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Following the grounding and the consequent oil spill of the Wakashio, Eco-Sud with the collaboration of the Albion Fisheries Research Centre (AFRC) initiated a coral triage effort to salvage mechanically damage coral colonies, impacted directly and indirectly by the Wakashio bulk carrier. This rehabilitation effort was proposed by ITOPF to prevent coral mortality due to deployment of oil booms. A preliminary assessment carried by our scientific team determined three main sites where coral ecosystems were impacted, namely Blue Bay Marine Protected Area – Grand Port Fishing Reserve boundary, Wakashio grounding area and Ile Aux Aigrettes. Corals were affected generally due to mechanical damage and suffocation due to increased turbidity linked to suspended sediment.
Impacted coral colonies were remediated using a universal glue and concrete mix which were used to stabilise the colonies or where the colonies were damaged, the fragments were glued on the hard substrate as means of rehabilitation. Each site demonstrated a varying degree of impact, where the most impacted coral family group were tabular and massive corals. The latter forms part of the slow-growing coral cluster, with an average growth of 2 cm per year, underlining the importance of a quick rehabilitation effort to salvage the impacted colonies.
Five coral colonies were tagged at each of the three sites to monitor the growth and survival rate. The scientific team carries monthly monitoring at the site with particular attention to the tagged colonies to assess bleaching rate and survival rate. So far, the short-term rehabilitation effort is proving successful with a low bleaching and high survival rate.
#WakashioOilSpill #EcoSud #Mauritius #Moris #MarineGuide #Coral
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