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USGS Evaluates and Establishes Monitoring Station at Cayos Cochinos, Honduras
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Don Hickey (left)
and Chris Reich (right) taking a GPS reading on the rocky shoreline
on Cayos Cochinos Pequeño. Mainland Honduras is in the background.
Photo by Bob Halley.
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Robert Halley, Christopher Reich, and Don Hickey of the St. Pete
Field Center recently returned from a two-week trip to Honduras.
This project is funded through the USAID program to examine
post-Hurricane Mitch effects on coral reefs surrounding Cayos
Cochinos (Hog Islands). Cayos Cochinos lies approximately 8 mi
off the north coast of Honduras and 30 mi south of Roatàn. The
USGS scientists met up with Carlos Garcia-Saez, director of the
Honduran Reef Foundation Lab on Cayos Cochino Pequeño. The lab
consists of 8-10 permanent staff, 3 dormitory houses, a kitchen,
and an adequately sized laboratory. All electrical power is
supplied from solar panels and wind generators. The primary
science being conducted on Pequeño is leatherback turtle research.
The turtle program relies on volunteers from the Honduran University.
Major goals accomplished during the two-week trip:
Two temperature loggers were deployed at two depths (~4.5 m
and 21 m) on the north side of Cochinos Grande and two on the
north side of Cochinos Pequeño in order to record upwelling events
of cold water that might impact reef health. Two additional
temperature loggers were deployed in shallow water on the south
side of Cochino Pequeño, near the lab. The two loggers located
on the south side were installed to obtain a record of the upper
extremes in sea-surface temperatures. While we were there, the
south-side loggers were recording 31°C (temperatures that can
cause coral bleaching). In addition, reefs surrounding Cayos
Cochinos encounter pulses of fluvial influx during high-precipitation
events on the mainland. Hurricane Mitch introduced vast quantities
of sediment-laden, fresh, river water throughout the Cayos
Cochinos area as evidenced by the large quantities of sizable
trees and logs as well as other debris on the beaches.
Reefs throughout Cayos Cochinos are fringing reefs with corals
living directly along and up to portions of the rocky shoreline.
Snorkeling on the shallow fringing reef occupied most of the time
during our visit. Visual observations and still photography were
used to note overall health of the reefs. Several SCUBA dives were
made to install temperature loggers on the deep forereef sites
and to observe deep (~30 m) pinnacle reef sites.
Distinct features on the 1998 open-skies aerial photography
were used to collect latitude and longitude information by using
the PLGR (precision lightweight GPS receiver) GPS unit. Bob, Chris,
and Don hiked all over the island of Cochino Pequeño collecting GPS
coordinates. Eventually these coordinates will be used to geo-rectify
the open-skies imagery and to establish a GIS database for future
mapping of coral reefs and surrounding marine environments. The
GIS database is intended to be set up such that when project funds
end, the Honduran Reef Foundation can continue to use and update
the map as they feel necessary. The lab at Cochino Pequeño has the
computer and software capabilities to maintain a GIS database.
Three of the last four days in Honduras were spent on Roatàn. We
made contact with Claude Buffet, the project chief of the French
agency that is conducting coral reef surveys in the marine reserve
located on the west end of Roatàn. We also met Jennifer Keck,
education coordinator at the Roatàn Institute for Marine Science
(RIMS). Jennifer was very receptive to the idea of working
cooperatively on setting up additional monitoring stations on
Roatàn to be used for comparison with the data collected on Cayos
Cochinos. Roatàn is not as susceptible to fluvial influx as Cayos
Cochinos because of its distance offshore.
The last day was spent in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras,
giving Jeff Phillips, USGS/USAID coordinator, and Peter Hearn,
USAID Mission Coordinator and environmental specialist, a debriefing
on the accomplishments of the trip and future plans. Both were
excited to hear that we got a good jump on establishing the
monitoring stations on Cayos Cochinos as well as making some
important contacts on Roatàn.
Future plans include inviting Carlos Garcia-Saez to the St. Pete office
for a course in ArcInfo and ArcView and other GIS database capabilities
so that when Carlos returns to Cayos Cochinos, he is capable of updating
the maps that we will provide. Future trips to Cayos Cochinos will be
every six months. The next scheduled trip is for the end of March.
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November 1999
in this issue:
Lake Tanganyika
Honduras
Grand Canyon Sediments
Grand Canyon GPR
Medicine Lake, CA
SWASH Project
Cruise News
cover story:
Earth Science Week in St. Pete
Earth Science Week in Woods Hole
R/V Gilbert
Nat'l Mapping Leadership
MARGINS
Great Lakes Mapping
Delmarva Bays Delta
Grand Canyon Research
Bratton in the News
Woods Hole Arrivals
Woods Hole Visitors
Marshall Islands Map
November Publications List
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U. S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
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