Coral census finds unexpected recovery along Puerto Azul reef

A team of fourteen divers and two autonomous underwater vehicles finished a twenty-two-day survey of the Puerto Azul barrier reef on Thursday, producing the most granular picture of reef health the region has seen since the baseline study of 2016. Preliminary data, shared with the Zandoria Herald ahead of the formal report, show coral cover increasing in five of seven monitored sectors.

The strongest recovery was recorded in Sector Cuatro, a stretch of roughly four kilometres lying north of the commercial fishing anchorage. There, hard coral coverage rose from an estimated eighteen percent in 2023 to thirty-one percent this season ??? a gain that survey coordinator Dr. Amara Sol??s described as statistically significant and not attributable to measurement error.

The survey was commissioned jointly by the Costa Mar Regional Assembly and the Federal Ministry of Natural Resources, following concern that warming sea-surface temperatures during the 2023 rainy season had caused irreversible damage. The results suggest that at least part of that damage proved temporary, though scientists caution that a single positive season does not establish a trend.

Two sectors in the southern reef tract ??? Sector Seis and Sector Siete ??? showed no meaningful change, and one small patch near the industrial port approach remains in a degraded state. Researchers say the full report, expected within three weeks, will include recommendations on zoning adjustments and whether the current anchor-exclusion buffer should be extended.