SAIPAN, CNMI (10 Sep 2003) -- Federal and local scientists who are part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Oscar Elton Sette mission have significant findings on the waters in Maug, the second northernmost island in the Northern Marianas: Besides having the most developed reefs in the NMI, it has a submerged volcanic crater that is showing signs of activity. Marine monitoring conducted on the island showed that volcanic vents released warm water over 100-degrees Fahrenheit. Gas emissions were also prevalent in the waters through gas bubbles. "The submerged, sheltered interior of the volcanic crater contains a unique habitat where Goniastrea edwardsi dominates the edge of the steep walls and provides framework for other corals and invertebrates," based on the progress report for the Marianas Archipelago Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program. "Vents that released warm (100ºF +) water and gas bubbles were prevalent at a site located inside the crater on the northern end of the east island. A layer of yellow silt, clinging to everything, also characterized the site," the report stated. The report also noted that algal cover around the vents was extraordinarily dense, the density of which was not observed anywhere else in the CNMI. But scientists considered Maug, a conservation island, as the one possessing the most developed reefs in the NMI so far, with at least 73 species of corals. | | Maug "The most diverse reefs were found on the southwest, leeward side of the three-island group," the report stated. "The extent and diversity of habitats found on Maug, including a unique pinnacle in the center of the lagoon, are probably important factors leading to the high diversity and development found within coral communities." The coral reef situation on Maug contrasts other areas surveyed by local and federal scientists, who reported recently that they have yet to find well-developed coral reefs in the NMI in the ongoing scientific mission. Sometime last year, the CNMI Division of Environmental Quality reported about a wide scale of coral deaths, which might impact on fish communities that rely on coral reefs as their habitat. Corals also take in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and release oxygen instead, mitigating global warming. SOURCE - Saipan Tribune |
