Preliminary assessment of the impact of Hurricane Iota on coral reefs in Providencia and Santa Catalina Islands

Abstract

Hurricanes are important natural destructive forces for coral reefs that can change the structural component of the habitat. On November 16th, 2020, the hurricane Iota passed ~10 km north of the islands of Providencia and Santa Catalina with sustained winds of a category 5 hurricane. The purpose of this study was to document the magnitude of the impact on coral reefs around the islands two weeks after the hit, as part of the “Operación Cangrejo Negro”. Visual assessments were performed at 11 representative coral reef formations between 2 and 17 m depth. Estimates of the impact were evaluated within an approximate area of 200 m2, which was categorized with score values ranging from 0 to 5 according to the level of damage. Preliminary estimates at coral reef formations indicated impact in 72 % of the stations surveyed, concentrated mainly on shallow areas (5-7 m). Approximately 45 % of the sites had low to low-medium damage and 27 % showed medium to moderate damage with high variability between and within stations. From this preliminary assessment we conclude that the impact was widespread along the island on shallow areas structured by big boulders of Orbicella spp., mainly related to colony-level damage with less reef structural damage