Fifty years of impacts on coral reefs in Bermuda

The high latitude coral reefs of Bermuda have been impacted by two major kinds of events since the early 1940's. The first was the dredging operation in Castle Harbour, where sedimentation, turbidity and altered hydrology caused a mass mortality of corals, especially of the major reef-building genus Diploria. While there has been post dredging recruitment of corals, D. strigosa, a species sensitive to sedimentation, has been particularly slow to recover and is less prevalent at this site than elsewhere in Bermuda. Also, since 1940, 13 major ship groundings have occurred on the reefs which have destroyed an estimated 1% of the outer reefs. It is estimated that 100-150 yr would be required to restore coral coverage and species diversity, with species of Diploria being particularly slow to recover.