Lionfishes are destroying the ecosystem around a WWII shipwreck: Research

Obtrusive lionfishes have been observed around a WWII shipwreck off the coast of North Carolina.

The research was conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Global Foundation for Ocean Exploration during an expedition.

The E.M. Clark (shipwreck) is presently 260 feet beneath the ocean‘s surface and is entirely intact. The ship’s hull is still in good shape, with just minor evidence of deterioration from the powerful currents.

The weather conditions were ideal on the day of the expedition, and crews explored the shipwreck, according to an NOAA post.

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Researchers had previously discovered a variety of animals near the wreck, including sand tiger sharks and an unsettling number of lionfish.

“Ecologists are not exactly sure why,” a spokeswoman for the Global Foundation for Ocean Exploration revealed.

As sea organisms attach themselves to the surface of shipwrecks, they can frequently develop thriving ecosystems. Other species, such as lionfish, are attracted to the area and come to feed.

The lionfish has become an invasive species in this area of the ocean. Tropical waters and coral reefs in the South Pacific and the Indian Ocean are their natural habitat. They have, however, been a problem in the waterways of Florida and North Carolina since 2000. 

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In North Carolina’s waters, the invasion poses a threat to the natural environment and other local creatures. Lionfish are dangerous predators with venom that is similar to that of a cobra.

Researchers believed there were hundreds of lionfish on the wreck.

They devour things that native wildlife eat and are destroying the coral reef environment because they have no known predators. This also puts commercial fishing in the state in jeopardy.

With its “complex structure,” Chris Taylor, a research ecologist for the NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, the shipwreck resembles their native home in certain ways as per Newsweek.

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Taylor stated – “A variety of native species and especially the tropical reef fishes and sharks that we would find on natural coral and rocky reefs appear to be in higher densities on these shipwrecks. The complex structure standing over 60 feet from the sandy seabed has crevices, holes and tangled wreckage that form habitats for the fish, The shipwrecks provide refuge from predation and the ocean currents, but also support food in the form of plankton as well as large schools of small fish that are food for larger predators like schooling jacks or sand tiger sharks. Lionfish have been some of the more abundant predators we have observed…most notably on the wreck of the E.M. Clark.”

Researchers believe that a single lionfish “may diminish native reef fish recruitment by 79 %,” as per NOAA fisheries.

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 Dr Avery Paxton of the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science stated- “The hundreds of shipwrecks off the coast of North Carolina form an experimental network that can be used to track changes in fish communities over time. In essence, these shipwrecks can act as ‘sentinel sites to help us understand our changing ocean environment,” Paxton said. “Repeated monitoring of the types and numbers of fish occupying shipwrecks can help us learn more about how to fish, including lionfish, depend on these shipwrecks over time.”