STATE OF DEEP CORAL ECOSYSTEMS IN THE CARIBBEAN REGION: PUERTO RICO AND THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS Steven J. Lutz1,2 and Robert N. Ginsburg1 I.
INTRODUCTION
This chapter summarizes published and unpublished information on deep corals in the wider Caribbean region (Caribbean Sea and Bahamian Archipelago) including those in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of United States Possessions. It summarizes the occurrences of the corals, associated species and their sea floor accumulations; it provides basic information on the geography, geology and oceanography of the region and how they interact to produce sea floor elevations; and it discusses stressors, including potential fisheries interactions. For the purposes of this chapter deep corals are defined as those in waters below 100 m. The territorial jurisdiction of the U.S. in the Caribbean is limited to the areas around Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the uninhabited island of Navassa between Cuba and Hispaniola, illustrated in Figure 8.1. The EEZ of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands extends from the edge of the territorial waters to 200 nautical miles to the north and is bounded to the south by the EEZ of Venezuela, to the east by the British Virgin Islands and to the west by Dominican Republic. The EEZ of Navassa Island is bounded to the north by Cuba, to the west by Jamaica and to the east by Haiti. As information on deep-sea corals in the U.S. Caribbean is limited, a consideration of the wider Caribbean enables a broader understanding of reported and potential deep water corals in the U.S. Caribbean. 1
Ocean Research and Education Foundation 1300 Galiano St., Coral Gables, FL 33134 2
Corresponding author addres: Marine Conservation Biology Institute, Public Policy Office 600 Pennsylvania Ave SE, Suite 210, Washington DC 20003
Regional Deep-sea Research Louis F. de Pourtalès first discovered deep-sea life in the region, including deep-water corals, in the 1860’s. Pourtalès, a scientist aboard the Coast Survey steamer Bibb, found evidence of life off Cuba at 945 m (3,100 ft). He studied regional deep-sea corals and published comprehensive works (Pourtalès 1867, 1871). Pourtalès was also a pioneer of deep-sea dredging, a method that was used by later research cruises. These cruises were not focused on deep-sea corals and recovered specimens were incidental findings. Since the discoveries made by Pourtalès and the Bibb many research cruises have contributed to the understanding of deep-sea corals. Early cruises included voyages by the U.S. Coast Survey vessel Blake (late 1870’s), U.S. Fish Commission Albatross (1880’s) and the H.M.S. Challenger (1872-1876). Later research cruises included voyages by the R/V Oregon and R/V Oregon II (1950’s to 1970’s), R/V Gerda (1960’s), R/V Pillsbury (1960’s and 70’s), the R/V Eastward (1970’s), the R/V Akademik Vernadski (early 1970’s); and R/V Columbus Iselin (1970’s and 80’s).
CARIBBEAN
STATE OF DEEP CORAL ECOSYSTEMS IN THE CARIBBEAN REGION
Beginning in the 1970’s, dredging was supplemented by the use of research submersibles. These direct observations and photographs of deep-sea coral communities provided a major advance in understanding the occurrences, morphology and communities of deep-sea corals in the Straits of Florida and off the northeast slope of the Little Bahama Bank (Figure 8.1) (Neumann and Ball 1970; Neumann et al. 1977; Messing 1990; Reed et al. 2005). Other submersible research of the region includes the following: to 300 m (the “sub reef habitat”) at Discovery Bay Jamaica (Lang 1974; Hartman 1973; Lang et al. 1975); to 300 m in Belize (Ginsburg and James 1979); research by Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute (HBOI) to 1,000 m for sites in the Greater and Lesser Antilles and Netherlands Antilles (Reed pers. comm.). 307