An Assessment of Unreported Boat Grounding Damage to Shallow-Water Corals in the Florida Keys

Lutz, Steven

The serious physical damage to corals from the occasional large ship grounding is a highly visible and major impact to coral reefs in the Florida Keys. However, smaller vessels continuously damage corals. Unreported damage caused by small vessels that are able to leave a grounding incident under their own power is underestimated. In this study 315 shallow-water massive coral colonies from 49 reef sites within the northern Florida reef tract were examined for signs of boat grounding damage (propeller scars and boat hull scrapes). Boat grounding damage was found throughout the range but it appears that the extent of damage is not currently a threat to the overall health of corals in the northern Florida reef tract. However, shallow-water massive corals in two much-visited reef areas did show high signs of impact. If visits by small vessels continue to expand, the associated damage to localized reef areas could become serious.