Scientists in Indonesia have discovered positive evidence that the coral reef is recovering in the form of nine new marine species.
The team from Conservation International (CI) Indonesia undertook a two week survey of Bali waters and discovered that there was increased coverage of healthy reef and that there was significant evidence of a coral reef recovery phase.
The team reported 953 species of fish and 397 coral species as well as nine new species including; one new species of Euphyllia coral (pic above by Conservation International/Mark Erdmann), two dottyback fish (one of which is pictured at the top of the page), two cardinal fish, one blenny, one sand perch, one garden eel (pic below by Conservation International/Gerald Allen) and one goby.
The new species have not yet been named but are thought to belong to the genus: Siphiama, Heteroconger, Apogon (pic below by Conservation International/Gerald Allen), Parapercis, Meiacanthus, Manonichthys, Grallenia and Pseuochromis.
The survey was undertaken as part of CI's 20-year long Rapid Assessment Program (RAP at the request of the Bali provincial government and the Department of Fisheries and Marine Affairs to assess reef health and provide management recommendations for 25 new proposed Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).
Dr Mark Erdmann senior advisor for CI Indonesia said: "We carried out this present survey in 33 sites around Bali, nearly completing a circle around it, and were impressed by much of what we saw. There was a tremendous variety of habitats, surprisingly high levels of diversity and the coral reefs appeared to be in an active stage of recovery from bleaching, destructive fishing and crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks in the 1990's."
However, although the ratio of healthy to dead coral was 7:1, the team also noticed that certain species were either missing or severely depleted. In over 350 hours of diving the survey team saw three reef sharks and three Napoleon wrasse where normally a large number would be expected. The team also saw a great quantity of plastic pollution.
Erdmann added: “This RAP survey highlights how important these Marine Protected Areas are to improving economic returns from marine tourism while also providing food security and ensuring the sustainability of small-scale artisanal fisheries.