BENEATH THE SEA RESEARCHERS AT THE NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY

GUY HARVEY OCEANOGRAPHIC CENTER TAKE A LOOK

BELOW THE SURFACE OF SOUTH FLORIDA WATERS

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WRITER JAMION KRIES

< Renegar and Dr. Richard Dodge, dean and professor at the Guy Harvey Oceanographic Center and executive director at the National Coral Reef Institute

T here is no passport for the great Mako shark that is circling outside a reef off the Fort Lauderdale coast. It can travel the distance of an entire ocean without a single slip of paper.

However it is in danger. At times, it is threatened by being directly hunted. At other moments, coastal development – one of the biggest factors that threatens coral reefs, which houses food for Mako sharks – is its foe.

A reef supports the gamut of inter-relationships that help take care of each organism much like how a society is supposed to function. Coral reef research makes up the bulk of study at the Nova Southeastern University Guy Harvey Oceanographic Center, the latest named building on the NSU campus in Hollywood, Florida.

Abigail Renegar, a research assistant, works in this 86,000 square foot LEED green facility. It opened in September 2012, constructed on the south side entrance to Port Everglades, directly on the oceanfront. When Renegar was asked what the best move for the future of our reefs is, she simply said, "Leave. The best thing we can do is leave.” Humans’ impact through coastal development is the greatest threat to these fragile ecosystems. Research at the center is poised to advocate for the flourishing of coral reefs and all ocean ecology.

Renegar is currently involved in a study that quantifies hydrocarbon toxicity in corals. This study determines the effects oil has on a coral reef. It is useful in understanding the impact of situations that arise on the ocean like the BP oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. “Research like this is challenging. To link effects on coral, you have to accurately report concentration of hydrocarbon chemistry," said Renegar. This work is done at the center in a controlled laboratory. BP has funded some research work at NSU.

Renegar has also been involved in growing staghorn coral. Samples from living specimens are taken by simply cutting a piece or branch off then placing it in a special clay for temporary stability before it takes hold. These samples can then start to form their own separate units that look much like the structure of a tree with thick large overgrown branches. Once a large group of staghorn is grown in a lab at the center, they are then taken to a site three miles north of Port Everglades to be transplanted off Fort Lauderdale Beach.

Renegar noted a number of anthropogenic environmental factors that impact stony coral such as staghorn."There are primary drivers like global warming, breakage, and pollution. Then you have secondary impacts like bleaching and disease. These conditions create a synergistic effect," said Renegar.

Then there are disasters like a 1972 project by Broward Artificial Reef Inc. (BARINC) where approximately two million old tires were banded together and released into 65 feet of water off the Broward County coast to further expand Osborne Reef. The project was considered an environmental disaster. Not many marine creatures actually settled on the “reef” and a number of the tires were able to break loose.

In 2001 Dr. Robin Sherman of Nova Southeastern University was awarded a $30,000 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The university project facilitated the removal of 1,600 tires from the site. An initiative by federal, state, and county officials along with the help of NSU, started further work in the summer of 2007 with a three year long project to remove an estimated 700,000 tires. The State of Florida provided $2 million toward the project.

While there are negative circumstances, positive ones exist too. If there stood a

^ Guy Harvey

5 2 J U N E 2 0 1 5 • G O R I V E R W A L K . C O M

BENEATH THE SEA RESEARCHERS AT THE NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY

GUY HARVEY OCEANOGRAPHIC CENTER TAKE A LOOK

BELOW THE SURFACE OF SOUTH FLORIDA WATERS

FEAT

URE

WRITER JAMION KRIES

< Renegar and Dr. Richard Dodge, dean and professor at the Guy Harvey Oceanographic Center and executive director at the National Coral Reef Institute

T here is no passport for the great Mako shark that is circling outside a reef off the Fort Lauderdale coast. It can travel the distance of an entire ocean without a single slip of paper.

However it is in danger. At times, it is threatened by being directly hunted. At other moments, coastal development – one of the biggest factors that threatens coral reefs, which houses food for Mako sharks – is its foe.

A reef supports the gamut of inter-relationships that help take care of each organism much like how a society is supposed to function. Coral reef research makes up the bulk of study at the Nova Southeastern University Guy Harvey Oceanographic Center, the latest named building on the NSU campus in Hollywood, Florida.

Abigail Renegar, a research assistant, works in this 86,000 square foot LEED green facility. It opened in September 2012, constructed on the south side entrance to Port Everglades, directly on the oceanfront. When Renegar was asked what the best move for the future of our reefs is, she simply said, "Leave. The best thing we can do is leave.” Humans’ impact through coastal development is the greatest threat to these fragile ecosystems. Research at the center is poised to advocate for the flourishing of coral reefs and all ocean ecology.

Renegar is currently involved in a study that quantifies hydrocarbon toxicity in corals. This study determines the effects oil has on a coral reef. It is useful in understanding the impact of situations that arise on the ocean like the BP oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. “Research like this is challenging. To link effects on coral, you have to accurately report concentration of hydrocarbon chemistry," said Renegar. This work is done at the center in a controlled laboratory. BP has funded some research work at NSU.

Renegar has also been involved in growing staghorn coral. Samples from living specimens are taken by simply cutting a piece or branch off then placing it in a special clay for temporary stability before it takes hold. These samples can then start to form their own separate units that look much like the structure of a tree with thick large overgrown branches. Once a large group of staghorn is grown in a lab at the center, they are then taken to a site three miles north of Port Everglades to be transplanted off Fort Lauderdale Beach.

Renegar noted a number of anthropogenic environmental factors that impact stony coral such as staghorn."There are primary drivers like global warming, breakage, and pollution. Then you have secondary impacts like bleaching and disease. These conditions create a synergistic effect," said Renegar.

Then there are disasters like a 1972 project by Broward Artificial Reef Inc. (BARINC) where approximately two million old tires were banded together and released into 65 feet of water off the Broward County coast to further expand Osborne Reef. The project was considered an environmental disaster. Not many marine creatures actually settled on the “reef” and a number of the tires were able to break loose.

In 2001 Dr. Robin Sherman of Nova Southeastern University was awarded a $30,000 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The university project facilitated the removal of 1,600 tires from the site. An initiative by federal, state, and county officials along with the help of NSU, started further work in the summer of 2007 with a three year long project to remove an estimated 700,000 tires. The State of Florida provided $2 million toward the project.

While there are negative circumstances, positive ones exist too. If there stood a

^ Guy Harvey

G O R I V E R W A L K . C O M • J U N E 2 0 1 5 5 3

superhero for the world's oceans, Dr. Guy Harvey would certainly wear that cape. Harvey is not only a world-renowned artist, whose work adorns the clothing of ocean lovers everywhere, he is also a top researcher. He is involved in shark tagging research at the Guy Harvey Research Institute, which was established in 1999. This means that he and a team have to physically go to a location where sharks are swimming in the wild, catch one in the water, and tag them with a GPS tracking device. When you understand the habits of the ocean’s greatest predators, you also understand the necessary factors in helping their conservation and the protection of marine animals everywhere.

Next time you are sitting on Fort Lauderdale Beach, Harvey could very well be tagging a shark just offshore. All the more reason to bring a kayak along or maybe just a pair of binoculars.

To see the movements of sharks in the Atlantic Ocean, visit www.nova.edu/ocean and click on the Guy Harvey Research Institute icon at the bottom of the page.

Freelance journalist Jamion Kries has covered extreme sports, business, politics, and art and can be reached at jamionkries@gmail.com. 

NSU grad students study effect of oil on crustaceans

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5 4 J U N E 2 0 1 5 • G O R I V E R W A L K . C O M