Coral Reefs Quotes

“Carefully avoided in many scientific discussions, conferences, government reports, and papers is the issue of human population. Indeed, in many conferences it is deemed to be a subject that is out of bounds. Rising numbers of people, and their desire for higher standards of living, put increasing demands on natural resources. More people are chasing a fixed or declining stock of reef resources: the area of the planet on which coral reefs can grow is limited, after all. In one sense it is really that simple. Some places have a human population doubling time of only 15 years, which reflects medical advances and its highly desirable accompaniments such as increased survival of people, especially infants. However, this means that current scientifically calculated solutions for a particular section of reef shoreline, for example, are negated when the population doubles. Thus the solution is no longer a scientific one, but has become largely a social and political one, and one of planning or zoning reefs and other resources as noted above. Human numbers are a part of the equation, and if we ignore any part of an equation then we cannot solve it.”
― Charles Sheppard, Coral Reefs: A Very Short Introduction

“One aspect of fish physiology is crucially important to replenishment of many fish species: the larger an adult female fish is, the more eggs it will produce. This is possibly an obvious point, but, importantly, the increase in egg production is not linear. To use a hypothetical example, a single 10kg female might produce many millions of eggs per year, while even ten 1kg females combined of the same species would produce only a few thousand per year. If we remember that the larger fish are the most prized in the fishing industry, we can immediately see that the damage done to the ecosystem by removing the largest fish is exponentially greater. I would stress here that no blame should be attached to those fishing at subsistence level for collecting what they can; for these people, it is usually a matter of survival. Leaving this consideration to one side, it is nevertheless a salutary point to note that even a very modest level of fishing intensity can cause much ecosystem distortion very quickly. In areas that were once protected but which then permitted fishing, ecosystem collapse happened in only a very few weeks.”
― Charles Sheppard, Coral Reefs: A Very Short Introduction

“Ignorance about sharks and their important role is remarkable: even at a marine science conference in China, I was served shark-fin soup (and my refusal, as a guest of honour, caused bafflement as much as consternation).”
― Charles Sheppard, Coral Reefs: A Very Short Introduction

“Goatfish, comprising the Mullidae family, feed on sand using a pair of sensitive barbels (‘feelers’) beneath the chin with which they can sense their prey. Many have a specially shaped mouth with which to get at their prey in rubble.”
― Charles Sheppard, Coral Reefs: A Very Short Introduction

“The biological attack on the skeletons that produce sand is more complex and varied, and generally results in the creation of much finer particles and silt. Parrotfish swarming in large schools over the reef graze with beak-like mouths, scraping the surface, taking around 1 millimetre-deep bites from the substrate each time. Many large boulder corals may be seen covered with these scrape marks, standing out white against the brown background of healthy coral tissue. Parrotfish are responsible for the production of much of the sand on reefs. Their digestive systems are such that they require sand to aid digestion, and it is common to see a stream of fine white sand being defecated from a parrotfish as it swims.”
― Charles Sheppard, Coral Reefs: A Very Short Introduction