Every February, Wildlands Studies visits Koh Surin National Park and the Adang Island group of Tarutao National Park, Thailand. One item on our agenda is to revisit and make replicate photographs of coral heads that our students have selected over the years. We currently have photo series that extend from 2007 to 2017.
We also measure live coral along 20 m transects, and photograph the same coral colonies year after year to gauge how the reefs are changing through time. Since reefs are sensitive to climate, ocean temperature, and lots of other human-forced environmental variables, I believe our efforts, crude as they may be, are still very informative.It is easy to see that the coral heads change every year! There is much scope for measurement and interpretation of visible change, and insight into whether the coral is flourishing or deteriorating. I invite those who are interested in looking for patterns to get in touch with me.
I intend to present more of our results in coming days. For now, here are the replicate photos, presented roughly as Powerpoint presentations. The first is about the coral on Adang Island (Tarutao Marine National Park, Thailand). The second and third are about Surin Island (Surin Marine National Park, Thailand).
Adang – Rawi Island Coral Heads 2007-2017
Surin Island Coral Heads (May Yai Bay) 2009 – 2017
Surin Island Coral Heads (Suthep Bay) 2009 – 2017