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Postcard #2: The Damage Done to People and the Reefs

January 22-25, 2005  |  Southern Sri Lanka

From Colombo, we drove all day to reach the coral reefs of Southern Sri Lanka. All along the way we pass town after town completely torn apart by the ferocity of the wave. Entire rows of houses were gone in places, ripped as if a construction crew had moved in to clear land for a new shopping mall or freeway.

People are beginning the task of rebuilding and everywhere rubble is piled in high mounds on the coast side of the road.

I think we were a bit numb by the time we arrived at Hikkaduwa, a marine park, and the most popular coral reef dive site in the country. Every dive shop in town had been wiped out – all nine completely gone. Only three of the eight or more glass bottom boats were still afloat. The US Marines had taken over the biggest hotel still standing with a portable desalination plant in the front garden.

We stay at a small place, the Coral Sands, where the upstairs rooms are still usable. The bottom floor still has beach sand covering the floor. Two guests died here and this knowledge sobers us.

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In the morning we begin a series of dives along the reef. From a local dive master we learn that we are the first to dive since the tsunami. We do four transects along the reef – our purpose is to examine the extent and type of damage. No one knows what we will find and the expectations, from what we have seen on land, is that the reef will be severely impacted. This is what we have been hearing from the popular media anyway.

The water is murky. The conditions are rough and there are items strewn over the reef, including pipes, blocks of cement and boat fragments.

For the next few days, we dive repeatedly along the major reefs along the coast. In most places the damage is moderate to minimum.

There are some coral broken but most are intact. The bigger long-term problem seems to be all the debris, from nets to metal pipes, whose impacts on the reef will only accrue over time.

The work is hard and depressing. Tim Boucher maps from the boat, recording locations and transects into a GPS unit. Mark Godfrey, our photographer, helps with the boat. Elizabeth Arnold and the NPR crew, who are with us do their recordings, talk to me every time I come up to the surface.

Everyone gets seasick.

The last dive is the hardest. I walk into the water from the shore. It's strange to enter the water from a beach where all the palm trees are covered with missing persons posters.

There are shoes strewn on the bottom of the ocean.

We will move inland tomorrow and begin the coastal and wetland mapping. We will all be happier to be out of the water.

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For more information:

• In The News: Tsunami relief that will last
  Denver Post, March 4, 2005
  As M.A. Sanjayan, lead scientist for The Nature Conservancy, surveyed the environmental toll from the Dec. 26 tsunami, he saw that although the destruction had been uneven, it wasn't necessarily random.
• In The News: Nature Bounces Back on Sri Lanka's Coast
  NPR Morning Edition, February 24, 2005
  In a two-part series of reports for the NPR/National Geographic co-production Radio Expeditions, Elizabeth Arnold journeys to the island nation of Sri Lanka with one of the first teams to assess the environmental aftermath.
• Press Release: First Environmental Survey of Tsunami Damage Shows Sri Lankan Coasts and Forests Hurt but Rebounding
  The tsunami has left Sri Lanka's marine areas dangerously clogged with debris that could cause long-term damage to coral reefs and marine species, but scientists say there are many signs of hope: trees are regenerating, wildlife is returning to damaged areas, and coral reefs are largely intact.
• In The News: Sea and jungle life bounce back from the tsunami's battering
  The Independent (London), February 16, 2005
  The first assessment of the damage to wildlife caused by the Asian tsunami found nature has been surprisingly resilient to the effects of the giant waves.
• Press Release: Tsunami Leaves Behind Human Devastation and Environmental Damage that May Take Decades to Recover
  As aid arrives to countries hit by the tsunami to provide much-needed food, shelter and medicine for the survivors, scientists are beginning to focus on the longer-term environmental damage that will affect the livelihoods of fishermen and coastal communities for years to come.
• Donate: Support The Nature Conservancy's ongoing efforts in the Asia-Pacific region
  Your gift today will enable our science-based conservation of coral reefs, rainforests and other threatened areas throughout the region.
• Our Partner: Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society (SLWCS)
  The Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society is the first organization to be established outside Sri Lanka for the sole purpose of helping to conserve and preserve the dwindling biodiversity of Sri Lanka.
• Statement from Nature Conservancy President Steve McCormick on the Tsunami Disaster and Relief Efforts
  The world has begun the New Year facing the ravages of one of the most severe natural disasters in history.
• Relief Organizations Working in the Disaster Area
  A list of non-governmental organizations working throughout the disaster area from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
• Aid Groups Accepting Donations for Victims
  A list of ways to donate from CNN.