Cyclone Chido devastated buildings and infrastructure in Mayotte, but also its natural environments on land and at sea. The Deep Blue Exploration association has begun to note the damage to the coral reef. Corals already bleached by the El Nino phenomenon have been crushed.
The natural environments in Mayotte still bear the scars of the passage of Cyclone Chido. On land, the vegetation was ravaged, at sea, the coral reef also suffered heavy damage. The Deep Blue Exploration association has begun to note the state of the lagoon, one of the symbols of Mahorean natural wealth. “This is the third site we are doing, we have already done Sakouli and N'gouja“, explains Gabriel Barathieu, the president of the association, on Mtsangadoua beach, in the north of the island.
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©Deep Blue Exploration
In the north of the island, as in the south-east and south-west, the observation is the same. “At the edge of the drop-off, the corals that were in good health remained there, there were a few broken branches, but I expected worse“, says the diver. “On the other hand, what was already weakened by El Nino in March and April, everything that was bleached and was half dead was crushed by the waves.“The bottoms 10 to 20 meters deep are thus populated with pieces of broken coral.”It's a lunar landscape with only coral detritus“, he continues.
It will take up to twenty years to rebuild this environment, with less than one centimeter per year of growth for certain species. “As long as there is no other bleaching phenomenon, climatic or linked to human activities“, explains Gabriel Barathieu. “We can clearly see that there are certain areas where there is a lot of algae, which is not a good sign for the corals, especially since it is the beginning of summer, the water will warm up again . We'll see“, concludes the diver. The association is currently limited in its findings. Having lost all its boats, it cannot yet go offshore to see the state of the coral reef.
