What is the Red Sea?
The
Red Sea is an inlet of the Indian Ocean, opening in the south to the Gulf of
Aden through the Bab el Mandeb straight.
In the north, the Red Sea tapers off into two narrow branches, the Gulf
of Aqaba and the Gulf of Suez. It is located between Africa and Asia, and is bordered
by the nations of Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea, Somalia, Djibouti, Yemen, Saudi
Arabia, Jordan, and Israel. The Red Sea has a total surface area of 438,000 km2,
with a length of 1,930 km from north to south and a maximum width of 360 km from
east to west. While the waters at the immediate coastline are for the most part
very shallow and the average depth is only approximately 500 meters, the Red
Sea can get as deep as 2,500 meters in parts.
 |
Historical State of the Ecosystem of the Red Sea
|
The
Red Sea has numerous distinctive marine habitats, including spectacular coral
reefs in the northern and central parts, mangroves, and sea grass beds. The Red Sea includes 3.8% of the
world’s coral reefs. Around 2,000 km of the Red Sea coastline is bordered by shallow
underwater shelves that support extensive networks of fringing reef, the leading
type of coral reef in the Red Sea. Farther from shore are the back reef zones, which
are enclosed by the fringing reef systems and include patch reefs, seagrass
meadows, and mangroves. The Red Sea also includes complex and unusual reef
formations, including island-like coral rings and elongated coral ridges that
emerge suddenly from significant depths, are likely the work of the active
tetonic forces in the area.
The
high heat and low annual precipitation levels in this arid region of the world
allow for the high rate of evaporation (up to 1.4 to 2 meters per year) that
maintains the Red Sea’s high salinity. It is the warmest and saltiest sea in
the world, and this, combined with its isolation from the ocean and the lack of
permanent coastal rivers or other waterways flowing into it, contributes to the
rich biological diversity and high degree of endemism. For instance, 10% of the
1200 known coral reef fish species in the Red Sea are found nowhere else, and
17% of all fish species are endemic.
Around 300 different species of hard coral, four times that of Caribbean
reefs, have been discovered in the Red Sea, with 200 species of reef building
corals from almost 50 genera found on the Egyptian coast alone. These reefs are
the primary habitats for the fish and invertebrates of the Red Sea.
Sea Turtle Feeding in Seagrass Beds
Mangroves along the coast of the Red Sea
Human Impact
The coast of the Red Sea provides
numerous benefits for the human population. The
warm climate, clear waters, white sands, and beautiful and unique coral reefs of
the Red Sea attract people from all over the world, providing revenue, economic
growth, and employment opportunities in the countries bordering the Red Sea. In
addition to economic benefits from this tourism, the coral reefs, mangroves,
and sea grass beds in particular also provide other important resources for coastal
populations, including food and shoreline protection and stabilization.
Activities by humans, however,
threaten the ecosystems of the Red Sea. While the coral reefs provide
significant economic revenue for nations like Egypt by attracting tourists,
this booming tourism industry is also endangering the very coral reefs and
unique aquatic species that drew the tourists there in the first place. The
construction of the large recreational cities and centers along the coast of
the Red Sea focused on these streams of tourists involves considerable use of
dredge and fill operations, in which bottom sediment is collected and then dropped
at a different location. This causes numerous problems, including marine habitat
destruction, physical alteration of the coastline, erosion problems, and suspended
sediment that suffocates benthic (sea bottom) populations and negatively
effects mangroves, seagrass beds, and coral reefs, resulting in decreased
productivity. For example, approximately 73% of the coral of the Egyptian coast
has been degraded due to construction, in particular due to the increase in
fine sediment associated with these activities. And the rate of construction in
such centers is only speeding up; the number of hotels in the Gulf of Aqaba,
for instance, has increased from 5 in 1989 to 141 in 2006, with the number of
hotel rooms multiplying in the same time period from 565 to more than
48,000.
Sharm el-Sheik, an Egyptian tourist resort by the Red Sea
The activities of the tourists themselves are also often destructive to habitats, including trampling and coral breakage by divers and snorkelers and damage to corals by tourist boat groundings and anchoring. In Hurghada, a major tourist center in Egypt, the number of dive boats increased from less than 50 in 1989 to more than 1200 in 2006. Inevitably, this proliferation is accompanied by increased damage to reefs and the species that inhabit them.
Human activities outside the tourism
industry also pose a threat to the Red Sea ecosystem. Significant agricultural bases exist around the Red Sea,
such as in the Suez Canal, thus agricultural run-off containing fertilizer and
pesticide dregs contaminate the sea.
Wastewater treatment facilities in the region also often dump poorly
treated or untreated sewage wastes into the water, disrupting the marine
environment. The Red Sea also faces
pollution from coastal industries, including power and desalination plants and
refineries, whose effluents such as oil, heavy metals like chlorine and copper,
heated brine, and cooling water often end up in the sea. The reefs near Ras
Baridi, Saudi Arabia, where a cement plant operates without filtered chimneys,
are now covered by more than 10 cm of fine silt. Another major source of
environmental degradation is the oil industry dominant to the region, with
drilling occurring repeatedly near coral reefs, especially those along the
Saudi Arabian coastline. The oil found in the aquatic environment of the Red
Sea has caused significant damage to the reefs; in particular, the derivatives
of oil have been linked to coral diseases like Black Band Disease.
Drilling for oil off Egypt's coast
Unregulated fishing is also a major
problem in the Red Sea. Lobster is commonly caught for commercial purposes
using gillnets, a vertical panel of netting set in a straight line. Gillnets don’t discriminate between
which lobsters they catch, and thus catch many egg-bearing female lobsters,
causing a decrease in the lobster population as the eggs died along with the
lobsters. Fishermen have now begun to make the switch to lobster traps,
which allows for the release of the egg-bearing female lobsters. Destructive fishing, such as blast
fishing, is an even more serious problem, as it often changes the
three-dimensional structure of reefs so that they are no longer suitable
habitats for the species that populate them. Over-fishing also poses a threat to the balance of these
ecosystems; between 1990 and 1999 alone, the amount of fish caught in the Red
Sea increased from 50,000 tons to over 80,000 tons.
Future Prospects
The future prospects of the Red Sea
ecosystems are mixed. For example,
there is a wide range in condition and cover of coral reef systems. At the best sites there is up to 85%
living coral remaining, although at most locations there is closer to a mere
50% live coral. Compared to coral
reefs around the world, there is generally minimal evidence of any significant
coral bleaching, with the exception of occasional localized outbreaks. Reefs found along the developed regions
of the coast, and in particular urban centers and tourist hotspots, however, have
been seriously degraded as a result of coastal development, industry, and
tourist activities. Luckily,
numerous agencies are either in place or being established to protect these
reefs and reduce human impact. The
Tourism Development Authority is focused on promoting ecotourism and
eco-lodging, and PERSGA, a regional organization based in Saudi Arabia, is
charged with the creation and execution of programs for the management and
protection of the aquatic environment of the Red Sea. Along with developing programs and advocating regulations that
reduce pollution, sewage discharge, and navigational risks, PERSGA has
established a network of 12 marine protected areas (MPAs) in order to conserve
areas that characterize the distinctive habitats and biodiversity of the
ecosystems of the region and to support national economic development. About 50% of Egypt’s reefs are within
MPAs, all of which are at least partially effective in preserving healthy reefs
and mitigating the effects of the growing tourism industry. For example, Ras
Mohammed National Park, established in 1983, covers 750 square kilometers and
contains a number of ecosystems, including reefs, mangroves, and seagrass
beds. This protected area is used
not only as a haven for marine life, but also as an education center for
visitors.
Regional Network of Marine Protected Areas
What Can We Do?
Numerous things can be done to
conserve the healthy coral reefs that remain in the Red Sea and reduce the human
impact on this ecosystem. Multiple
environmental agencies are currently working to improve the status of the
ecosystem by regulating pollution and reducing navigation risks. Additionally, an alternate route may be
created for the tankers directing them away from the reefs and wildlife. Stricter regulations must be
established regarding tourism, such as limiting the number of people allowed
near the coral reefs, teaching tourists how to be respectful of reef habitats
before allowing them to snorkel or dive, and marking areas with shallow coral
reef systems to prevent tourist boats from grounding or dropping anchor in
these regions. More environmentally conscious methods than dredge and fill
operations need to be researched and developed to avoid the habitat loss
associated with coastal development.
Lastly, additional marine protected areas should be established to
ensure conservation of coral reef systems left out of the current network.
Reference List
"Management-
Protected Areas." ReefBase.
N.p., 2000. Web. 27 Nov. 2012.
<http://www.reefbase.org /global_database/default.aspx?section=m2>.
"Red
Sea Large Marine Ecosystem." The
Encyclopedia of Earth. N.p., 5 Apr. 2008. Web. 27 Nov.
2012. <http://www.eoearth.org/article/Red_Sea_large_marine_ecosystem>.
"Red
Sea." World Atlas.
N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. <http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/ redsea.htm>.
"Red
Sea." WWF.
WWF, n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2012.
<http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/ecoregions/red_sea.cfm>.
Hilmi,
Nathalie, Alain Safa, Stephanie Reynaud, and Denis Allemand. "Coral Reefs
and Tourism in Egypt’s Red Sea." Diss. Loyola University Chicago, 2012. Inside Loyola.
Loyola University Chicago, Sept. 2012. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. <http://sba.luc.edu/orgs/meea/volume14/PDFS/MEEA% 202011%20 Coral%20reefs%20and%20tourism%20in%20Egypts%20Red%20Sea%2016%20mai%202011_3.pdf>
Alevizon,
William. "Red Sea Coral Reefs." Coral-Reef-Info.com.
N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2012.
<http://www.coral-reef-info.com/red-sea-coral-reefs.html>.
"Red
Sea & Gulf of Aden: Threats." UNEP.
N.p., 1997. Web. 27 Nov. 2012.
<http://www.unep.ch/ regionalseas/main/persga/redthreat.html>.
"Red
Sea & Gulf of Aden- PERSGA." United
Nations Environment Programme. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2012.
<http://www.unep.org/regionalseas/programmes/nonunep/redsea/default.asp>.
Gladstone,
William, Belinda Curley, and Mohammed R. Shokri. "Environmental Impacts of
Tourism in the Gulf and the Red Sea." Marine
Pollution Bulletin (2012): n. pag. ScienceDirect.
15 Oct. 2012. Web. 27 Nov. 2012.
<http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X12004675>.
"PERSGA." PERSGA. n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. <http://www.persga.org/inner.php?id=109>.
No comments:
Post a Comment