Jolts of electricity revive damaged coral reef<\/p>\n
Marilyn August, The Associated Press\/Pemuteran, Bali<\/p>\n
As the late-afternoon sun bathes the beach with a soft warmth,
\ngentle waves lap quietly at the shore -- and strollers
\noccasionally stumble over a thick wad of white cables embedded in
\nthe fine, black sand.<\/p>\n
The cables seem to disappear into the sea, where large blue
\nplastic balls bob in the waves. And they seem to come out of
\nnowhere, sprouting like a nasty growth on the face of this
\nstretch of tropical paradise on Bali's northwestern coast.<\/p>\n
The wires are part of highly original and ambitious underwater
\nexperiment: the use of low-voltage electrical current to
\nstimulate regrowth in a badly damaged coral reef.
\nConceived by coral expert Tom Goreau of the United States and
\nGerman architecture professor Wolf Hilbertz, the project began
\nfour years ago and has already achieved remarkable results.<\/p>\n
Covering a total length of 300 meters (nearly 1,000 feet), the
\nKarang Lestari Project -- \"coral preservation\" in Indonesian --
\nis the world's largest coral nursery ever built using this
\ntechnology.<\/p>\n
\"You can really see the difference in the reef in just a short
\ntime,\" said Chris Brown, owner of Reef Seen Aquatics Dive Center,
\nwhich co-sponsors the project along with local hotels and shops
\ncommitted to preserving the reef.<\/p>\n
The technique is also being used experimentally in other
\ntropical locations, such as Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, but
\nthe project in Bali is the largest and most ambitious of its
\nkind.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is home to 581 of the world's 793 known coral reef-
\nbuilding species, and most thrive in Pemuteran Bay. The area has
\nlong been a favorite among scuba divers, who will go elsewhere,
\naffecting tourism, if the reef dies.<\/p>\n
On the sandy ocean floor 3 to 7 meters (9 to 21 feet) down are
\ndozens of grids made from welded construction bars. Seen from
\nabove, they look like some underwater playground equipped with
\njungle gyms, monkey bars, upside-down cone and other climbing
\napparatus for kids. One looks like the ribcage of a whale.<\/p>\n
Wires carrying the electrical current are secured to the bars
\nand are plugged into onshore charging stations. Brown estimates
\nthe amount of electricity used in a week is equal to burning a
\nsingle 60-watt bulb for a month.<\/p>\n
Non-swimmers can follow the reef's renewal thanks to color
\nphotographs displayed at Taman Sari Bali Cottages, a sponsor that
\ninjected some US$15,000 (12,138) in seed money to get the project
\nstarted in 2000.<\/p>\n
Brown, an Australian who settled in this fishing village of
\n8,000 people in 1992 and a co-owner of the cottages, said that
\nwithin days of receiving their first jolts of electricity, the
\nbars grew a white limestone film. This covering provides the
\nnecessary substrate for coral growth.<\/p>\n
The grids were then seeded with small fragments of live coral,
\nwhich begin to grow \"between five and 10 times faster than
\nnormal, with much brighter colors and more resilience to hot
\nweather and pollution,\" said a coowner of the Taman Sari
\nCottages, an American who goes by the single name Naryana.<\/p>\n
Some corals have been transplanted directly onto the bars,
\nattached by wires or wedged into specially designed spaces. Soft
\ncorals, sponges, tunicates and anemones were also transplanted.
\nVibrant colors and growth up to one centimeter (0.4 inch) in less
\nthan a month have been recorded. Grids that suffered power
\nfailures saw less vigorous development and duller colors.<\/p>\n
\"Today, the fish are back, including deep-water fish which
\ncome into the reef to rest during the daytime,\" Naryana said.
\nThe regenerated reef has attracted mobiel squid, cuttle fish, sea
\nurchins and starfish. Batfish, damsel fish and cleaning fish also
\nhave clustered in the area, along with dense schools of snappers.
\nDivers also have noted the presence of large groups of young fish
\n- a good sign of future self-sustaining populations and the long-
\nawaited return to a balanced ecosystem.<\/p>\n
Naryana, who was born Randall Dodge in Nebraska, described the
\nreef as a \"total wasteland\" when the project began. He said the
\nEl Nino weather phenomenon bleached it in the early 1990s,
\nkilling most of the coral in shallow water, and the 1998 Asian
\neconomic crisis forced starving fishermen to adopt destructive
\nfishing practices that caused further damage.<\/p>\n
Another near-catastrophe came in the mid-'90s with the arrival
\nof some 70,000 voracious Crown of Thorns starfish, most of which
\ndivers yanked from the water before they could devour the reef.<\/p>\n
Concerned citizens like Brown and Naryana have long supported
\ncommunity programs to educate the locals about the long-term
\nconsequences of the reef's worst enemy: fishing with explosives.<\/p>\n
\"Fishermen from Pemuteran actually went out and stopped the
\nbombers,\" Naryana said. \"It took education, talking and
\ndemonstrations to convince them that ocean conservation is the
\nfuture.\"<\/p>\n
Naryana agrees with Goreau and Hilbertz that the reef project
\nis not just about jump-starting an ecosystem but rather an
\ninvestment in the preservation of rapidly disappearing coral
\nspecies and the fish that breed there.<\/p>\n
Brown hopes the technique will spread to countries that lack
\nthe money for more expensive methods to regenerate or improve
\ntheir coral reefs.<\/p>\n
\"We find that electricity reinforces the coral that's already
\nthere, and has a profound effect on the condition of surrounding
\ncorals,\" he said. \"It shows you can take good coral and make it
\nbetter.\"<\/p>\n
GetAP 1.00 -- AUG 19, 2004 08:53:34<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jolts-of-electricity-revive-damaged-coral-reef-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }