coral eco 2013-14 interim report r1

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�1HHW REEF HEALTH 2013-14 - LPCUWC-WWF

Hoi Ha Wan Coral Reef

Health Report 2013-14

Coral and Eco Monitoring Li Po Chun United World College

Summary !Students from Li Po Chun United World College (LPCUWC) surveyed three coral sites within the Hoi Ha Wan Marine Park in the Sai Kung Country Park, Hong Kong. This interim report, comparable to previous studies (since 2007) by the same group, represents the first of a three year collaboration between WWF and LPCUWC. Both underwater and above-water data were collected. Underwater data, collected by students trained in scuba diving and marine identification, uses the Reef Check and Coral Watch protocols and surveys each dive site twice (Fall and Spring). Above water data comprises of monthly measurements of atmospheric variables (humidity, air temperature, and wind direction), water temperature, acidity, salinity, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity. These preliminary data shows algae overgrowth that alarmingly extends into March and April, a departure from the usual season where algae growth ceases in February.


Participants and Correspondence!

Team leaders!

Linda Olson, Selwyn Price, Nick Cotton, and Jon Chui!Li Po Chun United World College,!10 Lok Wo Sha Lane, Sai Sha Road!Shatin NT!Hong Kong!!Tel: (852) 2640 0441!Fax: (852) 2643 4088!Email: [email protected]!

Participating students!

Graduated May 2014 Jolie Lau (HK) ! ! !Nancy Hui (HK) ! !Tech Tanasarnsopaporn (Thailand) !Mirva Laatunen (Finland)! !Neil Barooah (India) ! ! !Richard Huang (HK) !Lucy Green (UK)!! !Campbell Scott (Trinidad and Tobago)!Norbert Monti (Hungary)! !Monika Rull (Estonia)! !Gabrielle Armstrong-Scott (NZ)!Ricardo Rodriguez (Costa Rica)!!

Acknowledgements!We gratefully acknowledge the ongoing support of Splash HK, World Wide Fund, and the Agriculture, Fisheries, and Conservation Department (AFCD) of Hong Kong, without which this project would not be possible.


mailto:[email protected]

Introduction!Coral Monitoring is an extracurricular activities organised by the Li Po Chun United World College (LPCUWC; the College) in Hong Kong. The team focuses on collecting vital coral health and water quality data about the major coral communities at Hoi Ha Wan Marine Park, where a WWF-HK Marine Studies Centre has been constructed. The coral monitors are trained, PADI-certified divers and have received education in marine identification and surveying skills.!

The Coral Monitoring group aims to raise awareness on different marine issues that have an impact in Hong Kong as well as on the conditions of the reefs of Hong Kong. This will be done through the accurate collection of data in consecutive years and the drafting of report that will process this data. The information will also reach organizations like Coral Watch and Reef Check. Awareness will be raised inside and outside the school community with the help of other organisations like WWF and Greenpeace. The service also aims to have an impact on a personal scale for each coral monitor. This way they will bring back to their countries what they have learn and continue raising awareness and supporting the marine environment throughout their lives. More information about the service can be found on our website at www.lpcuwc-coral.org.!!In 2013 we established the foundations for a three year collaboration between World Wide Fund for Nature and the College, leading to the inauguration of the eco-monitoring team, which complements the coral monitoring team by collecting vital water quality data. The scope of the coral monitoring team has also been re-defined to monitoring three dive sites on a bi-annual basis. In this report we describe our interim findings.


http://www.lpcuwc-coral.org

Methodology!The surveys are conducted at three dive sites in the Hoi Ha Wan Marine Park, Sai Kung. The three sites are Gruff Point (also referred to as Site 5), Coral Beach, and Site 2. Each of these sites offer different degree of sheltering from storm-related damage, with Gruff Point being the most exposed.!

Water quality surveys!

Nine water quality surveys were conducted by the team of students in the eco-monitoring activity, at approximately monthly intervals through the academic year. For these survey, students (accompanied by a staff leader) board the WWF glass-bottom boat at the WWF Marine Life Center, and acquire atmospheric variables (humidity, air temperature, and wind direction) and sea water variables. The latter include water temperature, acidity, salinity, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity. All of these variables are measured on-site using portable instrumentations.!

Reef health surveys!

Underwater surveys were conducted by the team of coral monitors, who were trained as PADI-certified scuba divers and were proficient in marine identification skills through their first year in the program. All staff leaders are PADI-certified Rescue Divers or dive masters, and they participate in all the outings for a 1:4 ratio. The boat is equipped with necessary safety equipment such as emergency oxygen, marine radio, safety buoys, and GPS; equipment is supplied by Splash Hong Kong, and includes additional exposure

suits as is appropriate for colder temperatures. All on-water activities were done in buddy pairs; a spotter, equipped with binoculars as necessary, is aware of the divers at all times, and all diving duration and air consumption is recorded.!!We obtain anchor permits from the AFCD in all of our outings, and adhere faithfully to all legal mandates of the marine park.!


!Pre-dive preparations!!

Both on-water and post-dive responsibilities are arranged prior to the dive to ensure a smooth operation on a crowded deck. Tide tables and weather reports were consulted prior to each dive.!!Materials for the survey includes underwater digital camera, transect measure, coral watch / identification slates, as well as data sheet printed on water-resistant paper. Together with the food and management of scuba diving gear, all of these are in whole or in part prepared by the students prior to the dive day.!

On dive days, the team departs the College at 7:30 am in time for a 8 am arrival at the Ma Li Shui Public Pier. When the boat arrives, the team transports and organises all the dive gear on the deck, and takes turn in setting up for the dives. The boat ride from the pier to Hoi Ha Wan takes about 75-90 minutes.!!

Snorkel!!After the boat has arrived and anchored at the dive site, the action for survey begins. Four students, in buddy pairs, snorkeled the reef to first locate the centre point of the 100 m continuous reef previously surveyed, and secondly deploying a weighed buoy to mark this center point. For these tasks they are assisted by images of the centre point taken from previous surveys. Finally the buddy pairs swim to determine the extent of the reefs as well as any landmarks on the shore.!!!


Transect line preparation!!Due to the nature of reefs in Hong Kong we focus only on one shallow contour, usually less than 3m deep. Following Reef Check protocols, the transects are 100 m in length.!!Two pairs of students, guided on the surface by the snorkelers, lay two 50 m long tape measures a designated depth contour. As far as possible they follow the reef. The tape

measure is placed as securely as possible on the reef, rocks/weights are used at times to hold the tape in place. Care is taken so as to not damage any of the reef. This process takes about an hour.!!

Reef check survey!!The team returns to the boat and then waits for 15 minutes, to allow any disturbed fish to return to normal activity.!!Four buddy pairs then enter the water to conduct a Reef Check survey of a given segment of 20 meters, with five meters buffer between each segment.!!Each buddy pair first complete a fish survey, charting fish species and size observed in a volume extending 2.5 m on either side of the tape. Afterwards they perform a survey of the invertebrates, and finally the students record the substrate found at every 50 cm interval.!!One member of each buddy pair carries a digital underwater camera to capture noteworthy phenomena.


Coral watch survey!!After completing the Reef Check survey, the students perform one more pass along their transect segment to conduct the Coral Watch survey. In the Coral Watch survey, students are equipped with a slate printed with colours of different intensities. They locate 25 different coral heads at random intervals, and note their growth form, as well as darkest and lightest color intensity on a separate slate. These data can then inform on the extent of bleaching. !!To allow for subsequent verification and cross-checking, our team also takes digital photographs of each surveyed coral heads.!!

Video and picture!!Finally, a last pair of students, equipped with a high-resolution Sony RX-100 camera in an underwater

housing, and accompanied by a PADI-certified underwater photographer, swims along the transect. This team first photographs the substrate at each 50 cm interval for subsequent verification and cross-checking, and then obtains a video of the entire transect to preserve a visual record of the entire dive site on the day. An example is uploaded to YouTube and can be seen here. Finally, this team takes photos of marine life that is noteworthy, as well as images that will assist in the training of new coral monitors.!!

Data analysis!!On the Monday during service planning, the collected data is entered, collated and graphed for easy comparison with later dives. This information will form the basis of the coral monitoring


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3CKt0PZotY

report for that year group. The same procedure will be followed by successive teams allowing for the monitoring of any change in trend at the dive sites.!

!


Results from water quality survey!Given the quantity of data, the analysis for the year 2013-14 will be largely descriptive. it will only become more meaningful when there is comparative data for the year 2014-15 which will allow for differences between the years and sites to be more clearly identified. Evidently, the longer the data can be collected the more complete the data set and the more significant the findings and the trends. !

Atmospheric variables!

It is likely that the atmospheric measurements of Humidity, Air Temperature and Wind Direction will reflect seasonal variation and correlation with the aquatic data will need to be observed over the course of several years . The data are presented in the Appendix for illustration, but any correlation with the aquatic variables will only be identified after a more complete data set is available. !

Water temperature!

Main findings:!!• There is no significant

disparity between surface and bottom water temperatures.!

• There is little discernible difference between the water temperatures at the different sites. This is to be expected. !

• Data collected at the WWF centre suggests that the surface water may be warmer than the other sites. However, given the fact that there are only 5 data points from this site this will need to be considered as the data set grows.!

• The temperature recorded at Point 5 at the bottom on 20/03/2014 appears to be anomalous!• While most data points are in good agreement with instrumental data collected by

automated data buoy at the WWF Marine Center, data collected on 20/03/2014 in general deviates significantly. The cause of this is unknown.!!

!


Surface and bottom water temp

(❨Celcius)❩ at 4 sites at Hoi Ha Wan

Wat

er te

mp

(0C

)

0

10

20

30

40

Date (dd/mm/year)

26/0

9/20

13

03/1

0/20

13

17/1

0/20

13

07/1

1/20

13

05/1

2/20

13

09/0

1/20

14

13/0

2/20

14

06/0

3/20

14

20/0

3/20

14

P5 SP5 BCB SCB BP2 SP2 BC SC B

Sea water pH!

Main findings:!!• Throughout the year pH

decreases!• Variability between sites

(recorded pH range) increases during the year. Data collected on 06/03/14 shows the greatest range!

• There appears to be no pattern or relationships between the pH at the surface and the pH at the bottom!

• The pH collected on 20/03/2014 shows the sea water to be strongly acidic (for a sea water sample). The cause of this is unknown.!

!


Surface and Bottom Water pH in 4 sites at Hoi Ha Wan

pH

7.00

7.50

8.00

8.50

9.00

Date (dd/mm/year)

26/0

9/20

13

03/1

0/20

13

17/1

0/20

13

07/1

1/20

13

05/1

2/20

13

09/0

1/20

14

13/0

2/20

14

06/0

3/20

14

20/0

3/20

14P5 SP5 BCB SCB BP2 SP2 BC SC B

Average pH in 4 sites at Hoi Ha Wan

pH4.005.006.007.008.009.00

10.00

Date (dd/mm/year)26

/09/

2013

03/1

0/20

13

17/1

0/20

13

07/1

1/20

13

05/1

2/20

13

09/0

1/20

14

13/0

2/20

14

06/0

3/20

14

20/0

3/20

14

8.29 8.518.05 8.16

8.568.03 8.36 8.16

7.63

Salinity!

Main findings:!!• Salinity increases

during the study period!• Greatest salinity was

recorded in January!• Salinity at the bottom is

generally greater than at the surface. This is less evident at Coral Beach than other sites, where pH is generally lower than other sites!

• Data from Coral Beach on 17/10/2013 appears to be anomalous!


Aver

age

salin

ity (p

pb)

0

10

19

29

38

Date (dd/mm/year)

26/0

9/20

13

03/1

0/20

13

17/1

0/20

13

07/1

1/20

13

05/1

2/20

13

09/0

1/20

14

13/0

2/20

14

06/0

3/20

14

20/0

3/20

14

30 30 2933

3538 36 36 35

Surface and bottom water salinity (ppt) in 4 sites at Hoi Ha Wan

Salin

ity (p

pb)

20

25

30

35

40

Date (dd/mm/year)

26/0

9/20

13

03/1

0/20

13

17/1

0/20

13

07/1

1/20

13

05/1

2/20

13

09/0

1/20

14

13/0

2/20

14

06/0

3/20

14

20/0

3/20

14P5 SP5 BCB SCB BP2 SP2 BC SC B

Dissolved Oxygen!

Main findings:!!•Dissolved oxygen increased during the study period!•There is a possibility that the water at the WWF Centre has lower dissolved oxygen. However, this will need to be monitored as the data set increases.!•There is a greater range of dissolved oxygen results in data collected in March!•In most sites DO is lower in bottom water. Point 2 is the exception to this.!!!!

!Turbidity!

Main findings!!• The water increases

in clarity during the study period!

• Point 2 is consistently the most turbid!

• The water at the WWF centre presents a complex picture, at times being the most turbid (09/01/14 and 13/02/14) while at others being the least (06/03/14 and 20/03/14). It is likely that this is a result of the shadow cast by the structure, although again, this will need to be monitored in the coming years.!


Dissolved oxygen (DO) in surface and bottom water at 4 sites in Hoi Ha Wan

Dis

solv

ed O

xyge

n (p

pm)

0

2.4

4.8

7.2

9.6

12

Date (dd/mm/year)

26/0

9/20

13

03/1

0/20

13

17/1

0/20

13

07/1

1/20

13

05/1

2/20

13

09/0

1/20

14

13/0

2/20

14

06/0

3/20

14

20/0

3/20

14

P5 SP5 BCB SCB BP2 SP2 BC SC B

Turbidity / visibility (m) in 4 sites at Hoi Ha Wan

Turb

idity

(m)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Date (dd/mm/year)

26/0

9/20

13

03/1

0/20

13

17/1

0/20

13

07/1

1/20

13

05/1

2/20

13

09/0

1/20

14

13/0

2/20

14

06/0

3/20

14

20/0

3/20

14

Point 5Coral Beach Point 2CentreAverage

Conclusions from water quality survey!

The data presented will form the basis for future comparisons and cross referencing with the under-water data collected by the coral monitoring group. Areas for future attention include:!!• Consideration of the differences identified between the Centre site and the other locations,

notably temperature and turbidity!• Consideration of the causes of the variability in dissolved oxygen results and potential

impact on biotic data collected by coral monitors!• Potential impact of pH at Coral beach on the ecosystem variables!• As the data set increases, consideration will be given to trends that cannot be explained by

annual variability. This will require data to be recorded by site as well as variable to allow for changes to be identified!

• The data for phosphates and nitrates shows very low levels present within Hoi Ha Wan. However, this data will for the baseline and allow for monitoring of any changes in coming years.!!

!


Results from underwater survey!

Coral Beach!

Surveyed on: 28 Sept 2013 and 12 Apr 2014!!Site Coordinates:!

Latitude: 22° 28.32’ N!Longitude: 114° 19.887 E!

Orientation of transect: E-W!River mouth width: 101-500 m!Distance to nearest population center: 1.8 km!Horizontal underwater visibility: 6 m!!Impacts:!!

Positives: Blast fishing, poison fishing, aquarium fishing, harvest of inverts for food/curio sales are strictly prohibited. Additionally, Coral Beach does not suffer from industrial pollution, live food fish trade and there are no yachts present within a radius of 1 km. In the past few years, the coral hasn’t been damaged by storms. Coral Beach is well sheltered.!!Negatives: Siltation is a severe problem in Coral Beach, apart from slight problem of damage of coral due to tourist diving, sewage pollution (outfall/boat) and commercial/recreational fishing. !!

Protection Measures:!Protection is strictly enforced in Coral Beach, which prohibits spearfishing, commercial fishing, recreational fishing and anchoring on the site. Over the years, however, members of the team have observed line fishing and net fishing (in the following image) within 200 m of the dive site.!

!!


Fall summary!!Coral Beach is one of the most healthy and diverse site among the others. Some damaged coral near shallow areas could be caused by storm or wave actions, or kayaking and snorkelling activities by tourists.!!Pavona is very dominant in Coral Beach, followed by Platygyra. There was also a large variety in corals including Lithophyllon, Goniopora, Acanthastrea, Favia, Hydronophora and Leptastrea.!!Some snappers and groupers were spotted along the transect line. The groupers were of the smallest size classes of 30-40cm long. A small amount of Diademas and a relatively larger amount of edible sea cucumbers were seen as well. Aside from the indicator species, a wide diversity of species including rabbitfish, Bengal sergeant, crabs, oysters, and stonefish were seen in small numbers.!!There were no incidence of impacts seen along the transect line. No boats, anchors, dynamites, fish nets or trashes were spotted. On estimation, there is a 0% of coral population affected by bleaching, since none of the coral colony surface were affected by bleaching. No coral disease were seen in coral beach, including those of black bands and white bands.!!

Spring summary!!Coral Beach is one of the most healthy and diverse site among the others. It is being protected by the Hong Kong Government from any activities that may cause possible harm to the marine

life in it. Although some corals were damaged in our previous dive, none were observed this time.!!Dominant species of coral remains Platygyra and Pavona. There was also a variety of other corals such as Montipora, Favia, Favites, Leptastrea, Hydnophora, Goniopora.!!Along the transect line some snappers and groupers were spotted along with one moray eel. In addition quite a few Diadema and an abundance of sea


cucumbers were observed along with one lobster. !!Aside from the indicator species the following were observed: Leatherjacket, Chinese damsels, schools of glassfish, scallops, crabs, cornet fish, filefish, Bengal sergeants, and colourful nudibranchs.!!There were no incidence of impacts seen along the transect line. No boats, anchors, dynamites, fish nets or trashes were spotted. No coral disease was apparent, but some coral bleaching due to nutrient indicator algae was observed.!!Algae growth was significant, as seen in previous picture of the file fish. This is considered unusual for this dive site, as the survey date (mid April) is two months out from the usual time frame of algae proliferation.!

Site 2!Surveyed on: 19 Oct 2013 / 26 Apr 2014!!Site Coordinates:!

Latitude: 22° 27.993’ N!Longitude: 114° 20.152 E!

Temperature: !Air: 27°C / 23°C!Surface: 28°C / 18°C!At 3m: 26°C / 16°C!

Orientation of transect: NE-SW!Transect Depth: 2.7m!River mouth width: 101-500 m!Distance to nearest population center: 1.8 km!Population Size: ~100!Horizontal underwater visibility: 2 m / 9.5 m!!Impacts:!!

Positives: Blast fishing, poison fishing, aquarium fishing, harvest of inverts for food/curio sales are strictly prohibited. Additionally, Site 2 does not suffer from industrial pollution, live food fish trade and there are no yachts present within a radius of 1 km. In the past few years, the coral hasn’t been damaged by storms. Site 2 is well sheltered.!


!Negatives: Siltation is a severe problem in Site 2, apart from slight problem of damage of coral due to tourist diving, sewage pollution (outfall/boat) and commercial/recreational fishing. !!

Protection Measures:!!Protection is strictly enforced in Site 2, which prohibits spearfishing, commercial fishing, recreational fishing and anchoring on the site. ! !

Fall summary!!Site 2 has a relative abundance of snappers, butterflyfish, and other wrasses. A high abundance of diademas, some sea cucumbers, pencil urchin and other urchins were spotted. Aside from the indicator species, some decorative sea urchins, crabs, large schools of Chinese damsels were spotted along the transect line during the dive.!!There were no incidence of

impacts seen along the transect line. No boats, anchors, dynamites, fish nets or trashes were spotted. Despite the abundance of healthy corals, the reef was slightly affected by bleaching. No coral diseases were seen in site 2, including those of black bands and white bands.!!

Spring summary!!The common coral species include Platygyra, Favia, and Favites, with the sheer number of Lythpyllona, and Pavona. In site 2 there were some rare sighted species such as nudibranch, bengal sergeant, cardinal fish, white barred goby fish, and crabs of about 20 cm in length.!!Algae growth, as with the other sites surveyed in Spring, was significant. The impact on this site seems to be reduced, possibly due to the later survey date.


Site 5 (Gruff Point)!

Surveyed on: 14 Aug 2013 and 5th April 2014!Start of survey: 11:40 am!End of survey: 3:30 pm!Latitude: 22° 28.44’ N!Longitude: 114° 19.44’ E!Orientation of transect: SE-NW!Temperature: !

Air: 28°C!Distance of start point from shore: 1m!Distance from nearest river: 7 km!River mouth width: 101-500 m!Distance to nearest population center: 1.8 km!Population size(x1000): 0.1!Weather: Sunny!Horizontal underwater visibility: 5 m!!Impacts!!

Positives: Blast fishing, poison fishing, aquarium fishing, harvest of inverts for food/curio sales are strictly prohibited. Additionally, Gruff point does not suffer from industrial and sewage pollution, has no live food fish trade and there are no yachts present within a radius of 1 km.!!Negatives: Some tourist activities (snorkelling/diving)!!

Protection Measures:!!Protection is strictly enforced in Site 5, which prohibits spearfishing, commercial fishing, recreational fishing on the site. !!

Fall summary!!Although Gruff Point is covered greatly with large rocks, this survey site also present abundant small hard corals. Most corals are boulder structure, with an occasional plate-structure coral. Platygyra, favites, and favia are most abundant with one case identified as Acanthastrea subechinata, a relatively rare species in the area. Most corals were quite small in size except for one turbinaria spotted that was 50 cm across. This may due to the location of the reef in which the site was near the shore, very shallow, with strong current. !!In general, there were not many corals in the segment. Dead corals were found lying on the sea bed, but not recently killed. Aside from some corals that are partially destroyed by either human activities or typhoons, there present the possible coral bleaching. Quite a significant percentage of corals were of the lightest shade (that is, C1, D1, E1 on the colour code).


Moreover, some of the corals surveyed had a range of colours; for example: green and purple on the same coral head. The parts of the corals that were at the near-white shades were observed to be chewed off or broken off as they were very small. !!

Spring summary!!Temperature: !

Air: 21°C!Surface: 21°C!At 3m: 19°C!

Transect Depth: 2-3m!Horizontal underwater visibility: 4 m!!A large coverage of algae and seaweed was observed in site 5. Besides turf algae, at least four different species were observed:!

Interviews with experienced dive instructors, as well as local boat / kayak operators, suggests that algae usually stop dominating the dive site by the end of February, and the large presence in April is unexpected.!!Also a great variety of different corals was recorded:!

Common: Platygyra, Favia!Uncommon: Turbinaria (3), Cyphastrea (2), Pavona, Porites, Psammocora, Favites, Hydnophora, Acanthastrea and some other unidentified genus !!!


Some diseases found at the parts of coral which are covered with algae:!

In site 5 there was a lot of hawkfish. In addition some rare species such as nudibranch, starfish (Astropectinidae), and particularly large individuals (15 cm stonefish) were seen. On the transect one black coral was seen.!!


Summary!

A single year is a short time for environmental measurements, and observations reported in this interim report should be viewed cautiously in the context of possibly large seasonal variations. Nonetheless, the data from water quality survey, underwater survey, and interviews with people familiar with the sites suggests that the 2014 Spring season was somewhat unusual. !!The coral reef surveys show a transect dominated by algae growth, growth that is often encroaching on live corals. Algae growth is usually attributable to excess nutrients, in the form of sewage release or fertiliser run-off; this does not appear to be the case here, as nitrates and phosphate measurements show no presence of excess nutrients. At the same time, the water quality survey shows increased acidity (pH) as well as dissolved oxygen relative to the Fall; as the first year in this study, we cannot conclude whether this is an anomaly or a natural variation.!!At the same time, the extension of the algae growth season — in conjunction with our previous observations of a diadema (sea urchin) dominated landscape, can itself be a cause of alarm. In other reefs — most recently the Jamaican reefs — the path of marine ecology collapse proceeds through three separate equilibrium. A pristine reef is usually in the fish state, where reefs have high coral cover and abundant populations of large fish and marine mammals; with overfishing, it degenerates into the urchin state, characterised by low numbers of fish, presence of coral, little algae, and large population of Diadema antillarum. Finally the complete collapse lead to a permanent algal state, dominated by large fleshy algae growing on dead skeletons of coral.!!


Moving forward, we proposed two additions to our current project. The first of these is an expansion of the surveying into measurement of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), an area that may yield answers to the cause and future projection of algae growth. Dissolved organic carbon supports the growth of microbes, which in turn lead to decreased viability of the coral animals. This is, however, difficult to acquire (easily contaminated and require careful handling) and need to be analysed by commercial laboratories. The cost of the sample measurements is about 700-900 HKD per month for the samples we collect, and should be feasible given the financial support we receives from WWF.!!The second of these is a more ambitious pilot remediation program, where we propose to place Biorocks — rebar-made, weakly electrified artificial reefs — under the WWF Marine Center. This project would require the support and approval of the AFCD, and is a step beyond the defined scope of our program. But with inevitable stresses to the coral ecology — forced by sea temperature increases and increasing acidity — having a tool that has passed the pilot stage can be invaluable to policy makers. This is a challenging and uncertain project, but one that we believe worth doing; to that end, we have put forth a separate proposal to the WWF, and with their support we will begin soliciting support from all stakeholders in the coming academic year.


APPENDIX!!Data from water quality survey!

Table 1: Wind speed (km/h)!!

Table 2: Wind direction (degrees from N)!!!!!

Date Point 5 Coral Beach Point 2 Centre Average

26/09/2013 8 15 16 13.0

03/10/2013 2 5 4 3.6

17/10/2013 8 2 2 4.0

07/11/2013 8 3 3 4.5

05/12/2013 7 2 4 4.4

09/01/2014 16 2 17 11 11.4

13/02/2014 11 9 2 3 5.9

06/03/2014 7 9 14 2 7.9

20/03/2014 0 2 4 10 4.0

Average 7.3 6.0 7.1 5.8

Date Point 5 Coral Beach Point 2 Centre

26/09/2013 0 20 10 10.0

03/10/2013 200 180 180 186.7

17/10/2013 150 150 130 143.3

07/11/2013 140 200 140 160.0

05/12/2013 140 130 110 100 120.0

09/01/2014 0 10 35 10 13.8

13/02/2014 140 130 230 220 180.0

06/03/2014 315 20 340 324 249.8

20/03/2014 350

135.6 132.2 146.9 163.5


!Table 3: Air temperature (oC)!!

!Table 4: Relative humidity (%)


26/09/2013 28.5 28.0 28.0 28.2

03/10/2013 29.5 29.5 29.2 29.4

17/10/2013 25.0 24.9 25.6 25.2

07/11/2013 25.5 26.1 25.4 25.7

05/12/2013 21.0 21.2 21.6 21.8 21.4

09/01/2014 15.4 15.4 15.1 16.2 15.5

13/02/2014 15.7 14.7 15.8 15.5 15.4

06/03/2014 9.4 9.1 5.4 6.5 7.6

20/03/2014 21.5 20.8 20.6 19.6 20.6

Average 21.3 21.1 20.7 15.9


26/09/2013 72.2 74.2 75.0 73.8

03/10/2013 60.4 62.4 60.9 61.2

17/10/2013 11.0 66.2 76.0 51.1

07/11/2013 78.8 82.1 79.7 80.2

05/12/2013 49.8 44.0 49.2 53.7 49.2

09/01/2014 79.5 66.9 67.1 68.9 70.6

13/02/2014 83.1 83.8 82.9 82.4 83.1

06/03/2014 81.4 83.4 83.5 79.0 81.8

20/03/2014 88.6 89.3 91.2 86.7 89.0

Average 67.2 72.5 73.9 74.1


!Table 5: Surface and sea bottom water temperature (oC)!!

!Table 6: Dissolved oxygen (ppm)!!!!!!!!


Surface Bottom Surface Bottom Surface Bottom Surface Bottom Average

26/09/2013 30.1 29.8 29.6 29.5 29.9 30.0 29.8

03/10/2013 29.1 28.3 28.9 28.0 29.1 28.3 28.6

17/10/2013 29.0 28.9 28.8 29.0 28.8 28.8 28.9

07/11/2013 25.1 25.1 25.4 24.8 24.9 24.9 25.0

05/12/2013 22.9 22.3 22.6 21.1 22.5 22.2 22.7 21.7 22.3

09/01/2014 18.2 18.2 18.2 18.2 18.0 18.1 18.2 18 18.1

13/02/2014 14.8 15.1 15.1 14.7 15.5 15.6 15.1

06/03/2014 9.9 9.5 9.4 9.5 9.2 10.0 12.9 9.1 9.9

20/03/2014 21.0 26.1 21.3 21.0 20.5 20.6 22.3 22.3 21.9

Average 22.2 22.6 22.1 21.8 22.0 22.1 19.0 17.8

Date Point 5 (DO ppm)

Coral Beach (DO ppm)

Point 2 (DO ppm)

Centre (DO ppm)

Surface Bottom Surface Bottom Surface Bottom Surface Bottom Ave

26/09/2013 5.66 5.51 5.61 5.34 6.15 5.99 5.71

03/10/2013 6.14 6.30 6.29 5.26 6.19 6.36 6.09

17/10/2013 6.67 5.35 6.14 5.44 5.61 5.31 5.75

07/11/2013 6.80 6.10 6.45 5.78 6.65 6.23 6.34

05/12/2013 7.86 8.04 8.32 7.69 8.24 8.38 7.79 7.36 7.96

09/01/2014 7.40 7.47 7.38 7.43 7.85 7.48 7.39 7.40 7.48

13/02/2014 8.28 8.20 8.12 8.28 7.80 7.90 8.54 9.43 8.32

06/03/2014 9.99 10.30 10.20 10.36 10.26 10.31 8.54 9.43 9.92

20/03/2014 9.38 8.83 9.05 8.55 10.33 11.50 8.91 6.76 9.16

Average 7.58 7.34 7.51 7.13 7.68 7.72 8.23 8.08


!Table 7: Salinity (parts per trillion)!!!

!Table 8: Water pH!!!!!!!!


Surface Bottom Surface Bottom Surface Bottom Surface Bottom Ave

26/09/2013 30 30 30 30 30 30 30

03/10/2013 30 30 30 31 30 30 30

17/10/2013 32 34 23 22 31 32 29

07/11/2013 31 33 34 33 32 34 33

05/12/2013 35 36 32 36 36 36 35 35 35

09/01/2014 36 39 38 39 37 39 37 36 38

13/02/2014 36 36 35 35 35 36 37 35 36

06/03/2014 36 33 35 36 36 36 36 36 36

20/03/2014 35 35 36 35 35 36 35 35 35

Average 33 34 33 33 34 34 36 35 33


Surface Bottom Surface Bottom Surface Bottom Surface Bottom Average

26/09/2013 8.30 8.27 8.25 8.25 8.32 8.32 8.29

03/10/2013 8.55 8.42 8.58 8.38 8.58 8.52 8.51

17/10/2013 8.10 8.08 8.01 8.13 7.95 8.01 8.05

07/11/2013 8.31 8.18 8.12 8.04 8.20 8.10 8.16

05/12/2013 8.34 8.70 8.53 8.58 8.64 8.68 8.42 8.55 8.56

09/01/2014 8.01 8.04 8.07 8.07 8.03 8.07 8.01 7.96 8.03

13/02/2014 8.40 8.42 8.35 8.44 8.45 8.39 8.18 8.24 8.36

06/03/2014 8.70 8.11 8.10 7.70 8.16 8.12 7.96 8.43 8.16

20/03/2014 7.50 7.56 7.56 7.55 7.76 7.80 7.74 7.56 7.63

Average 8.25 8.20 8.17 8.13 8.23 8.22 8.06 8.15


!!

!Table 9: Turbidity (visibility) (m)!!!For dissolved nutrients, our instrument is capable of detecting nitrates and phosphates at a part per million (ppm) level, but no nitrates nor phosphates were detected through the nine surveys.


26/09/2013 2.5 2.5 2.0 2.3

03/10/2013 3.5 3.5 2.6 3.2

17/10/2013 3.0 2.5 2.0 2.5

07/11/2013 3.0 3.0 2.5 2.8

05/12/2013 3.5 5.5 2.7 3.0 3.7

09/01/2014 6.5 6.0 4.5 3.5 5.1

13/02/2014 6.5 4.0 4.1 3.1 4.4

06/03/2014 3.0 3.5 3.5 4.0 3.5

20/03/2014 5.0 4.5 4.0 5.5 4.8

Average 4.1 3.9 3.1 3.8


!!!!!Data from Reefcheck surveys!

Coral Beach 28 Sept 2013!

! Table 1.1: There is a relative abundance of snapper and no abundance of any other kind of indicator species

! Table 1.2: There are some groupers observed in the area.


! Table 1.3: There was a great abundance of sea cucumbers in this site and only a small number of diademas !!

! Table 1.5: There were no reports on the incidence of impact in coral beach !


! ! !Table 1.6: On estimation, no coral populations were affected by bleaching and no coral colony surfaces affected by bleaching in Coral Beach

! !Table 1.7: There were no reports on coral diseases in Coral Beach !Coral beach 12 Apr 2014!

Fish!


! Table 1.8: Some Grouper, Snapper, Parrotfish and one Moray Eel were observed.

! Table 1.9: Only Grouper observed. !!


!!Invertebrates data!

! Table 1.10: Few Diadema and and several Sea cucumbers. !!

! Table 1.11: No Impacts on the area !


! Table 1.12: 8% Coral Bleached Table 1.13: 8% Coral Bleached !

! Table 1.14: Zero coral disease in the area !!


!!Substrate data!

! Table 1.15: A lot of hard coral followed by rocks and sponge. Less areas covered by sand rubble or silt. !

! Table 1.16: 56% covered by hard coral Table 1.17: Largest non living cover is rock !!!!!!

!


Site 2 - 19 Oct 2013!

Reef Check Fish Graphs for Hoi Hai Wan (Site 2)

! Table 2.3: There is a relative abundance of snapper, butterflyfish and other wrasses. No other indicator species were seen. Reef Check Invertebrates Graphs for Hoi Hai Wan (Site 2)

! Table 2.1: There is a high abundance of diadema, while a relatively small abundance of pencil urchin, other urchins and sea cucumbers was observed. !!Reef Check Impacts, Bleaching and Disease Graphs for Hoi Hai Wan (Site 2)


! Table 2.5: There were no reports on destructions or pollution observed in the area.

! Table 2.6: There were no reports on coral diseases observed in the area


! ! Table 2.7: Despite the abundance of healthy corals, the reef was slightly affected by the coral

bleaching. !!Site 2 - 26 Apr 2014!

!

Reef Check Fish Graphs for site 2: 26 April 2014


! !!

! !Site 5 - 14 Sept 2013!

!Fish data

Reef Check Invertebrates Graphs for site 2: 26 April 2014


! Figure 3.1: There is a relative abundance of Haemulidae, Snapper and Butterflyfish. Some Cuttlefish were also spotted during the dive. !Invertebrates data

! Figure 3.2: The survey shows the great abundance of diadema along the transect smaller amount of sea cucumbers. Moreover, several red crabs are observed. !!Substrate Data


! ! Figure 3.3 !Site 5 - 5 Apr 2014!!Fish Data

! Figure 3.4: There are only a few snappers observed. !!Invertebrates Data !


! Figure 3.5: There is a great abundance of Diadema and some sea cucumber were seen in the site, but only on the beginning of the transect, specifically at from 0 to 20 m. !Substrate Data !

! ! Figure 3.6


coral eco 2013-14 interim report r1

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