{"id":3688,"date":"2023-05-19T04:53:46","date_gmt":"2023-05-19T04:53:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thepoetryofscience.peachpuff-wolverine-566518.hostingersite.com\/?p=3688"},"modified":"2023-05-19T04:53:46","modified_gmt":"2023-05-19T04:53:46","slug":"spawning-shadows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/thepoetryofscience\/3688\/spawning-shadows\/","title":{"rendered":"Spawning Shadows"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the salty darkness
\nliving sculptures of the sea
\nsway beneath a lunar trance,
\na kaleidoscope of life
\nspreading their seed
\nin synchronised dance \u2013
\nreefs aglow,
\nwith the light
\nof a thousand
\nfuture selves.
\nThe city bleeds
\ninto the ocean,
\ncasting spectral shade
\nupon this
\nmoving mosaic.
\nIn our artificial lights
\nwe reach for the stars,
\nyet in their wake
\nthe moon’s soft call
\nis lost,
\ntraded for the
\nharsh
\nand steady glare
\nof our endless
\nneon dawn.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Coral reefs in the Red Sea – such as this one in the Gulf of Eilat\/Aqaba – and Persian Gulf are particularly affected by light pollution (Image Credit: Sahchaf Ben Ezra).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This poem is inspired by recent research<\/a>, which has found that coastal lights trick coral reefs into spawning earlier than they should.<\/p>\n

Coral reefs are one of the most diverse, economically valuable, and threatened ecosystems in the world. Issues like climate change, habitat destruction, overfishing, and pollution have significantly reduced the coral reef cover since the 1950s. To preserve coral reefs for the future, it’s vital to maintain healthy coral reproduction. Coral reefs rely on a reproductive strategy known as synchronised broadcast spawning, where many eggs and sperm are released simultaneously on specific nights of the year. However, recent reports indicate disruptions in this timing, particularly in the northern Red Sea, with artificial light at night from coastal developments thought to be disrupting the moonlight cycles that corals rely on for spawning.<\/p>\n

In this new study, researchers analysed data from a recently published atlas of underwater light pollution alongside a global dataset of 2135 coral spawning observations. They found that, for most species, corals exposed to artificial light at night spawned one to three days closer to the full moon compared to those on unlit reefs. This light possibly alters the spawning trigger, creating a perceived period of minimum light between sunset and moonrise on nights after the full moon. This shift in timing could lower the chances of coral egg fertilisation and survival, thereby impacting the resilience of reef ecosystems.<\/p>\n