Blog 2: Marine Habitats

Part of our community awareness program for the “Our Ocean” project, funded by the Waitt Foundation, is to further the information to communities on the different marine habitats that are located in Vava’u. This awareness need was also highlighted for critical importance through the "Rapid Assessment of Biodiversity of the Vava'u Archipelago" (SPREP, 2014)

The following is an overview of each habitat, our next blog post will cover the importance of “ecosystem connectivity” and why we have to think big when looking at marine resource management and protected areas!

Mangroves are shrubs or small trees that grow on mudflat areas close to the shore. Mangrove shrubs are a salt tolerant that are able to live in harsh coastal conditions.

Mangroves habitats provide shelter for juvenile marine species to be safe from large predators through using it’s aerial root system and provide suitable habitat for oysters and other mollusks.

Mangrove areas also help reduce land based pollutants from entering the coastal waters by absorbing quantities of nitrates and phosphates through their roots as well as absorbing trace metals into the sediments.

They are also important for coastal communities as they protect our shores from large storms and waves by reducing their potential energy.  

Seagrass are a type of plant that have roots below the sandy bottom, they are commonly found in shallow, clear coastal waters. Seagrass provide shelter for a wide variety of marine species within the ocean and are a favoured food by Green sea turtles. It also helps protect and stabilise the ocean floor sediments from being eroded by wave actions and is a large carbon storage area.  

Intertidal zones, are mudflat areas exposed at low tide, this is  where communities usually do their gleaning activities for invertebrates such as the sea cucumbers, clams and other species. Clams and other seashell organisms help the ocean by cleaning the water through filter feeding.

Coral reefs are formed by tiny sea creatures named polyps that are identical to the families of jellyfish. Polyps release calcium carbonate to it’s base that form up layer by layer for so many years before it creates the hard coral reef system. 

Coral reefs are very significant as they provide shelter and food for various marine organisms and are home to some of the greatest biodiversity in the planet. 

They also safeguard our shores from large wave actions and storm. Coral reefs attract tourists from around the world and are also a very important habitat contributing to beach formation. 

Pelagic seas, are found off the coral reefs and coastal areas where waters may reach thousand of meters in depth. The pelagic seas are home to a multitude of species at varying stages in the lifecycle, as well as being critical for migratory species such as marine mammals, predatory species such as tunas and sharks.

All marine habitats are of great importance to ecological, social and economic benefits, they suffer grave threats from habitat destruction, over fishing and harvesting,  as well as land based activities such as the use of fertilisers and climate change impacts.