Mauritius freighter aground A possible increase in coral damage due to calcareous effects September 4, 20:05
A Japanese cargo ship stranded off the coast of Mauritius, and there is concern about the impact on the ecosystem. While the impact is hardly seen at this point, he points out that the impact of the diffusion of calcareous matter, which is caused by the coral shaving on some of the ships left on the scene, may be significant.
Hiroya Yamano, Director of the Center for Biological and Ecological Environment Research, National Institute for Environmental Studies, who has been conducting research on corals for many years, was dispatched to Mauritius as a Japanese government expert from the 20th to the 28th of last month, and the sea area where the accident occurred We conducted diving surveys at 16 locations.
As a result, there was no situation where the spilled heavy oil covered the corals, which was a concern at the beginning, and no dead corals were seen.
On the other hand, the seawater was severely turbid in three places in the water area about 1.5 km north of the stranded cargo ship, and the transparency was about 3 meters, which was lower than the normal coral reef of about 20 meters. is.
This is because the stern part of the cargo ship left on the site and the chain of fences that prevent oil diffusion move under the influence of waves and scrape the coral, and the limestone that forms the skeleton of the coral is broken and drifts in the sea. It is believed that some of the corals that seemed to be dead seemed dead due to snowfall on the coral, suffocation, and loss of photosynthesis.
Last year and four years ago, the coral bleaching phenomenon caused by coral weakening occurred in the sea area of the site, and it is possible that the damage will spread in the future by the influence of calcareous matter.
Yamano said, ``In the past, I have never heard of a stranded ship continuing to scrape off corals and turbidity occurred in such a wide range, and it is possible to monitor the effect of broken calcareous on corals over the long term. It is necessary."