“Typhoon Morakot [in August] showed how fragile these coral reef systems have become,” Keng said.
She said she found mounds of “broken and overturned reefs” after leading a group of divers to inspect the typhoon’s aftermath.
In Lanyu (蘭嶼), coral reefs were reduced to 17 percent as a result of the typhoon, from 67 percent coverage in 2004. Other islands, including Liouciou (小琉球) and Penghu (澎湖), suffered similar damage.
However, there is still cause for optimism, Keng said, citing a case in which divers found out first hand how resilient coral reefs could be if left undisturbed.
“Divers who visited the Northeast and Yilan Coast National Scenic Area (東北角暨宜蘭海岸國家風景區) last year said there was nothing to see, that the coral reefs were mostly dead,” she said. “However, this year, we found that after being left alone, the coral reefs had mostly regenerated … It was beautiful.”
Coral reefs are home to dozens of fish species and are an accurate measure of how we are treating our oceans, Allen Chen said.
“Healthy coral reefs lead to a healthy ocean, which in turn is the key to the health of people,” he said.
RSS