Corals Are Not Only Disappearing

• In Event: Science from Elsewhere: Thinking from Where we Think - II

Abstract

With ethnographic research in subaquatic labs and artisanal fishing in the Rosario islands in the Caribbean sea of Colombia, this paper offers insight into the way that corals are disappearing but not only. In this archipelago, corals are unlike corals in other places in ways that confound scientists. Whereas other corals need stable conditions (temperature, salinity and light regime), these corals are able to survive “bombazos” or an influx of fresh water and sediments brought to the islands by the Southerly winds. These corals grow faster than others under stressful conditions. These corals are also prolonged in time with the practices of conservation and restoration. Nonetheless, corals are not only corals, but also fishing spots for artisanal fishers who locally refer to them as “bajos” and “piedras.” These entities are also not only corals, but they are places deeply tied to seasonality, Moon cycle, and likes and dislikes of diverse fish. They exceed what is legible to coral science and its distinctions. As artisanal fishers grow older and young islanders become eco-guides for tourism-oriented reefs, these “bajos” and “piedras” as an enmeshment of relations might disappear with the practice of artisanal fishing. Engaging with the work of Stewart (2007) and literature on corals and extinction (Braverman 2018; Pauwelussen and Verschoor 2017; Rose, Van Dooren, and Chrulew 2017), this paper suggests that all corals are not disappearing. There are also corals that proliferate alongside conservation and restoration. In addition, something other than corals (yet not separate from them) might disappear unnoticed by the proliferation of reefs in process of restoration.

Author

• Aida Sofia Rivera Sotelo, University of California - Davis