Reefs

THANKS for the delightful and well-written article "Wild and Wooly Imaginations" [May 6]. Although I don't know these ladies, Diane Haithman certainly seems to have captured their uniqueness and the enthusiasm they have for crocheting. The term they use to describe their Institute for Figuring, "the poetic and aesthetic dimensions of science, mathematics, and the technical arts," is an intriguing and all-encompassing description. This would make a great TV show -- turning these ladies loose in these areas of thought and form.

MASINLOC, Philippines - The fishermen were sailing the azure waters off the Philippine coast when Richard Caneda saw the morning sunlight glinting off a vessel "bigger than the biggest ship in the Philippine navy. " Caneda could see a red Chinese flag. The words "Chinese Maritime Surveillance" were written on the ship's side. The ship came close enough that Caneda could see crew members on deck making hand gestures as though to shoo away a fly. Caneda, who had moved from the fishing boat to a tiny skiff to haul in nets left out overnight, soon saw a large gun mounted on the ship's deck pivoting directly toward him. A helicopter whirred overhead.

A proposal to install an electrified artificial reef on the ocean floor off Lauderdale-by-the-Sea has won approval from a key federal agency, making it more likely that the high-tech conservation project will get built.

In recent years, the Indo-Pacific lionfish - a dramatically striped, finned and armored aquarium fish - has invaded Atlantic and Caribbean coral reefs. It has been spotted off the Southeastern United States, throughout the Caribbean Sea, in the Gulf of Mexico, and it's now eating its way toward South America. What's to blame for this invasion? Most likely aquarium releases beginning in the early 1980s. And once introduced, lionfish took off. The fish has no known predator in the Atlantic.

After six years of wrangling, Florida officials agreed to protect the fragile coral reefs in the Keys by limiting fishing and diving and keeping big ships miles away. Florida Gov. Lawton Chiles and his cabinet approved a plan barring fishing in 19 critical areas. The plan would also mandate the use of mooring buoys to let boats tie up for diving without causing anchor damage, and the use of channel markers to keep boats away from the coral and fragile sea grass.

The retired U.S. aircraft carrier Oriskany will be sunk off the Florida coast near Pensacola this summer to serve as an artificial reef, the Navy announced. The 888-foot Oriskany is the first vessel in a new program designed to dispose of obsolete warships by sinking them as a cheaper alternative to the scrap yard. The ship also will serve as an underwater memorial.

Marine scientists have discovered hundreds of new animal species on reefs in Australian waters, including brilliant soft corals and tiny crustaceans, according to findings released Thursday. The creatures were found during expeditions run by the Australian chapter of CReefs, a global census of coral reefs that is one of several projects of the Census of Marine Life, an international effort to catalog all life in the oceans. Among the creatures researchers found were about 130 soft corals -- also known as octocorals, for the eight tentacles that fringe each polyp -- that have never been described in scientific literature, and scores of similarly undocumented crustaceans, including tiny shrimplike animals with claws longer than their bodies.

The colorful coral reefs guarding the islands of Tahiti, Moorea and Bora Bora in French Polynesia have turned white in recent months in what some scientists fear is a new signal of the dangers of global warming. Up to 90% of the coral on the outer slopes of Moorea's barrier reefs have lost their color since March, said French scientist Bernard Salvat, director of the Tropical Biology Center.

Upsurges in water temperature are primarily responsible for outbreaks of bleaching in the world's coral reefs and may signal global changes from a magnified greenhouse effect, scientists said Thursday. "The first proof of global warming may well come from the bleaching of the fragile and highly sensitive coral reef system," Ernest H.

Coral reefs across the Caribbean have suffered an 80% decline in the amount covered by live coral during the last three decades, a far more devastating loss than scientists had expected, according to a study in Friday's issue of Science. The team of researchers gathered information from 65 previous studies of 263 sites and analyzed it to construct a regional picture. They discovered a sharp drop in the coral almost everywhere in the Caribbean, from Florida to South America.

PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos Islands - Sixty feet below the surface of the aquamarine western Atlantic, my 12-year-old daughter, Maddie, glided gently along the reef, her arms crossed in Buddha-like meditation. To the left, where the sea dropped off hundreds of feet, a black-tipped shark cruised ominously in the distance. A curious parrot fish, a school of yellow-striped grunts and a bug-eyed squirrel fish swam an arm's length away, perhaps hoping for a handout from our group of six divers and our guide.

The ghosts of Christmas past can be found in some unusual places. The bottom of Lake Havasu, for instance. There, thousands of Christmas trees sunk by wildlife biologists have found a second life as fish habitat in an ecosystem damaged by the damming of the Colorado River decades ago. What nature once provided - a steady source of organic material such as brush and uprooted trees - disappeared when the once wild and muddy river was tamed....

HANALEI, Hawaii - When compiling a list of places that may be described as paradise, Hanalei Bay on the rugged north shore of the island of Kauai surely qualifies. The perfect crescent bay, rimmed by palm trees, emerald cliffs and stretches of white sand, has always had a dreamy kind of appeal. It was on these shores that sailors in the movie "South Pacific" sang of the exotic but unattainable "Bali Ha'i. " The problem is what lies below the surface of the area's shimmering blue waters.

The coral in Australia's Great Barrier Reef is rapidly disappearing due to a host of factors -- all of which are influenced by humans, according to a new study. The report, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, tracks coral cover over the last 27 years and finds levels have fallen by nearly 50%. The Great Barrier Reef is one of the world's most beloved natural attractions because of its remarkable array of sea life. But, according to researchers, a trio of factors has conspired to degrade the reef: tropical cyclones, attacks from the coral predator the crown-of-thorns starfish, and rising water temperatures.

If you're still skeptical that a tan can be dangerous, consider this: Scientists have found that wild fish are getting skin cancer from ultraviolet radiation. Approximately 15% of coral trout inAustralia'sGreat Barrier Reef had cancerous lesions on their scales. In that regard, they resemble Australians who live on land - 2 in 3 people who live down under will be diagnosed with skin cancer before the age of 70, the highest rate in the world. It's probably no coincidence that Australia is under the Earth's biggest hole in the ozone layer.

The weather forecast for Legoland California this summer calls for a 100% chance of getting 100% soaking wet. PHOTOS: Pirate Reef water ride at Legoland California The new Pirate Reef water attraction opened over Memorial Day weekend at the Carlsbad kiddie park with a pair of life-size Lego pirate ships flanking the splash zone of the classic shoot-the-chutes ride. For its relatively modest size, the 25-foot-tall attraction built by Florida-based Hopkins Amusement Rides generates a surprisingly enormous splash.

Two aging Coast Guard cutters have been scuttled to create an artificial reef for marine life and a new attraction for divers off the Florida Keys. The 327-foot Bibb hit the bottom Saturday. It followed its sister ship, a 1930s-era rust bucket named Duane, which went down Friday. Three 21,000-gallon-per-hour pumps filled the Duane with sea water. When the decks were awash after about five hours, ropes holding plywood patches in place on the vessel's sides were cut.

An outlawed artificial reef made of old tires and PVC pipe is bobbing on the ocean floor off the Balboa Pier as its creator tries one last time to persuade state regulators to spare the structure. Aquaculturist Rodolphe Streichenberger was denied a permit two years ago and never asked for one when the experimental reef was built in 1988, but he remains undeterred.

JEJU ISLAND, South Korea -- To the South Korean military, this picturesque island is the perfect place to build a naval base: a strategic location guarding the country's southern flank from possible invasion. To its residents, its small-town feel, harbor and coral reefs make it close to perfect just the way it is. The conflict between the two visions has turned into a South Korean David and Goliath story, with Mayor Kang Dong-kyun of the town of Gangjeong leading the majority of its 1,930 people in fighting the giant.

Just off a rutted dirt road, a beach as white as flour pops into view from behind a wall of sea grape and rustling palms. Pelicans slice over turquoise waters, and not a single person stirs the quiet. The tableau, along a little-developed segment of Mexico's Caribbean coast, is a beachgoer's fantasy of unspoiled seaside splendor. Until you look down. For as far as the eye can see, the sand glitters with bits of bright color: fragments of trash, thousands and thousands of them, strung like a vast, foul necklace.