New project studying effects of COVID lockdown on coral reef ecosystems
We’ve got a new project right now that’s looking at if and how the tiny COVID-19 pathogen is having surprising, indirect effects that extend all the way to coral reef ecosystems.
In collaboration with HIMB’s Coral Reef Ecology Lab, who has been monitoring the reefs of Hanauma Bay on O’ahu in Hawai’i for 20+ years, we’re putting out arrays of ‘camera traps’ to understand if and how fishes and invertebrates respond behaviorally when human activity in their reef home ceases, and therefore how the tiny pathogen that causes COVID-19 indirectly may affect coral reef ecosystems.
A couple of recent media articles sum up the project nicely: an interview on Hawai’i’s local NPR (National Public Radio) station and a story in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser newspaper.
Hanauma Bay is a Marine Nature Preserve and a popular tourist attraction for snorkelers and SCUBA divers. Typically, Hanauma Bay receives ~3000 visitors per day throughout the year or approximately 1 million visitors per year. However, the COVID-19 lockdown has brought that number to zero. The shutdown has provided the perfect opportunity for us to observe the ecological consequences of visitor presence within the bay by comparing fish and invertebrate behaviors in the bay with and without visitors.
We won’t know the answer to our question until visitors return to the bay, but no matter what the it is, it will be interesting. Stay tuned!!