8/19/2009 10:31:00 AM 'Red alert' on South Shore beaches was a false alarm
Some of the spawn that formed a ‘red tide’ on the South Shore last week will ultimately settle and become new coral, like the brain corals crusted to this shipwreck. The wreck is the Cristobal Colon – a Spanish luxury liner that sank off the North Shore in 1936. *Photo by Dr Grant Farquhar
Concerned onlookers jammed the switchboards to report a 'chemical spill' after sighting vast patches of a gunky, pink substance for miles along the South Shore on Friday.
Lifeguards, the Aquarium, Environmental Protection and the Bio Station all received calls from onlookers who feared Bermuda was in the midst of an environmental disaster.
In fact it was just the opposite.
The mystery substance congealing in large puddles on the glassy calm surface of the South Shore was actually coral spawn - a sign that Bermuda's reefs are healthy.
The spawning, the process by which the coral reproduces, happens every year roughly a week after the August full moon.
Samantha de Putron, a coral expert at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Science, said the spawn had been particularly visible this year, prompting a slew of calls from the public.
"Some people thought it was sewage or a chemical spill, others were just curious and wanted to know if it was safe to swim in it."
'Pink slime'
The Parks Department was also inundated with calls about the 'pink slime' washing up on the beaches and issued a press release reassuring the public that it was not pollution.
Ms de Putron said the coral spawn happened every year across the Bermuda platform. It was more visible on the South Shore because the reef is much closer to land.
Sometimes the spawning happens in two separate 'events' roughly a month apart, depending on the timing of the August full moon. In other years, as happened this weekend, there is just one large spawning for the year.
"This was one of the largest we have seen for a while," Ms de Putron said. "The coral is releasing eggs and sperm into the water. If you look really closely what you are actually seeing is thousands of tiny little eggs."
She said a mass spawning increased the chances of successful reproduction for the coral. Only a tiny per centage of the spawn released into the water will ultimately settle and become new coral.
"It is a bit of a rocky road because at the moment everything wants to eat them."
Some of the spawn will be washed away on the current, some will be eaten, others will settle and ultimately become new brain corals, star corals or sea rods.
"When you see the coral spawning like this it is great because if they are healthy enough to reproduce in those quantities they are obviously very healthy."
