PEDRO BANK ATLANTIC AND GULF RAPID REEF ASSESSMENT (AGRRA), APRIL 18-26, 2005, SUMMARY REPORT

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1 PEDRO BANK ATLANTIC AND GULF RAPID REEF ASSESSMENT (AGRRA), APRIL 18-26, 2005, SUMMARY REPORT Prepared by N. Zenny, May 2005 Introduction: The very first coral reef assessment on the Pedro Bank was recently conducted by a number of members of the Pedro Bank Management Project from April 18-26, The 5-person dive team, led by Dr. Phil Kramer (Director, The Nature Conservancy TNC Caribbean Marine Program) included Peter Edwards (TGraduate Student, Marine Policy, University of Delaware), TSean Green (Environmental Officer, National Environment and Planning Agency - NEPA),Brandon Hay (Scientific Officer, Caribbean Coastal Area Management Foundation C- CAM) and Nathalie Zenny (Pedro Bank Project Manager, TNC Jamaica). Also included in the team were 6 fishermen working on various days during the 6 day work period: Mr. Winston Kerr, David Ebanks, Adam Parchment, Vincent Parchment, Rolando Reynolds and Macalva Lindo. The objective of the assessment was to collect much-needed information about the status and condition of Pedro Bank s coral reefs specifically to inform a management plan for the Pedro Cays. Sites were randomly selected using the Millenium Coral Reef Mapping Project s classification of the Pedro Bank reefs developed based on satellite imagery interpretation and geomorphological features (Figure 2). The survey was conducted using 2 fishing canoes as dive platforms (with the exception of the first day) and involved 5 scuba divers/snorkelers as well as 2 snorkelers for timed lobster counts at the shallow sites. The AGRRA methodology includes both benthic and fish surveys, 10 and 30m belt transects respectively, as well as a roving fish survey. A total of 20 sites were investigated (Figure 2).

The work was documented (both above and underwater) and representative photographs and video footage of reef habitats and organisms were taken.

2 The work was documented (both above and underwater) and representative photographs and video footage of reef habitats and organisms were taken. All photographs were taken by Brandon Hay and Sean Green. Fig. 1. Location of Pedro Bank relative to southern Jamaica. General observations: The sites surveyed were representative of the reef habitats commonly occurring on Pedro Bank: large areas of Acropora palmata reefs, hard pavement with coral reef outcroppings and gorgonian beds, sand bottom with coral patches, and spur and groove development in close proximity to the cays and south-eastern shelf edge. Of the A. palmata reef, conditions were varied with areas of mainly standing dead elkhorn, areas of live A. palmata as well as stands of rubble. Little Acropora cervicornis was found with the exception of an area near to Southwest Cay discovered on the final day. Obvious hurricane damage from Hurricane Ivan (September 2005) such as overturned coral heads or broken branching coral was infrequent. There was evidence of coral disease such as white and black-band and some bleaching but neither were notably widespread. Fish populations were significantly larger and more diverse than in coastal Jamaica. Fish sizes were also significantly larger. Few grouper or mature adult snappers were seen however adult parrotfish were common as were species of surgeonfish, triggerfish,

butterflyfish, wrasse, goatfish, grunts, jacks and seabass other than grouper. Conch and lobster were regularly seen throughout the survey period.

3 butterflyfish, wrasse, goatfish, grunts, jacks and seabass other than grouper. Conch and lobster were regularly seen throughout the survey period. Nurse sharks were commonplace and reef and bull sharks, eagle rays, sting rays and hawksbill turtles were sighted several times throughout the 6 day period. These observations confirm the national and regional biodiversity and fisheries significance of the area and will be further validated once the AGRRA data has been analyzed. Fig. 2. Close-up of survey area with survey sites and Millenium Coral Reef Mapping Project reef classification scheme. Description of daily activities: Below is a brief qualitative description of daily activities and sites surveyed. The data collected is currently being analysed and will be documented in a subsequent more detailed scientific report.

Monday April 18 Departure at 22:00 from Port Royal Coast Guard Base, Kingston Tuesday April 19 Arrival at Middle Cay at sunrise The arduous and seemingly neverending task of offloading what felt like

4 Monday April 18 Departure at 22:00 from Port Royal Coast Guard Base, Kingston Tuesday April 19 Arrival at Middle Cay at sunrise The arduous and seemingly neverending task of offloading what felt like 3 trailer-loads of gear and equipment. Unpacking and setting up camp Afternoon dry-land AGRRA training session directed by Dr. Phil Kramer Fig. 3. Unpacking and setting up camp on the JDF Coast Guard base at Middle Cay.

5 Fig. 4. Training session. From left to right, Nathalie Zenny, Sean Green (hidden), Peter Edwards, Brandon Hay and Phil Kramer. Fig. 5. Dry-land test run of transect. From left to right, Peter Edwards, Nathalie Zenny and Phil Kramer.

6 Wednesday April 20 The work begins! In the capable hands of Mr. Winston Kerr aka Shuksman, boat captain, snorkeler and guide throughout the survey period, the team initiated the assessment with one boat and surveyed 3 sites close to Northeast and Middle Cays. Sites: Four Fathom (WP 2) (dive): this is an area routinely used by the fishermen from the Pedro Cays. It consists of mostly sand bottom and pavement with boulder and brain coral outcroppings and gorgonians as well as a significant Acropora palmata coral framework which was mostly dead. Fig. 6. Four Fathom reef - Winston Kerr aka Shuksman in background and Peter Edwards in foreground.

7 Fig. 7. Standing dead Acropora palmata (Elkhorn coral) at Four Fathom reef. The team had lunch in the lee of Northeast Cay reef and observed a large group of nurse and reef sharks and other fish and sting rays feeding beneath a commercial fishing vessel anchored just off of Northeast Cay. A large adult hawksbill, apparently a resident of Northeast Cay was also spotted. Shuksman and Donovan reported that the fishermen do not disturb the turtle and that it has been there for a long time. This feeding around the boat is a common occurrence when the fishermen are cleaning their catch however several times during the expedition on the bank fishermen maintained that the number of sharks have decreased since Hurricane Ivan.

8 Fig. 8. Commercial fishing boat Bigga-Alice cleaning their catch at Northeast Cay. Fig. 9. Very blurry picture of a bull? and nurse shark and blue tang and sergeant majors feeding under Bigga-Alice.

Hard pavement with brain, boulder and gorgonian colonies at Middle Cay forereef. Fig. 11.

9 North-East Cay, reef crest (WP 3) (snorkel) and Middle Cay forereef (WP 5) (dive): These sites had a more diverse assemblage of coral species and displayed a general spur and groove formation. Fig. 10. Hard pavement with brain, boulder and gorgonian colonies at Middle Cay forereef. Fig. 11. Spur and groove formation at Middle Cay forereef Thursday April 21 Equipped with 2 boats, the team headed to the southwestern edge of the survey area, and

investigated the reefs surrounding South Cay, a small sand bank which is frequently submerged and is the fourth cay within the Pedro Cays chain.

10 investigated the reefs surrounding South Cay, a small sand bank which is frequently submerged and is the fourth cay within the Pedro Cays chain. Sites: South/Sandy Cay, left elbow (WP 5) (dive): this site is indicative of much of Pedro Bank reef structure located away from the Pedro Cays - sand bottom and pavement with boulder and brain coral outcroppings and gorgonians. Fig. 12. South/Sandy Cay, left elbow, Nathalie Zenny in foreground.

Fig. 13. Live Acropora palmata at South/Sandy Cay Shoal. South/Sandy Cay Shoal (WP 6) (dive): mainly standing dead A.palmata with new growth. Sandy Cay (WP 7) (snorkel): mainly standing dead A.

11 Fig. 13. Live Acropora palmata at South/Sandy Cay Shoal. South/Sandy Cay Shoal (WP 6) (dive): mainly standing dead A.palmata with new growth. Sandy Cay (WP 7) (snorkel): mainly standing dead A.palmata with new growth. Down and out from Southwest Cay (WP 8) (dive): Spur and groove formation with a significant area of standing dead A.palmata as well as live elkhorn on the edge and top of spur and brain, fire and boulder coral on the downward slopes.

12 Fig. 14. Nurse shark swimming with Millepora relief in background. Fig. 15. Millepora and Acropora palmata colonies.

Sandy Cay on the deep (WP 9) (dive): Good reef structure with an assemblage of species: Porites, Diploria, Millepora, Siderastrea, Montastrea and Agaricites.

13 Sandy Cay on the deep (WP 9) (dive): Good reef structure with an assemblage of species: Porites, Diploria, Millepora, Siderastrea, Montastrea and Agaricites. Friday April 22 Sites: Southwest/Bird Cay Shoal (WP 10) (dive): similar to South/Sandy Cay, left elbow - sand bottom and pavement with boulder and brain coral outcroppings and gorgonians. Fig. 16. Hard bottom pavement habitat with scattered coral colonies and gorgonians.

14 Fig. 17. Gorgonians and Porites. South of Southwest/Bird Cay Shoal/Right elbow (WP 11) (dive): Extensive A.palmata reef, standing dead but with significant new growth. Fig. 18. Close-up of a live Acropora palmata (elkhorn coral) colony.

15 Fig. 19. Standing dead Acropora palmata and rubble. Press visit in the afternoon: The Jamaica Defense Force (JDF) was extremely co-operative and provided a JDF helicopter to fly journalists from the Gleaner and the Jamaica Information Service (JIS) to Middle Cay for a few hours to document the ongoing work. Accompanying a camera crew from the JIS and a cameraman and journalist from the Gleaner were also Colonel Roper of the JDF Air Force Command, Lieutenant Commander Aldred, Coast Guard Service, and Reserve Officer Wilson- Kelly of the Coast Guard Service and NEPA. Both press teams were able to walk extensively around Middle Cay and interview various community members, Officer Wilson-Kelly and members of the Pedro Project dive team. As a follow-up to this, Mr. Stephen Smikle, the Director of the Marine Branch, Fisheries Division, was also interviewed by the JIS after the Pedro Bank visit. A 2 page article was printed in the Saturday April 30, 2005 issue of the Gleaner and an in-depth documentary from JIS is expected to be completed and aired in June Additionally, a news feature about the expedition will be posted on the TNC website ( in the beginning of July 2005.

16 Fig. 20. Phil Kramer, Peter Edwards and Nathalie Zenny being interviewed by journalists from the JIS and the Gleaner. Fig. 21. JIS camera team setting up to interview several fishermen on Middle Cay.

Saturday April 23 Sites: Down and in from Shannon Rock (WP 12) (dive): Hard pavement with better reef development at deeper part of slope: Millepora, Montastrea, Porites,

17 Saturday April 23 Sites: Down and in from Shannon Rock (WP 12) (dive): Hard pavement with better reef development at deeper part of slope: Millepora, Montastrea, Porites, Agaricia, Siderastrea and Diploria. UShallow Bar (WP 13) (dive)u: mostly dead A.palmata with small outcroppings of live Millepora and Porites. Fig. 22. School of yellow goatfish.

18 Fig. 23. School of bar jack in foreground and yellow goatfish in background. Up and out from Shannon Rock (WP 20) (dive): Hard pavement with outcroppings of coral growth, predominantly boulder and fire coral with gorgonians. Shannon Rock Shoal (WP 21) (dive): mostly dead A.palmata rubble. Sunday April 24 Sites: North-East/Top Cay drop-off (WP 23) (dive): Illustrative of much of Pedro Bank reef structure away from the Pedro Cays - sand bottom and pavement with boulder and brain coral outcroppings and gorgonians. There were a lot of conch and conch shells on the seafloor. South-west/Bird Cay reef (WP 24) (snorkel/dive): The team surveyed the reef flat and reef crest of Southwest Cay which serves as an informal bird sanctuary; the Fisheries Division has asked the Pedro Cays community not to reside on or disturb this cay and people have generally respected that request. The cay is used by several species of terns, frigates and booby birds as both a nesting and roosting site. It is also thought to be an important area for hawksbill turtle nesting most recently, the skeleton of a turtle that had apparently died from natural causes was found there during the course of the expedition (A. Haynes-Sutton, pers. obs.). While having lunch in the lagoon an adult hawksbill was also spotted a little past the lagoon on the

reef flat and then later photographed by Brandon Hay. Shuksman reported that hawksbill turtles are frequently seen in the area, both juveniles and adults.

19 reef flat and then later photographed by Brandon Hay. Shuksman reported that hawksbill turtles are frequently seen in the area, both juveniles and adults. On the leeward side of the cay is a very beautiful lagoon with shallow tidal pools of Porites extending into A.palmata reef with ledges of plate corals and subsurface caverns juvenile fish (snapper, grunt) and lobster are common. Fig. 24. Ann Haynes Sutton examining remains of turtle found on Southwest Cay.

20 Fig. 25. Hawksbill sighted at Southwest Cay survey site. Middle Cay reef crest (WP 25) (snorkel): Extensive A.palmata reef and rubble and Millepora colonies, standing dead but with significant new growth.

21 Fig. 26. Between Middle Cay and Southwest/Bird Cay Fig. 27. Eagle Ray swimming by at site between Middle Cay and Southwest/Bird Cay Between Middle Cay and Southwest/Bird Cay (WP 26) (dive)u: Good reef structure, Porites, Diploria, Millepora, Siderastrea, Montastrea, Colpophyllia and Agaricites. Movie night: The team, with the help of the Coast Guard crew on base and the fishermen who were members of the team, organized a movie night. This was used as a means of introducing the dive researchers and the project to the Pedro Cays community and beginning a dialogue with some of the people. It is estimated that a crowd of 40 to 50 people came. A short overview of the project and the various partner organizations involved was given and then a slideshow of underwater and above-water photographs taken over the course of the assessment was shown. A 5 minute video on Nassau Grouper and snapper spawning aggregations in Belize followed in order to investigate whether fishermen have seen any similar spawnings on Pedro Bank historically or presently. The reaction of people was quite amazing as the crowd went from relative silence to tumult. Showing this footage was productive in that it initiated some discussion among the crowd: people reported never having seen something of that scale and never grouper or snapper but rather smaller aggregations of other fish. A number of fishermen even felt that the number of fish on the bank had declined and raised the issue of resting the bank. Two additional educational clips were shown and finally an action movie, much to the

delight of the crowd. The evening proved successful enough to prompt questions the next day as to whether or not there would be another movie viewing while the team was there.

22 delight of the crowd. The evening proved successful enough to prompt questions the next day as to whether or not there would be another movie viewing while the team was there. The movie night certainly proved to be an effective means of gathering a significant crowd and spurning discussion and interaction between Pedro Project staff and community members and will be used again in the upcoming surveys in July and August Monday April 25 Sites: Both these sites were illustrative of the sandy bottom habitat common to Pedro Bank where much of the Queen Conch harvested is found. Middle Cay Black Rock (WP 27) (dive): Pavement with scattered coral colonies (boulder, brain and gorgonians) and coral rubble. Inside Southwest/Bird Cay - Shuksman's conch bottom (WP 28) (dive): Similar to Middle Cay Black Rock, pavement with scattered coral heads, algae and rubble and sand. Fig. 28. Typical sand bottom habitat where Queen Conch is harvested.

23 Fig. 29. Sean Green assessing algal cover at Shuksman's conch bottom. Monday afternoon: Bounce dives between Sandy/South Cay and Shannon Rock for verification and groundtruthing of the Millenium Coral Reef Mapping Project s classification of habitat other than coral reef this was conducted by Dr. Kramer. Acropora cervicornis stands off of Southwest Cay documented. Packing up camp.

24 Fig. 30. Acropora cervicornis stands off Southwest Cay. Fig. 31. Catch of the day Porgies, Jack and Parrotfish.

25 Tuesday April 26 Return to mainland. PEDRO BANK IMAGES

28 Contact Information: Ms. Nathalie Zenny The Nature Conservancy - Jamaica nzenny@tnc.org Tel: (876) Fax: (876)

Following Information Compliments of Avadon Divers, Placencia Belize

Following Information Compliments of Avadon Divers, Placencia Belize The Blue Hole & Lighthouse Reef Trips to this atoll are done only when there are good surface conditions as it is a 3-hour boat ride