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Report Summary

The Social and Economic Benefits of Coral Reef Restoration in Puerto Rico

Key Points

Report Summary

Hurricane Damage to Coral Reefs in 2017 Increases Future Flood Risk in Puerto Rico and Florida

The damage to reef natural infrastructure from Hurricanes Irma and Maria puts U.S. people and property at significant risk of future flooding

Key Points

Las consecuencias significativas del riesgo de inundación debido a los daños en los arrecifes de coral causado por los huracanes Irma y María clarifican por qué los beneficios de defensa de esta infraestructura natural deben recuperarse, repararse y restaurarse.

An anchor station in 20m water depth with a wave buoy and smart mooring attached. This instrument will deliver high-fidelity, real-time wave, water level, and wind data to scientists at the USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center.

A solar-powered Sofar spotter buoy floats in the water next to the R/V (Research Vessel) Sallenger.

A solar-powered Sofar spotter buoy floats in the water next to the R/V (Research Vessel) Sallenger.

A solar-powered Sofar spotter buoy floats in the water next to the R/V (Research Vessel) Sallenger.

A scientific diver next to an anchor station in 20m water depth with a wave buoy and smart mooring attached. This instrument will deliver high-fidelity, real-time wave, water level, and wind data to scientists at the USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center.

A scientific diver ascends safely towards the surface after deploying a wave buoy and smart mooring in 20m water depth. This instrument will deliver high-fidelity, real-time wave, water level, and wind data to scientists at the USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center.

A novel stereo CoastCam will be installed on at dune at Pea Island for the duration of the experiment.

The R/V Sallenger tows the SQUID-5 over Looe Key reef with a NOAA Sanctuary boat in the background patrolling the Looe Key area to warn recreational vessels of the ongoing research activity.

This beautiful red jellyfish in the genus Poralia may be an undescribed species. It was seen during the third transect of Dive 20 of the 2021 North Atlantic Stepping Stones expedition, at a depth of 700 meters (2,297 feet).

Towards the end of Dive 19 of the 2021 North Atlantic Stepping Stones expedition, we continued to observe the scattered rock debris sitting on the lobate and pillow lava outcrops that we’d seen earlier, suggesting that the pinnacle of Retriever Seamount was perhaps a late-stage eruption site and that it remains largely susceptible to continued erosional modification

This large bubblegum coral (Paragorgia arborea) was observed during Dive 19 of the 2021 North Atlantic Stepping Stones expedition. Based on published radial growth rates for this species, this colony is approximately 100 years old!

Remotely operated vehicle Deep Discoverer surveys a large boulder covered in bamboo corals during the 2021 North Atlantic Stepping Stones expedition. Bamboo corals were locally abundant on these large boulders and more spread out throughout different hard-bottom habitats.

New bathymetry data of the New England Seamounts collected with the EM 304 MK II variant during the 2021 North Atlantic Stepping Stones: New England and Corner Rise Seamount Chain (EX-21-04) expedition, overlaid on the Global Multi-Resolution Topography Data Synthesis grid.

Page Valentine, USGS Research Geologist, collects his 5000th sample on Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary.  Page has been mapping the geologic substrates of Stellwagen

Celebrating Page Valentine's 5000th sample collected on Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. Page Valentine, USGS Research Geologist, collects his 5000th sample on Stellwagen Ba

Dave Zawada (left) and Gerry Hatcher prepare to deploy the SQUID-5 off the R/V Sallenger over Looe Key, FL.

During Dive 11 of the 2021 North Atlantic Stepping Stones expedition, we discovered what is defined by the Oslo/Paris Convention (OSPAR) as a multispecies coral garden (100 - 700 coral colonies per every 100 square meter).

Gerry Hatcher controls SQUID-5 image acquisition over Looe Key Sanctuary Preservation Area (SPA).