Chris teaching Chief Ranger, Peter Butcher, the filtration of sediment samples Many of you might still remember me from my last trip to Soufri re in late 1998. Now back in Soufri re I am continuing my study of sedimentation rates in the SMMA area and south of Anse La Raye.
Sedimentation is the mud that enters the ocean from river run-off.
It consists of little particles and nutrients that are washed from the land into rivers by rainfall. What we do on land affects the coastal ocean. If the land is covered with trees and bushes, little soil will be washed into the rivers, but wherever soil is bare, it will be carried by the rainwater into the rivers. If it is not done with great care, land clearing and road building transforms soil from being the basis of life to being a pollutant that kills corals. Sedimentation probably damages coral reef communities more than all other human activities combined.