![\"\"](\"http:\/\/versicolor.ca\/barbados\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Spec7a.jpeg\")
<\/a>Navigation\nBarbados Fringing Reefs & Seagrass Beds<\/a>
\nNatural History Perspectives of a Visiter<\/em>
\n– ObsFR-I<\/a> (Set I, This Page)
\n– ObsFR-II<\/a> (Set II, Sep. Page)
\nAlso View About: The Fringing Reefs of Barbados<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n
\n
Observations FR-I (This Page)<\/strong> Subpages:<\/p>\n –\u00a0\u00a0Methods<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n –<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Taxonomic Issues<\/a><\/strong> –\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0iNaturalist Projects<\/strong><\/a> –<\/strong> The Acroporoids<\/strong><\/a> <\/p>\n About these “Observations on the Fringing Reefs of Barbados”<\/strong><\/p>\n DRAFTING…<\/em><\/p>\n Two pages on this website, ObsFR-I and ObsFR-II and their subpages report informal observations I have made on fringing reefs in the Folkestone Marine Protected Area<\/a> on the west coast of Barbados in the early winter months over the period 2015 to 2025 inclusive but excluding 2021 and 2022; and expected to be ongoing in 2027.<\/p>\n The focus is on the Vauxhall Fringing Reef – #34 in the Map of Fringing Reefs below:<\/p>\n Fringing Reefs in the Folkestone MPA viewed on Google Earth. <\/strong>Reef Numbers are from Table 2, and Figs 22-24 in Maclean & Oxenford, 2016<\/a>. The MPA Zones extend further seaward than shown above (to\u00a0660- 950 meters from shore). Total area is 2.1 sq kilometers, There are patch and bank reefs situated\u00a0 offshore from the fringing reefs – see Appendix 1 map in IABIN 2010<\/a>. \u00a0ZONES I: Scientific Zone;\u00a0 2: Northern Water Sports Zone; 3: Recreational Zone; 4: Southern Water Sports Zone.<\/p><\/div>\n In my first views of Vauxhall Reef, in 2015, I was astounded to find healthy Acropora cervicornis<\/em>, A. palmata<\/em> and A. prolifera,<\/em> and a wonderful variety of fish; further I found that the reef overall was in remarkably good health; this was in sharp contrast to the other fringing reefs in the MPA which were\/are highly degraded.<\/p>\n The site is well visited by snorkelling ventures who anchor to fixed buoys in the vicinity of a wreck sunk for recreational purposes purpose just seaward of the fringing reef;\u00a0 besides the plethora of fish over the wreck, snorkellers are guided over the outer spurs of the fringing reef which until recently hosted over\u00a080% living coral cover.<\/p>\n The “remarkably good health” began to change drastically in 2023 with the arrival of Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease; I documented its spread on Vauxhall Reef over the early months of 2023.<\/p>\n When I returned in early months of 2024, I was shocked to find that the many colonies of Acropora prolifera<\/em> on the Reef Flats up to the Reef Crest that I first observed and documented in 2015 were completely dead and overgrown with epiphytic organisms. Likewise most of the stinging corals (Millepoa<\/em> spp) which has been especially abundant on the reef crest and reef slope were 95% dead. These mortalities were clearly due to extreme warming events in the fall of 2023.<\/p>\n When I returned in 2025, I was shocked to\u00a0 find that the outer spurs that had hosted >80% living coral cover had been massively disrupted; that was attributable to swells associated with Hurricane Beryl on June 30\/July 1, 2024.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ObsFR-I: Observations on Fringing Reefs, Set I Navigation Barbados Fringing Reefs & Seagrass Beds Natural History Perspectives of a Visiter – ObsFR-I (Set I, This Page) – ObsFR-II (Set II, Sep. Page) Also View About: The Fringing Reefs of Barbados … Continue reading
\nand its subpages:
\n– –<\/strong> Fire Corals (Millepora spp)<\/small><\/a>
\n– –<\/strong> Zooanthids<\/small><\/a>
\n– –<\/strong> Orbicella & Montastrea species<\/small><\/a><\/p>\n
\nand its subpage:
\n– –<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Folkstone MPA iNat Species<\/small><\/a><\/p>\n
\nand its subpages:
\n– –\u00a0All 3 Acroporoids occurred on Vauxhall Reef 2015 (& earlier) to 2023<\/small><\/a><\/strong>
\n– –<\/strong> A. palmata<\/strong><\/small><\/a>
\n– – –<\/strong> A. palmata On Vauxhall Reef (Reef 34)<\/small><\/a>
\n– – –<\/strong> A palmata in nearshore MPA north of Vauxhall: Fringing Reef 33<\/small><\/a>
\n– – –<\/strong> A. palmata in nearshore MPA north of Vauxhall: Fringing Reef 32<\/small><\/a><\/small>
\n– – –<\/strong> A. palmata in nearshore MPA north of Vauxhall: SurfSide Breakwaters<\/small><\/a>
\n– – –<\/strong> A. palmata in nearshore MPA north of Vauxhall: Reef 30<\/small><\/a>
\n– –<\/strong> A. cervicornis<\/strong><\/small><\/a>
\n– – – <\/strong>A cervicornis iNaturalist Records<\/small><\/a>
\n– – A. prolifera<\/small><\/a><\/strong>
\n– – –<\/strong> 2015 specimens<\/small><\/a>
\n– – –<\/strong> A. prolifera \u201cMother Colony\u201d at Vauxhall<\/small><\/a>
\n– – –<\/strong> Epiphytes etc on recently dead A.prolifera<\/small><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>