Status of Coral Reefs of the World 2000

Status of Coral Reefs in the Eastern Caribbean
• Algal proliferation: The invasions of algae (mostly Sargassum) in 1984 after the
die off of Diadema have continued with the probable causes being
eutrophication of the coastal waters from the city of Fort-de-France and a lack of
algal grazers. Most reefs on Martinique suffer from algal proliferation of Turbinaria
on the reef fronts, Sargassum on the fore reef zones and Dictyota in the lagoons.
A similar situation exists in Guadeloupe, Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthélémy;
• Tourism: The Pigeon Islets, on the leeward side of Guadeloupe, are one of the
most famous scuba diving spots of the French West Indies, and between 60,000
and 80,000 divers visit the islets each year with less experienced divers causing
physical damage to the corals.
THE NETHERLANDS ANTILLES
Bonaire and Curaçao
The general structure and zonation pattern of the reefs of the leeward (western) shore is as
follows:
• a shallow terrace extends 30-150m from the shore to the drop off which starts at
10-15m. The terrace has a characteristic zonation (shallow to deep) of Acropora
palmata, Acropora cervicornis and a mixed zone with Montastraea annularis
being the dominant stony coral and a variety of gorgonians.
• from the drop off the fore reef slopes at 30-60 degrees to a sediment covered
platform at a depth of around 50m. From 10-25m the dominant corals are usually
Montastrea annularis and Agaricia agaricites. At greater depth the dominant species
are the plate forming Montastrea cavernosa and Stephanocoenia michelinii.
Approximately 55 other species of coral can be found on the reefs, and these vary by
habitat. The density and distribution of gorgonians, and sponges differ between areas.
Over 250 species of fish have been recorded on Bonaire’s reefs.
Atypical reef structures include:
• shallow water spur and grooves;
• to the north of the island the western facing shore is often covered by large coral
heads, several metres in diameter, in shallow water;
• to the north of the island the southern facing shore the reef slope shows buttress
formation and is steeper than average with the deep water sediment platform
occurring below 100m;
• on Klein Bonaire the north-eastern coast has virtually no shallow water terrace and
the drop off begins at 2-5m;
• at some sites there is an intermediate sediment platform at 25-30m and a
secondary reef formation to the seaward (double reef).
On the windward (eastern) shore the terrace extends generally 100-200m off shore to a
depth of 12m. It is covered primarily with crustose coralline algae and Sargassum, and also
some gorgonians. The reef slope is generally far less steep than on the leeward shore with
less coral cover and abundant brown algae.
321