and other reef organisms to and from each of the harbors reefs and beyond.
While the reef depicted in this video is exceptionally vibrant compared to much of the remaining reef area that would be impacted should dredging occur, these reefs are of still great value. Some reefs are loaded with corals, sponges, and fish, while others are covered mainly by algae, sand, or bare rock. But different species prefer different types of habitats, and some species require different habitats at different stages in their life history. Consider it a patchwork of marine habitats, woven together like the patches in a beautiful, delicate quilt.
There is no doubt that Apra Harbor Guam's only deep lagoon is a very special place. But even within the harbor, different types of reef zones can be found, each with its own distinct look and feel. While some of these zones do host species not found in other zones, many are distinct in their reef organisms assemblages, meaning that some species common in one zone may be less common in another, and vice versa. Much of the area planned for dredging falls within one of these zones, distinct from other zones by its unique physiographic and biological characteristics. Amazingly, about 90 species of coral were found in the planned impact area during surveys conducted in the spring of 2009 this is almost twice the number of corals species found throughout the entire Caribbean basin! More importantly, several of these species have not been found outside the harbor and and a few may actually be species not previously known to scientists anywhere in the world. The same could also be said for sponges and other reef organisms found in this area.
In the recently released Guam and CNMI Military Relocation Draft Environmental Impact Statement, the Department of Defense proposed two action alternatives for the berthing of a nuclear aircraft carrier (a.k.a. CVN). Both of these alternatives are highly similar, and would require the dredging of approximately the same area of reef. Dredging to a depth of 51.5 feet would be required for about 70 acres of reef area. To put this into perspective for Guamanians, this is equivalent to more than 7 Micronesian Malls! Or to put it another way, it would also be equivalent to about 53 American football fields! The reef within the dredging footprint would be completely destroyed, and recovery would be interrupted by regular maintenance dredging. But an even larger area of reef will be affected by the indirect impacts of dredging, which would include injury to nearby corals and other reef organisms by pieces of living and dead coral dropped during dredging, and by the large amount of sediment released into the surrounding waters. This sediment will eventually settle onto corals and other bottom-dwelling organisms, possibly injuring or even killing them.
Watch the brief underwater footage of this unnamed reef and start asking questions of your friends, family, community leaders, and yourself in an effort to understand the true value of this reef and other reefs in Apra Harbor and how impacts to these reef resources will affect you and your island community.
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