Ship damages reefs in Keys

[michaelg]

Ship accused of crushing coral

 

                        By Marc Caputo, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

                        Friday, November 22, 2002

 

                        KEY WEST -- A world-roaming cargo ship smashed more than 1,000 rare corals at one of

                        Florida's most pristine dive spots when, officials say, it dropped its massive anchor in a

                        prohibited area.

 

                        A survey of the 6,500-square-foot damage site, completed last week, stunned researchers with

                        the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. The 15-ton anchor flipped over corals that weigh

                        more than 1,000 pounds and began forming their star-shaped clusters before explorer Ponce de

                        Leon sailed over them.

 

                        "This is some of the greatest destruction of living coral I've ever seen in my life," said Harold

                        Hudson, a biologist who conducted the survey. "It was heartbreaking."

 

                        For two decades, Hudson has surveyed some of the worst ship groundings along the Keys --

                        the world's third largest barrier reef, which was placed under federal protection in 1997.

 

                        Just last week, the 3,000-square-mile sanctuary received international recognition as a

                        no-anchor zone for large ships. So from now on, all new charts printed anywhere in the world

                        are supposed to list five no-anchor zones around the globe -- including the waters around the

                        Keys.

 

                        The designation was too late for the 853-foot-long MSC Diego.

 

                        Cargo vessel cited

 

                        On Oct. 2, a Coast Guard patrol saw a big blip on its radar screen smack in the middle of the

                        Tortugas Ecological Reserve. The site, off the Dry Tortugas 70 miles west of Key West,

                        borders a sought-after dive spot known as Sherwood Forest, so named because the ancient

                        corals look like mushrooms and leafy plants. It is considered so environmentally sensitive that

                        even fishing is prohibited.

 

                        The Coast Guard crew boarded the MSC Diego and informed the captain that the area was a

                        no-anchor zone, according to a Coast Guard report.

 

                        The captain of the Panamanian-flagged vessel said he was "unaware" of the rule because the

                        zone wasn't listed on his chart, according to the report.

 

                        The vessel was then cited for anchoring in violation of federal law.

 

                        Mediterranean Shipping Co., the second-largest cargo shipping firm in the world, owns the

                        MSC Diego. Officials with the Geneva-based company declined to comment. Its attorney did

                        not return repeated calls.

 

                        The marine sanctuary's superintendent, Billy Causey, said the company has been cooperative,

                        having hired divers to help right the corals "jelly-side up" to save them.

 

                        The damage at the Dry Tortugas was not publicized. Causey acknowledged that the sanctuary

                        doesn't want to damage its good relations with Mediterranean Shipping.

 

                        The company faces two maximum penalties of $119,000 for anchoring illegally and ruining

                        coral. However, it could be liable for millions of dollars in damages, Causey said.

 

                        "We don't try to crucify companies or people," Causey said. "Our job is focusing on

                        restoration as quick as we can for the U.S. public because it's their coral, their sanctuary, that

                        we're talking about here."

 

                        Declared sensitive area

 

                        Causey said last week's international designation of the sanctuary as a "Particularly Sensitive

                        Sea Area" should help prevent damage like that caused by the MSC Diego. The initiative was

                        pushed by the International Maritime Organization, a United Nations division.

 

                        "Now, there are really no excuses for things like this," Causey said. "This literally puts us on

                        the global map."

 

                        It's a necessity, Causey said, considering that 40 percent of all global shipping traffic flows

                        through the Florida Straits between Key West and Havana. In the case of the MSC Diego, the

                        captain was heading to Freeport, Bahamas after departing New Orleans. Officials couldn't

                        explain why the ship was anchored for about three days before it was spotted by the Coast

                        Guard.

 

                        All along, the anchor skipped along the bottom while the giant chain links -- weighing up to

                        100 pounds each -- swung in a windshield-wiper motion as wind and current shifted the boat.

 

                        The Dry Tortugas, instrumental in the Union's maritime strategy in the Civil War, has long

                        been a spot for container ships to anchor and await instructions on how to proceed.

 

                        All along, the bordering reefs have been a nuisance for ships. But it's only benefited Florida

                        and the Keys. In the 19th century, Key West became one of the wealthiest cites in the nation

                        by salvaging vessels wrecked on the reef.

 

                        Today, the reef provides a prime tourist destination for thousands of divers flocking to the

                        area known as the "rain forests of the ocean." Corals, which are invertebrates, take years to

                        grow, especially if they form external skeletons as with brain, star and elkhorn corals. They

                        can only exist in warm, clean waters.

 

                        Those conditions don't always exist off the Keys, where scientists have documented diseases

                        linked to runoff from Palm Beach County sugar farms and Keys septic tanks. As a result,

                        average coral cover decreased from 10 percent of the sanctuary to 6.5 percent from 1996 to

                        2000.

 

                        The spot where the MSC Diego dropped its anchor had up to 60 percent coral coverage. One

                        reason: There's little pollution and fewer divers to step on, snap off and anchor to the coral.

 

                        The nonprofit environmental group Reef Relief, which led the charge to save the reef from

                        anchor damage, says there's hope. Founder Craig Quirolo says coral stands off the Keys,

                        decimated by the disease White Pox that he discovered, are coming back.

 

                        Quirolo said the damage at the Dry Tortugas, however, might be irreparable.

 

                        "We're talking about hundreds of years of life getting plowed up because some captain wasn't

                        paying attention or didn't know where he was," Quirolo said.

 

                        Still, marine sanctuary biologist Hudson said all's not lost. Dive teams began flipping the corals

                        right-side-up almost immediately after authorities learned of the damage. In some cases, divers

                        had to inflate giant plastic bags to help lift the heaviest corals.

 

                        Until the MSC Diego's anchoring, the worst destruction along the reef happened off the Lower

                        Keys in 1997, when the 600-foot container ship Houston ran aground in stormy weather,

                        gouging 7,600-square-feet of bottom habitat.

 

                        Hudson said corals there are starting to come back. But, he says, he fears more accidents on

                        the horizon -- even with the new international maps demarcating the no-anchor zone.

 

                        "In the end, people make mistakes," Hudson said. "And regulations, sad to say, aren't always

                        going to stop that. Unfortunately, it will probably happen again."

 

                        marc_caputo@pbpost.com

[jhemmer]

We oughtta hang that captain up by his little anchor and see how he likes it!!

 

Ignorance, at times, is as bad as malice!

 

John

[pez]

Ignoring the fact that the area was just recently (within the  last week) declared a "no anchor" area, I think reefs are pretty well marked on most maps.  Clearly the captain has little regard for the world's reefs.  sniff...:(

[SDBDRZ]

You know I doubt a lot of people realize the damage they are causing.  Just as an example I was diving in Cancun in July.  I went out on a small dive boat (3 other divers) and the captain could not find the buoy to tie off his boat at the site we were diving.  Instead of looking he grabbed his anchor and got ready to throw it over.  I commented to him that it was not a good idea to anchor and the divemaster ended up going in to find the buoy.  These guys running the dive boat had an idea of what damage the anchor would have done and were willing to drop it anyway.  The tourist dollar they make today is more important to them than sustaining the reef for generation to come.  Very sad.