VNR: Newly discovered algae species infesting NW Hawaiian waters

New species of algae at Pearl and Hermes Atoll. (Photo courtesy: NOAA/National Marine Sanctuaries)

“Before” area near Pearl and Hermes Atoll. (Photo courtesy: NOAA/National Marine Sanctuaries)

Link to video and sound (details below): https://bit.ly/31bbwQz

Video and stills courtesy: NOAA/National Marine Sanctuaries

WHAT: Researchers discovered a new, aggressive, fast-growing species of algae in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument that may be a major threat to coral reefs and the sealife reefs support.

WHY: Researchers are worried because the algae species forms mats that are almost eight inches thick that can smother reefs and the corals, native algae and other organisms. It also has a “tumbleweed-like” growth and appears to easily detach and spread. 

WHO: A team of researchers from the University of Hawaiʻi, Western Australian Herbarium, College of Charleston and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

WHEN: It was not widespread when first detected by NOAA divers in 2016, however a 2019 visit to the same area revealed that it is now growing in mats that are up to several thousand square meters each at Pearl and Hermes Atoll. 

WHERE: Pearl and Hermes Atoll, Hawaiʻi

OTHER FACTS: 

• Researchers are characterizing the new species as “nuisance” rather than “invasive” because they have not confirmed it as being introduced from another region. 

• The alga was named Chondria tumulosa by UH researchers

• The alga grows from the sea surface to at least 70 feet in depth

• Researchers will conduct mapping and molecular analyses, and will develop mitigation strategies to assist in the development of appropriate management recommendations.

• The findings were featured in a PLOS ONE journal article.

VIDEO BROLL: (1:30)

2 shots: Pearl and Hermes Atoll

1 shot: researcher’s dive boat

5 shots: showing before and after of the algae—bounty of fish, then a desert

5 shots: underwater scenes of a barren reef with algae

1 shot: UH researcher in lab

1 shot: 2 Hawaiian monk seals on a spit of sand

SOUNDBITES: 

Alison Sherwood, UH Mānoa College of Natural Sciences Interim Associate Dean and Professor of Botany

(:16)

“I think this is a warning of the kinds of changes that are to come for the northwestern Hawaiian Islands. We have, not until now, seen a major issue like this where we have a nuisance species that’s come in and made such profound changes over a short period of time to the reefs.”

(:15)

“Researchers are definitely concerned about this alga. This is something that’s been seen, just in the sheer abundance of it at Pearl and Hermes Atoll. It’s covering the native reef, and what it’s doing when it does that is covering over the native species and genera of corals that live there.”