| Submit your comments on this article |
| Southeast Asia |
| Jolts of Electricity Reviving Coral Reef |
| 2004-08-23 |
| By MARILYN AUGUST, Associated Press Mon Aug 23, 7:44 AM ET PEMUTERAN, North Bali - As the late-afternoon sun bathes the beach with a soft warmth, gentle waves lap quietly at the shore — and strollers occasionally stumble over a thick wad of white cables embedded in the fine, black sand. The cables seem to disappear into the sea, where large blue plastic balls bob in the waves. And they seem to come out of nowhere, sprouting like a nasty growth on the face of this stretch of tropical paradise on Bali's northwestern coast. The wires are part of highly original and ambitious underwater experiment: the use of low-voltage electrical current to stimulate regrowth in a badly damaged coral reef. Conceived by coral expert Tom Goreau of the United States and German architecture professor Wolf Hilbertz, the project began four years ago and has already achieved remarkable results. Covering a total length of nearly 1,000 feet, the Karang Lestari Project — "coral preservation" in Indonesian — is the world's largest coral nursery ever built using this technology. "You can really see the difference in the reef in just a short time," said Chris Brown, owner of Reef Seen Aquatics Dive Center, which co-sponsors the project along with local hotels and shops committed to preserving the reef. The technique is also being used experimentally in other tropical locations, such as Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, but the project in Bali is the largest and most ambitious of its kind. Indonesia is home to 581 of the world's 793 known coral reef-building species, and most thrive in Pemuteran Bay. The area has long been a favorite among scuba divers, who will go elsewhere, affecting tourism, if the reef dies. On the sandy ocean floor 9 to 21 feet down are dozens of grids made from welded construction bars. Seen from above, they look like some underwater playground equipped with jungle gyms, monkey bars, upside-down cone and other climbing apparatus for kids. One looks like the ribcage of a whale. Wires carrying the electrical current are secured to the bars and are plugged into onshore charging stations. Brown estimates the amount of electricity used in a week is equal to burning a single 60-watt bulb for a month. Non-swimmers can follow the reef's renewal thanks to color photographs displayed at Taman Sari Bali Cottages, a sponsor that injected some $15,000 in seed money to get the project started in 2000. |
| Posted by:Zenster |
| #6 I see nothing about control sets. While not a proper control group, this effect has already been determined to exist for simple accretion, so acceleration of polyp growth is not a huge leap. The current induced convection may indeed "sweep" nutrients towards those polyps already attached to the charged substrate. The grids were then seeded with small fragments of live coral, which begin to grow "between five and 10 times faster than normal, with much brighter colors and more resilience to hot weather and pollution," said a co-owner of the Taman Sari Cottages, an American who goes by the single name Naryana ... Grids that suffered power failures saw less vigorous development and duller colors. #5 I think we should build nuclear generating plants on the shore next to all reefs and do this. After all, the reefs are far more important than the fact that elelctricity has to be generated. Nice try, Chuck. Brown estimates the amount of electricity used in a week is equal to burning a single 60-watt bulb for a month. You don't need nuclear reactors to power a flashlight. And you had better bet that enhancing reef growth is of equal or greater importance than increasing the production of nuclear power. The degree of reliance that marine life has upon coral reef structures may well exceed even that of krill and is probably exceeded only by the importance of plankton when it comes to sustaining natatorial life. Reefs promote sheltered environments for piscine nurseries and additionally represent huge food factories that also act as breakwaters to promote substantially greater populations than open ocean water ever could. Atoll formations increase wildlife diversity and therefore expand the food chain in ways that a nuclear reactor just isn't capable of doing. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-08-23 3:19:04 PM |
| #5 I think we should build nuclear generating plants on the shore next to all reefs and do this. After all, the reefs are far more important than the fact that elelctricity has to be generated. |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2004-08-23 2:58:51 PM |
| #4 Er, I read that article through twice. I see nothing about control sets. How certain are they that the presence of metal grates for a matrix isn't providing their effect? I seem to remember that people use things like decommissioned cruisers and piles of Patton tanks for this exact reason... |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2004-08-23 2:52:59 PM |
| #3 My personal WTF moment in an otherwise absorbing article: "Naryana, who was born Randall Dodge in Nebraska" |
| Posted by: Carl in N.H 2004-08-23 2:51:15 PM |
| #2 Clear! *bz-ZAP* |
| Posted by: eLarson 2004-08-23 2:12:31 PM |
| #1 Concerned citizens like Brown and Naryana have long supported community programs to educate the locals about the long-term consequences of the reef’s worst enemy: fishing with explosives. Old Punchline: Do you want to talk? Or do you want to fish? |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-08-23 12:39:32 PM |