Gorilla ogo – named after its invasive nature, the marine algae is running havoc at the Hawaii waters, killing coral reefs and smothering sea grass beds, capable of devastating the marine ecosystem single-handedly.
In Hawaii and elsewhere, there has been high-diversity coral communities’ shift to algae-dominated reefs with the species’ diversity reduced alarmingly. And this problem is prevailing there for a number of years, drastically increasing the magnitude of the damage.
This has been worrying scientists for long, since recently they have come up with an innovative and perhaps effective solution. Yes, the scientists have come up with so-called underwater vacuum cleaners.
Not so usual a solution, the ‘Super Suckers‘ are capable of devouring the invasive algae by sucking up tons of it! The marine-life saver is a barge-mounted device. Though not new in the Oahu Island’s Kaneohe Bay, it is something new for the Hawaii waters.
Cynthia Hunter, a marine biologist at the University of Hawaii said,
The algae invasion poses the largest current threat to the health of reefs in Hawaii.
Hope the joint effort by The Nature Conservancy, the University of Hawaii, and the state’s Department of Land and Natural Resources will now be able to save the remaining corals along with the other lives dependent on them from disappearance — providing a breath of relief to the conservationists.
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