Bon Tarde,

I've posted two video's of our experience with hurricane Ivan here at
"Casa Flamingo", just south of the Sabadeco Pier.

• Hurricane Ivan
• Windows Media File
• 320 x 240
• 3:40
• 9.31 MB

Roger,

Thanx for the links. Is the damage only in the shallows or also on the deeper parts of the reef?

If the wood and other debris is taken out of the water, things will start to look better...

nice videos...

Martin,
The damage is in the 20 to 25 foot and shallower zone. Below that (to at least 120 feet & as far as I could see) it looks like a snow storm hit; Everything is covered with a layer of sand and silt. But, the live hard corals have somehow dusted them selves off already, while the sponges have not.

Yes it will look better once the planks are salvaged, but there is a lot of soft coral and hard coral (staghorn, elkhorn) that is gone, replaced by rubble.

So it's again upto the approx. 7 meters where the damage has been done... I hope the coral and sponges will be able to get rid of the "snow".

It's sad to hear about the los of the coral, just now it was beginning to grow back into the shallows...

Thank you for the update!

One of the simple things the Marine Park has asked us to do in the past is gently fan the corals and sponges to remove some of sand build up.
And you should keep an eye out for unusual items like tarps or clothing that might be draped over coral. If you can safely remove it, you should do so, or report it to the dive shop. After Lenny, I found a sail tarp wrapped over and under a large boulder coral. I carefully cut away the top portion to expose the coral. It had bleached white but the tissue was still alive. Months later I saw that coral again and it had survived.

Anybody on island next weekend can join the underwater cleanup on the 18th. There is also an article in the BonaireReporter about other clean up efforts scheduled that weekend on land and the beaches as well for the International Coastel Cleanup.

Roger, thanks for the video...amazing....Tom Cousino was telling me about fanning the coral to get the silt and sand off of it...let's hope that not too much is lost with this....

thank you for sharing the videos

Thanks for sharing your footage with us, Roger. It's amazing to see how much did survive unharmed, however.

Two things came to mind when I viewed the underwater video...the eeriness of how the silt and sand on the corals reminded me of the ash that had fallen onto the streets and people of NYC on 9-11-01.

On the other hand, the same image also reminds me somewhat of a fresh snow fallen onto the coral and reef.

It appears some of the breakage/damage was caused by the boards from the pier as it sank to the bottom or was tossed around like toothpicks in the surging waters.

Let's hope things can bounce back to normalcy on its own and quickly.

Is there risk of the coral dying with the silt and sand remaining on top??

Thank you again, Roger and Linda, too, for keeping us apprised as to the cleanup missions, etc. Carole

Thank-you for sharing the video links.

Roger, Thanks so much for allowing us to view these and share them with others.

Roger, thank you for the video, I was very curious about what happened to the coral int he shallows...it is very sad..there was a giant bowl just north of Capn Dons that I thing probably didn't survive after seeing your video ! And Linda, thank you for the information about the clean up! I wish I could be there to help!

Whoa Roger.... great video, thank you for sharing that with us.

Thanks for the videos, Roger. Good to see, even if what's happened is sad, it's not as bad as it could have been...thank goodness. Glad you guys made it through the storm OK as well. Linda, I'm glad to hear there will be a cleanup. Good luck, I wish we could be there to help!

I will join in with a thank you Roger. That was great.

Now the two things that came in to my mind while viewing - and forgive me early on for these thoughts but...

What do the fish do when something like this happens? I wonder if they sense it similar to the way that dolphins and other aquatic mammals seem to sense a change in the weather.

And after it is over do they feel like they have a hangover? Seeing the first few fish in the video just made me think of that.

I am sorry to see the damage but do agree that it could be so much worse and thankfully Ivan took that northern turn.

Mara

Hi,

Thanks for sharing the video's.
I arrive tuesday and i hope we have some better days then.