Reef Check Survey at Nemo Reef

The Nemo Reef is a small fringing reef in Masbat Bay, situated at the central shore of Dahab, right in front of the Red Sea Environmental Centre. Due to its favourable position in Dahab and the easy access the bay offers, it is highly frequented by snorkelers. Furthermore, six restaurants are bordering directly to the shore. Consequentually, a high degree of anthropological influence to the reef seems to be inevitable. The aim of our survey at Nemo Reef was to record the biodiversity and the degree of coral damage of this site. This objecitve is predominant in each survey conducted as part of the Dahab Reef Monitoring, which is an extended Reef Check survey where several dive sites of Dahab are surveyed by a Reef Check team.

We recorded four types of data: Fish, Invertebrates and Trash, Coral Damage and Substrate. 
Only organisms which are indicators of overfishing, overharvesting and aquarium collection were considered. Three different transects that were positioned parallel to each other at a depth of approximately one to two meters were surveyed. We did the surveys on three days between the 4th and the 11th of September.

Indicator fish like Butterflyfish, Bluestreak cleaner wrasses, Surgeonfish and „Farmer fish“ were recorded. In addition, we found groupers up to a size of 30 cm.
 Notably, the number of Long spined sea urchins was striking: Both, in the inner and in the middle transect belt over 200 individuals per 20 meter segment were found, in the outer transect at least 100. Also Purple coral snails were overrepresented with numbers of 112 to 224 in the inner transect belt.
A high rate of predation was noticed, especially a notable amount of damage caused by Purple coral snails (Coralliophilia violacea), a small snail, usuallay found on Porites corals. There was also a high percentage of detached coral colonies or colonies with breakage.
Another noteworthy point is the hard coral coverage in the shallow area (inner transect belt), which is quite high. The rest of the substrate consists of algae, rock, rubble and sand.

One of the greatest threats to coral reefs is mass tourism. At the beginning of peak season, corals are exposed to high impact caused by snorkelers and swimmers, standing on the corals of the reeftop. Even in Nemo Reef we can find numerous traces of human impact. Besides human impact, also extraordinary amounts of urchins can devastate their environment, creating what biologists call an urchin barren, devoid of macroalgae and associated fauna (ref. Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 2007).
Another major issue at Nemo Reef are the restaurants along the beach. Some are fishing occasionally, hence causing damage to the reef. We found numerous fishing lines and fishing nets that covered and killed a lot of corals in the reef. Many of these fishing lines and nets have already been removed  during several underwater clean-up dives by volunteers from the RSEC.

In order to prevent any further damage and to maintain a healthy reef, everybody can contribute without too much personal effort but with great positive effect on the reef. Eating a responsible amount of indigenous fish in the local restaurants is one aspect. Another thing everybody can do is being careful with the movement of fins or feet whilst snorkeling or swimming and nobody should throw rubbish anywhere but in the bins provided.

Concluding, it is to be mentioned that people should be aware of Nemo Reef, of its beauty as well as of its problems. The fact that this beautiful patch is perfectly situated right next to the shore implies advantages as well as threats. Tourists and locals must not take its relatively well condition for granted, nor should anyone put this condition at risk.

Text: Sven Schleifer & Marlen Fröhlich

Photos: Christian Alter

Dahab Reef Monitoring Project 2009

The Dahab Reef Monitoring (“DRM”) project was set up to run over six weeks during the summer, from the start of August until 12th September. It is part of the global Reef Check initiative but has been expanded by RSEC to also record data specific to the region.

RSEC has had around 25 volunteers take part this year. Whilst the majority are German there are also volunteers from England, Spain and Switzerland, plus the staff at RSEC and the dive centre it is associated with (Sinai Divers) include Norwegian and Egyptian nationals, so overall the group has been pretty mixed! Some volunteers have just stayed for just 2 weeks but many are students, teachers or on a career break and so have been able to commit to the full six weeks of reef monitoring.

The DRM began with one week of training, which comprised a series of presentations to teach volunteers about the indicator species in each of the four categories to be surveyed. The four categories are: fish, invertebrates (lobster, shrimp, shells, snails, sea cucumbers etc), substrate (recording what is on the sea bed, e.g. coral, rock, sand) and coral damage. Volunteers were taught how to recognise certain indicators and then taken on training dives with a Reef Check trainer to test their new-found knowledge.

Text: Penny Cygan

Photos: Christian Alter

Fishing net Assalah Beach

On September 20 th  2009, thirteen divers went to Assalah beach. A specific task was on the days agenda. Jessica of DESC volunteer ranger in Dahab, and some volunteers from the Red Sea Environmental Centre went out to free a certain area from several abandoned fishing nets that were covering significant parts of the reef and corals. Moreover, fishing nets can also be a threat to marine life, as fish or turtles can end up in the nets and eventually die. Jessica, who discovered the net a few days ago, realised that it was impossible to cut out the nets snorkelling. Hence, she asked RSEC and some volunteers for help.

Arriving at the dive site, it became obvious that the entrance is not going to be easy. Nevertheless, shallow water and a fairly choppy sea couldn't stop the volunteers from diving. Lacking a proper entrance, the volunteers had to find their own way to get over the reef flat. First and foremost, everybody had to watch out for the corals underneath, as nobody wanted to cause any damage to them. This factor certainly hampered the project, however, after a while everybody got in safe and sound.

The divers discovered a twofold situation. On the one hand, the reef was in a well good condition and a lot of fish accompanied the team during the dive. Due to the fact that not many divers or snorkellers have been to this part of the bay, e.g. the amount of broken corals was significantly less concerning than in Bannerfish Bay or Lighthouse. Schools of barracudas, unicorn fish, snappers and many rudderfish observed the 'operation'. On the other hand, there were more fishing nets found than expected. As already mentioned, these nets can be a serious threat to the marine life. A few days earlier, a turtle's corpse was found at Assalah beach and even though one can not be 100 per cent sure, this incident might well be related to the fishing nets. Turtles can either get stuck in those nets or careless fisherman catch turtles accidental and throw them away afterwards.
After an exhausting dive, lasting for more than 100 minutes, the team decided to come back the next day as so much more nets have to be removed. After all, the two days at Assalah beach were well worth the effort. The amount of fishing nets removed during the two dives was outstanding and everyone involved was satisfied with the outcome.    

        
Regarding the obvious threat those nets pose, it is of substantial relevance to propel the removal. Hence, it would be of much help if any nets found somewhere in the Dahab area, are reported to the RSEC. If reported, the RSEC can take appropriate measures to remove them immediately to prevent them from causing any further damage.  

Text: Sarah Schnurr & Jan Kliem

Photos: Nina Milton