Scientists, headed up by Dr. Charles Birkenland, used this natural disaster as a focus of their long-term research: to follow the recovery of a coral reef. Because corals grow slowly, the research team chose a multi-year cycle of data collection. Beginning in 1985, and again in 1988, 1995, 1998, 2001 and 2004, the team amassed information on coral, fishes, invertebrates and marine plants. This database is unique for Samoa and the study is one of the few long-running surveys of its type in the world.

Temperature, Water Quality and Habitat Health

Monitoring is an essential ingredient to any successful resource management program. The resource manager must know the condition of the habitat and the impacts that may be affecting that habitat. Only when a long-term monitoring baseline has been developed can useful decision-making be achieved.

The American Samoa Environmental Protection Agency (ASEPA) cooperates with the Sanctuary by conducting a water quality monitoring program. ASEPA samples the waters of Fagatele Bay on a quarterly basis. The water quality at Fagatele Bay has been consistently good and usually meets the standards that have been developed for the site by EPA, which are stricter than for other coastal waters in Samoa.

Starfish, Hurricanes and Heat

American Samoa has been victim to several major natural disasters in the past 15 years. Some of these disasters affected both the land and the sea. Some have largely been unnoticed by most people. All of these events have had a major impact on the coral reef habitat that surrounds our islands.

The crown-of-thorns outbreak has already been mentioned above. In 1991 and 1992, Samoa was visited by two hurricanes. The first, Hurricane Ofa, wreaked some damage to the reef in Fagatele Bay, but most of it was not serious. This was not the case with Hurricane Val which made a direct pass over Tutuila. Major portions of the reef were obliterated: they appeared to have been scoured. In response to this disaster, NOAA sent a disaster assessment team to survey the reef.

The summer of 1993-94 gave the Sanctuary its most recent natural disaster, one largely unknown to most people. A lens of unusually hot water surrounded Samoa (thought to be related to an El Niño event) for several months and caused most corals and other invertebrates to "bleach" or to lose the pigment-carrying plants (zooxanthellae) that normally coexist with the coral animal. The reefs appeared brilliantly white. Many corals were injured and died.

This cycle of disaster and recovery seems a cruel joke to us, but to the tropical environment it is merely the status quo. The coral habitat is adapted to change. Recovery may be measured in decades, but as long as conditions return to "normal" the reef and its inhabitants will return.

Human's use of the land and sea can impact the recovery process, delaying or preventing it. Sediment resulting from poor land practices can smother and kill a reef and will prevent new corals from forming. Water pollution will also destroy habitats. The coral reef is a precious resource and it is our responsibility to protect it for future generations to enjoy. Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary protects its coral reef resources for everyone.