Montserrat Developments Impacting Local Coral Reefs
Faculty Mentor
Paul Spruell
Presentation Type
Poster
Start Date
5-7-2025 11:30 AM
End Date
5-7-2025 1:30 PM
Location
PUB NCR
Primary Discipline of Presentation
Biology
Abstract
Montserrat is a small island in the Caribbean, and over half of the island is in the exclusion zone because of the active volcano, Soufrière Hills. In that half was the old capital, Plymouth, which has since been abandoned, and their old port. The old port was getting less reliable and accessible, so they decided to build a new port in Little Bay, closer to the seat of government in Brades. This study explored how the addition of the new port impacted the corals in that area. We explored several different bays and recorded the diversity and health of the corals in the bays. Most bays we explored with the assistance of Scuba Montserrat with Emmy Aston. Throughout the entire island, there is a wave of coral bleaching that is impacting most of the corals of Montserrat, we found that near the new port, some of the corals are being impacted by Stony Coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) that is affecting many different Caribbean islands and has a high fatality rate for these corals. The corals that were close to the new port faced harder side effects from SCTLD and damage from the dredging they did for the port. Some of these corals that are facing the side effects of the SCTLD are critically endangered and need active protection. This research can help contribute to the protection of these corals.
Recommended Citation
Bartholomew, Emma I. and Spruell, Paul PhD, "Montserrat Developments Impacting Local Coral Reefs" (2025). 2025 Symposium. 31.
https://dc.ewu.edu/srcw_2025/ps_2025/p2_2025/31
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Montserrat Developments Impacting Local Coral Reefs
PUB NCR
Montserrat is a small island in the Caribbean, and over half of the island is in the exclusion zone because of the active volcano, Soufrière Hills. In that half was the old capital, Plymouth, which has since been abandoned, and their old port. The old port was getting less reliable and accessible, so they decided to build a new port in Little Bay, closer to the seat of government in Brades. This study explored how the addition of the new port impacted the corals in that area. We explored several different bays and recorded the diversity and health of the corals in the bays. Most bays we explored with the assistance of Scuba Montserrat with Emmy Aston. Throughout the entire island, there is a wave of coral bleaching that is impacting most of the corals of Montserrat, we found that near the new port, some of the corals are being impacted by Stony Coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) that is affecting many different Caribbean islands and has a high fatality rate for these corals. The corals that were close to the new port faced harder side effects from SCTLD and damage from the dredging they did for the port. Some of these corals that are facing the side effects of the SCTLD are critically endangered and need active protection. This research can help contribute to the protection of these corals.
