Photo by © Stan Bysshe, courtesy of GO WEST Diving

The island of Curaçao lies just a little bit to the north of Venezuela and is sur-rounded by more than 40 square miles of some of the best coral reefs in the Caribbean. The coral reefs are normally found 65 to 1,000 feet from shore where they start at a depth of approximately 30 feet and then slope down to a depth of over 300 feet in some places. In addition to its fringing reefs, large inland bays can be found around the island in which man-grove and seagrass communities thrive and serve as nursery areas for certain types of reef fish that are less abundant on similar islands that have no inland

bays. While coral reefs alive today are still growing around the island, coral reefs that were formed in the past and were raised above water due to sea level chang-es essentially form the island that we now call Curaçao.

Many people aren’t sure whether coral is a plant, animal, or simply a rock; basically all answers are correct to some degree. Corals are animals much like the more familiar anemones that are connected together and as such form an “animal carpet”. Because nutrients were not very abundant in the water, corals evolved to incorporate small algae (i.e.

Curaçao - Coral Islandby Dr. Mark Vermeij & Bryan Horne / Photos by Stan Bysshe

The geological past and present of Curaçao rely on coral. Its ecological and economic survival depend on it as well.

zooxanthellae) in their tissues that are capable of transforming CO

2 into sugars

through photosynthesis. The algae have a place to live in exchange for providing these sugars to the corals, which grow to form a limestone skeleton that sustains the growing carpet of coral polyps or anemones.

Corals are capable of building mas-sive limestone structures that can be seen from space. These structures provide a habitat for many other animals such as fish, lobsters, and octopi, which all hide in between the coral colonies and make coral reefs the most bio-diverse ecosystems on the planet. This means that there is no other place where so many animal and plant species can be found in a relatively small area.

It just so happens that Curaçao is an excellent place to see this diversity for yourself. Unlike many other islands in the Caribbean, a car is often sufficient to reach remote dive or snorkel sites where you can simply jump in the water to ex-plore the underwater world.

When swimming around the islands you will find reefs that range in quality from degraded to almost pristine and among the best in the Caribbean. A good rule of thumb to predict whether a site is degraded or not, is to determine whether there is near-shore development in the E

A young Hawksbill turtle cruises the reef

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Photo byPhotos by © Stan Bysshe, courtesy of GO WEST Diving

area. Coastal development (and all its side effects) is the biggest culprit of the deg-radation of reefs around the island. Not all degradation can be related to human activities, however; several storms that hit Curaçao over the last decade have sever-ely impacted the shallower reefs around the island. Large waves have tumbled over coral colonies or buried them beneath large sand masses set in motion by the large swells. On the other hand, one can find reefs that have remained unchanged for more than 50 years. Such reefs are found in the remote areas of the island such as in the Curaçao Marine Park along the southeastern side of the island or at certain locations along the wave-impacted north side of the island. Large coral col-onies and coral species currently listed as threatened in the wider Caribbean can still be found in large numbers at these remote locations.

That said, it would be naive to think that coral reefs are currently doing fine. Global warming results in the expulsion of the symbiotic zooxanthellae causing the co rals to starve, and overfishing has re sult-ed in lack of “mowing-power” by herbi-vorous fish so that corals, more and more, face overgrowth by algae. The porous lime-stone foundation of the island allows all sorts of pollutants to run from the land to the reefs nearby and cause corals to be-come diseased because of higher bacterial growth in the near-shore waters. E

Giant anemone stinging tentacles

can offer protection to several different

species of crabs and shrimps

Two adult French angel fish snack on an encrusting orange sponge

Secretary blenny peeks out from its home in an old worm hole among star coral polyps

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Photo by © Stan Bysshe, courtesy of GO WEST DivingPhotos by © Stan Bysshe, courtesy of GO WEST Diving

While Curaçaoan reefs are still in relatively good shape and show the po-tential to once again grow to their former glory, everyone on the island, locals and visitors alike, should recognize the deli-cate nature of these systems and work to minimize their impact on what is con-sidered one of the most beautiful eco-systems on the planet. A common sense approach is often enough. A healthy reef provides numerous benefits to small is-lands like Curaçao: it supports all sorts of activities such as diving, snorkeling, fish-ing, and swimming, but also protects the shore from storm events, generates the sand required to form natural beaches on the island, and ensures good water quality so all the above-mentioned activities can take place. Economists have calculated that coral reefs provide goods and services worth about $375 billion worldwide each year – a staggering figure for an ecosystem which covers less than one percent of the earth’s surface.

The observation that coral reefs are declining worldwide has resulted in a myriad of protective measures to reduce the effects of land-based pollutants and to curb overharvesting in order to enhance coral reefs’ ability to withstand the detri-mental effects of climate change whose causes can generally not be dealt with at a local level. In the Caribbean, the reefs

of Curaçao stand a good chance of sur-viving once such protective measures are employed locally. This is currently on-going and several organizations on the island work with other stakeholders to achieve this goal.

For many islands, the realization of the need to take action has come too late and reef systems have collapsed. The re-sult has been losses in tourism and fishing revenue, floods, and deteriorated water quality, which has led to waterborne dis- eases that affect human health. None of that has happened on Curaçao and as such the island’s reefs remain amongst the best in the Caribbean region. Enjoy them and protect them! K

Dr. Mark Vermeij is a coral reef ecologist with Caribbean Research & Management of Biodiversity (CARMABI) and Bryan Horne is a PADI Master Instructor, EFR Instructor Trainer, a commercial boat captain, and the General Manager of GO WEST Diving.

Photographer and orange elephant ear sponge

Brown-banded variety of the social

feather duster: “cluster duster”

A balloonfish hides in a sea rod soft coral

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