The Beaches of Playa Melones, Culebra A small island in the eastern part of Puerto Rico and a popular tourist destination, the beaches of Playa Melones, Culebra and the purple sea fans above. Puerto Rico is home to more than 1,300 square kilometers of reefs, which are important in protecting the island from hurricanes, waves and storms. Reef-related tourism contributes nearly $2 billion to the national economy each year. However, reefs in Puerto Rico and around the world are becoming more and more dangerous. Warming oceans have caused coral reefs to collapse, where corals drive out zooxanthellae, the characteristic algae that provide 80 to 90 percent of the nutrients. Prolonged stress will starve the ruby and white. In April 2024, NOAA announced a global coral reef event, the fourth on record. The coral in the picture shows pale spots and is also inhabited by Ramicrusta, a warm-orange algae that threatens reefs. In June, 30 local students participated in a month-long program called Ocean Community Engagement and Awareness Using NASA’s Earth Observations and Science for Hispanic/Latino Students (OCEANOS). The goal of the project is to teach Puerto Rican students about ecology and marine conservation and train them to use marine science tools to monitor reef health. The program includes classroom training, practical work and data collection from La Parguera and Culebra Island, and finally the final presentation. In this photo, OCEANOS teacher Samuel Suleiman shows students a 3D printed Culebra beach. In damaged coral habitats, 3D corals are used to attract and protect marine life.
To practice coral mapping techniques, students use compact cameras to photograph seven meter by seven meter sections of the ocean floor, taking one picture every half a second. Back on shore, the students stitched 600 images per square into high-resolution mosaics to map coral species and their distribution. The students also developed inexpensive devices and sensors to measure water temperature and light, which are critical to coral health. Rubies thrive in temperatures between 77 and 82 degrees Fahrenheit (25 and 28 degrees Celsius). Water temperatures outside of this range can stress corals and cause growth, disease, reproductive and reproductive problems. Corals also depend on light for photosynthesis and are reduced in turbid waters by excessive sediment or phytoplankton. Suleiman guided the students to plant new rubies by gluing unshaped rubies and rubies into a rectangular frame. Each shell can hold about 100 pieces of coral. Solomon, owner of the Sociedad Ambiente Marino (SAM), has spent more than 20 years cultivating and planting more than 160,000 coral reefs around Puerto Rico. Under ideal conditions, branching species such as elkhorn and steghorn corals can grow up to 12-13cm per year, which are suitable for reef restoration, unlike coral reefs and reefs. rock grows only 1cm per year..