The Northeast Canyons
science
by Mark LaPointe
The Northeast Canyons
W
hen one thinks of coral reefs, thoughts quickly turn to bright sunlit images of vibrant colorful corals and sea fans waving in warm tropical waters. The Great Barrier Reef and the Florida Keys quickly come to mind. Yet corals also exist about 150 miles northeast of Fire Island, in the depths of the Atlantic. These deep- or coldwater corals also bring an element not seen in tropical corals: the element of phosphorescence. In their low light environment of the oceans depths, some of these corals even glow. The Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument was created by President Barack Obama under the Antiquities Act on September 15, 2016. Encompassing nearly 5,000 square miles, the monument contains four undersea mountains named Bear, Mytilus, Physalia, and Retriever, as well as three undersea canyons. The site is managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The sea mountains (seamounts) are extinct volcanoes that rise thousands of feet from the sea floor. For example, the Bear Seamount is 6,600 feet tall. Between the seamounts are the canyons in which cold-water corals reside. These corals are members of a group called the Cnidaria, and are related to such animals as sea anemones and jellyfish. Cold-water corals vary greatly, from single coral to the colonial stony corals that form reefs. Unlike tropical corals, of which there are nearly 800 reef-forming species, only six species of cold-water corals have been identified as reef builders. Coldwater corals belong to two subgroups of Cnidaria: the Anthozoa and the Hydrozoa. Anthozoa corals include colonial stony corals (Scleractinia), true soft corals (Octocorallia), and black corals (Antipatharia). The Hydrozoa include the calcifying lace corals (Stylasteridae), according to the Lophelia.org website.
Cold-water corals grow slowly, and their biggest threat to survival is man. Oil exploration, drilling, commercial trawling (bottom fishing/ dragging), and ship anchors will damage the coral. Protective measures had been escalating up to the point at which President Obama declared the area a national monument. This would seem to have protected the area, but President Donald Trump signed an executive order in May that called for Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke to review monuments created by the Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations. Zinke has already recommended shrinking the boundaries of one national monument in Utah (Bears Ears), and public comments on the review ended on August 14. Tropical corals need sunlight and warm, clear water to survive. These corals grow in shallow water where algae (Zooxanthellae) grow in them and provide the corals with oxygen in a symbiotic relationship. They are rarely found in water depths greater than 160 feet, and they are typically found in water temperature ranging between 68 degrees to around 90 degrees. As stated previously, the water needs to be clear to allow the algae to thrive. In contrast, cold-water corals feed themselves, rather than relying on algae. Thus, they do not need sunlight, clear water, or shallow depths to survive. They feed by gather food drifting in the surrounding water, and commonly in areas in which the water flows at a faster pace, such as currents. They can exist close to the surface or at depths below 6,000 feet and in temperatures below 40 degrees. These corals, as mentioned, grow slowly, gaining size of less than an inch per year on average. Given time, however, cold-water corals can form large reefs. According to Lophelia.org, Norway is home to some of the largest cold-water coral reefs in the world. Total reef coverage area in Norway is estimated at 1,243 square miles. They are estimated to be more than 8,000 years old. In contrast, the
Northeast Canyon corals are estimated to be several hundred years old. Cold-water corals, while having fewer species of corals than their tropical counterparts, do provide a habitat for other species. Deep-sea coral reefs are made up of only a few coral species, but they provide a home for various species, including fish. While these corals do not attract the same amount of different species of fish as tropical corals do, they do attract large amounts of fish, who use the areas for spawning. Therein lies another threat to the monument, as the commercial fishing industry has filed a lawsuit claiming misuse of the Antiquities Act by President Obama. Groups that are part of the lawsuit include the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association, the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, and the Rhode Island Fishermen Alliance, all of whom claim that the creation of the monument and the commercial fishing rules enacted have hurt them financially. However, it would seem that Trump’s April executive order regarding energy, as well as his late June public commenting period on National Offshore Oil and Gas Leasing Program on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), are larger threats to the monument. In the White House announcement of the order on April 28, 2017, one section dealt with marine sanctuaries and monuments in detail: The Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall conduct a review of all designations and expansions of National Marine Sanctuaries, and of all designations and expansions of Marine National Monuments under the Antiquities Act of 1906, recently recodified at sections 320301 to 320303 of title 54, United States Code, designated or expanded within the 10year period prior to the date of this order. A subsection under this further illustrates what would seem to be a threat to the federal protection of the monument: (C) the opportunity costs associated with potential energy and mineral exploration and production from the Outer Continental Shelf, in addition to any impacts on production in the adjacent region.”. The continental shelf forms the eastern border of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. Given the ecological diversity of the monument, and the scientific importance of the area, one can only hope that the seamounts, canyons, and unique cold-water corals will continue to flourish.
Fire Island Tide Newspaper • August 18, 2017
35
by Mark LaPointe
The Northeast Canyons
W
hen one thinks of coral reefs, thoughts quickly turn to bright sunlit images of vibrant colorful corals and sea fans waving in warm tropical waters. The Great Barrier Reef and the Florida Keys quickly come to mind. Yet corals also exist about 150 miles northeast of Fire Island, in the depths of the Atlantic. These deep- or coldwater corals also bring an element not seen in tropical corals: the element of phosphorescence. In their low light environment of the oceans depths, some of these corals even glow. The Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument was created by President Barack Obama under the Antiquities Act on September 15, 2016. Encompassing nearly 5,000 square miles, the monument contains four undersea mountains named Bear, Mytilus, Physalia, and Retriever, as well as three undersea canyons. The site is managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The sea mountains (seamounts) are extinct volcanoes that rise thousands of feet from the sea floor. For example, the Bear Seamount is 6,600 feet tall. Between the seamounts are the canyons in which cold-water corals reside. These corals are members of a group called the Cnidaria, and are related to such animals as sea anemones and jellyfish. Cold-water corals vary greatly, from single coral to the colonial stony corals that form reefs. Unlike tropical corals, of which there are nearly 800 reef-forming species, only six species of cold-water corals have been identified as reef builders. Coldwater corals belong to two subgroups of Cnidaria: the Anthozoa and the Hydrozoa. Anthozoa corals include colonial stony corals (Scleractinia), true soft corals (Octocorallia), and black corals (Antipatharia). The Hydrozoa include the calcifying lace corals (Stylasteridae), according to the Lophelia.org website.
Cold-water corals grow slowly, and their biggest threat to survival is man. Oil exploration, drilling, commercial trawling (bottom fishing/ dragging), and ship anchors will damage the coral. Protective measures had been escalating up to the point at which President Obama declared the area a national monument. This would seem to have protected the area, but President Donald Trump signed an executive order in May that called for Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke to review monuments created by the Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations. Zinke has already recommended shrinking the boundaries of one national monument in Utah (Bears Ears), and public comments on the review ended on August 14. Tropical corals need sunlight and warm, clear water to survive. These corals grow in shallow water where algae (Zooxanthellae) grow in them and provide the corals with oxygen in a symbiotic relationship. They are rarely found in water depths greater than 160 feet, and they are typically found in water temperature ranging between 68 degrees to around 90 degrees. As stated previously, the water needs to be clear to allow the algae to thrive. In contrast, cold-water corals feed themselves, rather than relying on algae. Thus, they do not need sunlight, clear water, or shallow depths to survive. They feed by gather food drifting in the surrounding water, and commonly in areas in which the water flows at a faster pace, such as currents. They can exist close to the surface or at depths below 6,000 feet and in temperatures below 40 degrees. These corals, as mentioned, grow slowly, gaining size of less than an inch per year on average. Given time, however, cold-water corals can form large reefs. According to Lophelia.org, Norway is home to some of the largest cold-water coral reefs in the world. Total reef coverage area in Norway is estimated at 1,243 square miles. They are estimated to be more than 8,000 years old. In contrast, the
Northeast Canyon corals are estimated to be several hundred years old. Cold-water corals, while having fewer species of corals than their tropical counterparts, do provide a habitat for other species. Deep-sea coral reefs are made up of only a few coral species, but they provide a home for various species, including fish. While these corals do not attract the same amount of different species of fish as tropical corals do, they do attract large amounts of fish, who use the areas for spawning. Therein lies another threat to the monument, as the commercial fishing industry has filed a lawsuit claiming misuse of the Antiquities Act by President Obama. Groups that are part of the lawsuit include the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association, the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, and the Rhode Island Fishermen Alliance, all of whom claim that the creation of the monument and the commercial fishing rules enacted have hurt them financially. However, it would seem that Trump’s April executive order regarding energy, as well as his late June public commenting period on National Offshore Oil and Gas Leasing Program on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), are larger threats to the monument. In the White House announcement of the order on April 28, 2017, one section dealt with marine sanctuaries and monuments in detail: The Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall conduct a review of all designations and expansions of National Marine Sanctuaries, and of all designations and expansions of Marine National Monuments under the Antiquities Act of 1906, recently recodified at sections 320301 to 320303 of title 54, United States Code, designated or expanded within the 10year period prior to the date of this order. A subsection under this further illustrates what would seem to be a threat to the federal protection of the monument: (C) the opportunity costs associated with potential energy and mineral exploration and production from the Outer Continental Shelf, in addition to any impacts on production in the adjacent region.”. The continental shelf forms the eastern border of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. Given the ecological diversity of the monument, and the scientific importance of the area, one can only hope that the seamounts, canyons, and unique cold-water corals will continue to flourish.
Fire Island Tide Newspaper • August 18, 2017
35
