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Bad News For Divers

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pir81

Post subject: Bad News For Divers

Posted: Nov 01, 2006 - 11:01 PM

Puffer

Joined: Dec 31, 1969
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CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. Virgin Islands (AP) -- Large species of coral that form underwater reefs and create rich habitat for marine life are disappearing from around the U.S. Virgin Islands, Jamaica and elsewhere in the Caribbean, a leading researcher said Tuesday.

RELATED: Diminishing Coral Reefs

The larger species are being replaced by smaller varieties, which don't grow high enough to protect the fish, lobster and other animals that rely on the undersea reefs, said Peter Edmunds, a biology professor at California State University, Northridge.

Abnormally warm weather, coupled with pollution and overfishing, have contributed to a rapid decline in large coral, Edmunds said during a talk at the University of the Virgin Islands.

Species such as the boulder star coral, which stretch several yards (meters) across, take hundreds of years to grow. Edmunds predicted the boulder star coral could be gone from much of the U.S. Virgin Islands in less than 50 years. In Jamaica, the species has almost been replaced by mustard hill coral, a smaller species unable to make large reefs, he said.

"The big guys are becoming rarer," said Edmunds, who recently began projects near Tahiti and Taiwan.

A vital building block of marine life, coral grows and reproduce best at about 81.5 degrees Fahrenheit (27.5 degrees Celsius) in the Caribbean, Edmunds said.

Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.