by Miguel Ángel Maldonado

Hurricane Dean affected Akumal’s bays with its storm surge, waves and high tropical storm winds. The coastal infrastructure suffered less damage than the beaches. However, the marine environments within the bays of Akumal, as well as the reef system developing in front of our coasts, were severely affected by the hurricane.

The main damage was caused by the suspension and transport of sand and broken coral from the sea bottom. The continual effect of abrasions and collisions from these materials caused damage to the coral tissue, fractures and, in some cases, the breaking off of complete coral colonies.

The seagrass beds in Akumal Bay were affected by the shifting and transporting of sand, leaving the root systems exposed, and this allowed the plants to become uprooted. These beds are feeding, reproduction and growing areas for numerous sea creatures. The seagrass beds are particularly important in Akumal, because they sustain a fluctuating resident and migratory sea turtle population.

Numerous colonies of massive coral in the internal patch reef were broken from their base, turned over and rolled around. Among the most seriously affected were the massive coral species, those which basically determine the current structure of our coral community, for example Montastraea annularis (Boulder star coral), Diploria strigosa (Brain coral), Siderastrea siderea (Star Coral) and Colpophillia natans (Brain coral). The decaying state of coral colonies of these species in the reefs of Akumal has been measured using indicators such as partial death rate and elevated incidence of disease affecting them.

The marine environments in Akumal’s bays and the species they host are confronted by a difficult process of recovery. The health of the coral reefs is seriously compromised by the accumulated effects of coral disease caused by water pollution from wastewater in the aquifer and by the impact from recent storms and intense hurricanes.

Likewise, increased tourism use causes a high amount of chronic disturbance to the system and oftentimes direct physical damage to the marine organisms.

CEA has taken on the task of:

• Implementing measures to regulate the intensity of tourism use, through the Akumal Community Marine Management Program
• Carrying out damage reviews in external and internal reef areas
• Carrying out rapid assessment, based on previous monitoring data, using the MBRS Synoptic Monitoring Program
• Continuing collaboration with UNAM, Cornell University and the CRTR for monitoring and research of our marine environments.