Word: coralled
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...race. Across Asia, citizens are beginning to ask who will serve as their nations' Obamas, change agents who vow to reach across party lines and heal divided societies. One Asian, it turns out, has already assumed the role. Just before the American election, on a string of islands and coral atolls in the Indian Ocean, another far less heralded poll took place. For 30 years, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom had ruled the Maldives, making him Asia's longest-serving leader. But on Nov. 11, he peacefully relinquished power after the country's first-ever multiparty popular elections. His successor is Mohamed...
...reported the damage to state agencies: "As far as I've been diving here, I haven't heard of a similar incident of this magnitude." The other damaged reef is located off a state park just south of Port Everglades. There, sponges have been sliced, and soft and hard corals cut and turned over. (See pictures of imperiled coral reefs here...
Aside from providing homes for fish life and plants, coral reefs also produce billions of dollars in related eco-tourism and thousands of jobs in South Florida. They are also a buffer for beach erosion, a problem exacerbated by each new oceanside high-rise condo, as well as the storms and hurricanes that have battered Florida over the last four years. A joint federal and state study released in 2001 showed the reef-related economy - including money spent by eco-tourists for diving, chartering boats and the like - resulted in a $4 billion industry and more than 35,000 jobs...
...wasn't until the last decade or two that more attention was given to these forests of the sea. Vessel groundings, coastal construction, pollution and climate change have all severely affected and continue to have a detrimental impact on sea life around the world, with more and more coral threatened with extinction. In 2006, the staghorn and elkhorn corals, prevalent along South Florida waters, were listed as threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act (Staghorn coral is present in the Breakers reef, but it is not believed to have been damaged this time around...
Last week, heftier federally regulated fines were enacted for vessels that damage coral reefs. Florida's Department of Environmental Protection is investigating an 80-foot dive boat called the Nekton that ran aground and caused the reef damage in Broward County, sending a crew out on Tuesday for an assessment. "We have a lot of broken corals there that need to be removed," said Chantal Collier, manager of the state's Coral Reef Conservation Program. Meanwhile, the non-profit volunteer group Palm Beach County Reef Rescue on Tuesday announced a $2,500 reward for any information leading to the culprits...