Fragile Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Harbor New Genus of Life

HONOLULU, Hawaii, November 14, 2003 (ENS) - A sea lily that represents a new genus and possibly an entire new family of creatures has been discovered in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands by a group of scientists from across the United States studying precious corals of the ocean depths. Hawaii's seamounts and deep water coral beds need protection, they concluded.

The expedition was sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), as part of its mission to investigate the oceans. On November 5, the scientists completed a 64 day voyage to the remote island chain where they studied the region’s virtually unexplored deep sea corals, submarine canyons, ridges and seamounts.

Gold coral polyps in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (Photo courtesy NOAA)

Amy Baco-Taylor of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution studied the reproductive biology and genetics of deep sea precious corals. “We made exciting discoveries,“ she said, “including four new coral beds, gold corals found spawning in the sample jars on the surface, and beds with juvenile precious corals - something we haven't observed in the main island coral beds."

“We discovered at least 16 new species of corals including at least two new genera,“ said Baco-Taylor. “At least one new crinoid [sea lily] was discovered, which is certainly a new genus and possibly a new family,“ she said.

There are four types of precious coral in Hawaii - black coral, gold coral, red or pink coral, and bamboo coral - explains Frank Parrish, a fishery biologist with NOAA’s Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center who participated in the voyage.

Parrish investigated how endangered Hawaiian monk seals use shallow and deep habitats for hunting and protection. He surmised that deep sea corals were the reason seals clustered at certain places, but observed no monk seals near those corals.

Hawaiian monk seal fitted with a satellite tracking tag and pup. (Photo courtesy NOAA)

Scientists Chris Kelley and John Smith from the Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory, and Smithsonian scientist and curator Stephen Cairns, joined Baco-Taylor in surveying bottom dwelling invertebrates, near bottom fishes, and deep water corals on seamounts - submarine mountains having a summit at least 1,000 feet below sea level.

In the first explorations of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands below precious coral depths, the scientists saw dense, high biomass coral and sponge communities at 1,500 to 1,800 meters (4,920 to 5,900 feet), with sponges measuring one to three meters (three to 10 feet) across.

The discoveries show that deep sea corals in Hawaii harbor diverse invertebrate communities and play an important role as a habitat. These deep sea corals are far more diverse than shallow water corals the scientists have found.

Craig Smith of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and Eric Vetter of Hawaii Pacific University studied submarine canyon and scavenger communities. Canyons are common along slopes of submerged seamounts, but have not been well explored.

During dives in canyons off Nihoa Island and Maro Reef, they observed an abundance and diversity of life.

“The results met our expectations that submarine canyons appear to have more diversity than areas outside canyons,” said Vetter. “The abundance of those organisms increased with depth rather than decreased as one might expect.”

NOAA Research and NOAA Fisheries organized the Deep Sea Corals Workshop earlier this year to begin formulating an International Deep Sea Coral Action Plan. To carry out the plan, international scientists are now identifying and prioritizing the research required to unlock the secret of these ecosystems and underpin international conservation initiatives to ensure their long term viability.

The day after the research vessel returned to port at Snug Harbor, Honolulu, scientists shared their findings and their images and specimens from the deep, with more than 200 local students who toured the ship’s science lab and submersibles.

On December 4, 2000, the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve was created by Executive Order of President Bill Clinton. The reserve encompasses an area of the marine waters and submerged lands of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands extending approximately 1,200 nautical miles long and 100 nautical miles wide.

The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands coral reefs are the foundation of an ecosystem that hosts more than 7,000 species, including marine mammals, fishes, sea turtles, birds, and invertebrates. Many are rare, threatened, or endangered. At least one quarter are endemic, found nowhere else on Earth. Many more remain unidentified or even unknown to science.

Map showing the entire Hawaiian Island archipelago (Map courtesy NOAA)

Concern has been raised about fishing interactions with monk seals, lobster trap impacts on coral reefs, marine mammal entanglement in fisheries debris, seal consumption of toxic discards, and prey depletion. Although strictly regulated, recreational and commercial fishing are contentious management issues.

Reserve officials explain that ocean currents have deposited thousands of tons of marine debris and derelict fishing gear from the North Pacific onto these remote islands, atolls, and reefs. The nets and lines can entangle and drown monk seals, sea turtles, seabirds, and harm coral reefs. Floating plastic debris is eaten by adult seabirds and fed to their young. Marine debris is also thought to be a potential conduit for the accelerated introduction of alien species to coral reef ecosystems.

NOAA’s National Marine Sanctuary Program, managed by NOAA’s Ocean Service, is now in the process of designating the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve as the 14th national marine sanctuary in U.S. waters.

Still, threats to these remote islands continue, warn Hawaiian environmental groups such as the Hawaiian-Environmental Alliance (KAHEA) and the Hawaiian branch of Environmental Defense.

They warn that the protections put in place by the Clinton Executive Order are not being enforced. The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council is seeking an increase in commercial fishing activities and a commercial coral harvest in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. The council supports a reopening of the lobster fishery that starved the endangered monk seals during its heyday in the 1980s.

KAHEA and Environmental Defense say monk seal habitat should be protected, recovery efforts funded, and the reserve protections enforced.

The scientist who discovered the new sea lily extends that concern to the ocean depths. “Hawaii's seamounts and deep water coral beds need to be protected,” Baco-Taylor said. Unexplored deep sea habitats, expensive and challenging to survey, may provide new species records to science for decades.