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Tsunami Damage Survey

The disastrous tsunami which killed thousands of people in six southern provinces (of Thailand) prompted a massive relief effort not only for human survivors but also for coral formations.

Coral reefs serve as a habitat for fish and other marine animals and are therefore important as a source of food and livelihood for people living along the Andaman coast. The reefs are also an important source of income for the domestic tourism industry.

Four days after the tsunami struck, an unprecedented number of researchers from various government agencies and educational institutes joined up with volunteer divers in a massive cooperative effort to assess the impact of the tsunami on marine resources in southern Thailand.

From December 30 to January 15, some 100 researchers from the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, from Chulalongkorn, Kasetsart, Burapha, Ramkhamhaeng, Prince of Songkla, Walailak and Mahidol universities and from Trang's Rajamangala Institute of Technology and the National Parks Department made countless dives to assess 324 spots in 174 representative sites in 10 marine parks and one wildlife reserve.

The researchers were assisted by more than 120 volunteer divers, and findings were submitted to the Phuket Marine Biological Centre which served as the research coordinating centre.

The assessments were made around Laem Son Marine National Park in Ranong; the Surin and Similan islands in Phangnga; Sirinart Marine National Park in Phuket; Krabi's Nopparat Thara and Phi Phi, Tharn Boke Koranee and Lanta islands; Chao Mai in Trang; Phae Tra and Tarutao marine national parks in Satun, and the Talibong Wildlife Reserve Area in Trang.

The researchers found that 69, or 40 percent, of the areas assessed were almost untouched by the tsunami, while 36, or 21 percent, were slightly damaged. Only 23, or 13 percent, of the sites sustained considerable damage.

Damaged coral was turned over or broken by the gigantic waves, collapsed on sliding sand slopes or was smothered by sediment, debris and garbage.

The worst affected areas were in Ranong province and in parts of the Surin, Similan and Phi Phi islands, while coral formations in Satun, Phuket, Krabi and Trang were almost untouched.

``In most of the areas surveyed, there was dead coral but this was killed not by the tsunami but by human activities _ from pollution, garbage, land development along the coast, and the impact of tourism, direct and indirect,'' said Niphon Phongsuwan, a researcher from the Phuket Marine Biological Centre who headed an initial survey two days after the tsunami struck.

Two weeks later, coral which was overturned or had branches broken was beginning to recover on its own.

``The coral destroyed by nature will heal over time and survive if protected from the destructive activities of man,'' Niphon said.

``Damage caused by man may come in small doses but it is irreversible,'' he added. ```The tsunami disaster could be nature's way of showing that man may be intelligent but there is a force more powerful than man, and that overexploitation of natural resources could affect human life and property in ways that no one could ever have imagined.''

Nalinee Thongtham, PhD, a marine biologist at the Phuket Marine Biological Centre who has worked with coral for 15 years, participated in the survey and assessment of tsunami damage.