Chance to be heard on coral reef issues.

I got this a few minutes ago from Ed Tichenor of Palm Beach County Reef
Rescue.

As most of you know, Ed has been working hard on putting a stop to the
adverse effects of the Delray Beach sewage outfall on Gulfstream Reef and
other habitats being affected by the chemicals contained in the partially
treated effluent. The issue of anchoring on the reef, while not, in my
opinion, a problem of the same magnitude, still exposes the reef to needless
damage. The FWC's reported unwillingness to address the problem,
particularly given laws prohibiting anchoring on living coral reefs, should
not go unchallenged.

Who better to challenge them than us. I'm going to try to attend and I
encourage anyone from the area, that dive in the area, that care about the
area or that can get to the area, to attend as well. The larger the
showing, the larger the impact is likely to be.

Lee

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Lieutenant Reed of FWC (561 723-1435) has requested a meeting with dive/reef
related interests to discuss coral anchoring regulations. The meeting is
scheduled for Thursday, June 15 @ 2:00 PM at his office: 8535 Northlake
Blvd., Palm Beach Gardens.

The meeting was prompted after continual calls to FWC from boat captains and
divers reporting anchoring on Gulf Stream and other Palm Beach County coral
reefs. As an example on May 20, multiple calls were made to the FWC hotline
reporting boats anchored in coral heads on Lynn's Reef. In addition to the
obvious damage to the coral, one of the boats hooked a juvenile Green Turtle
and after a confrontation with divers released the turtle by cutting the
line leaving the hook in the turtle's throat. This boat had been reported an
hour earlier, but FWC chose not to respond.

Lieutenant Reed told me, case numbers will no longer be issued for reports
of anchoring and felt FWC had no authority to police anchoring in coral.

The May 20 incident occurred on Lynn's Reef, where on holiday weekends as
many as a dozen boats, anchored in coral have been reported to FWC. This is
one of the shallower (45 ft.) reefs in the area and has documented
populations of Staghorn coral (added to the federal Endangered Species List,
May 2006) and Pillar coral (Florida's Endangered List). In addition, NOAA
has installed an ADCP reef-monitoring module in this area, which is very
vulnerable to anchor damage.

I hope you can attend this meeting to help address this problem critical to
the survival our coral reefs. If you can't make the meeting please foreword
this email to anyone you feel might be interested.

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