Natural vs visitor-related damage to shallow water corals; recommendations for visitor management and the design of underwater nature trails in the Virgin Islands
Robinson AH. 1973. Natural vs visitor-related damage to shallow water corals; recommendations for visitor management and the design of underwater nature trails in the Virgin Islands. National Park Service
This report is based on observations by the author (the resident marine biologist) and other park staff at Virgin Islands National Park and Buck Island Reef National Monument, and published literature. Describes types of coral damage done by humans and by nature (storms, bleaching, black band disease). Includes recommendations for minimizing human impact (mostly education and placement of underwater trails in deep areas where snorkelers are unlikely to accidentally bump coral). At the end are captioned photos showing damaged coral. This technical report is a summary of information concerning natural and visitor-related damage to coral reefs in National Park Service areas in the Virgin Islands. It is based to some extent on outside literature (see bibliography) but principally on the experience of NPS staff over the past 15 years and on 3 1/2 years of field observation by the author, who is the resident marine biologist for Virgin Islands National Park, St. John, and Buck Island Reef National Monument, St. Croix. Objective visitor impact research by the NPS has been limited to measures of coral growth rate, detailed mapping of heavy use areas, and observation of the regrowth of certain visitor-damaged formations. Baseline information is now being gathered which should allow more precise estimates of visitor damage. This interim report presents certain generalizations of immediate use of visitor management of coral reefs.