A noticeable stench and poor water quality in the Piti Bomb Holes Marine Preserve led biologists to a discovery of a coral disease outbreak that killed hundreds of corals.  To address it, the Guam Coral Reef Initiative led a multi-agency clean up of the nearby river, Taguag, where they found a “carpet of drink cans” several feet deep. 

From countless beer cans, plastic bottles to other household waste, 50 bags of trash were removed along the Taguag River in the recent multi-agency cleanup.  Olivia Bañez is its coral reef policy and communications coordinator, and said, "It was definitely really sad because this is a river going right into the ocean. All of that trash could just easily get kicked into the river and directly onto the reefs. So it’s very sad and it was gross. It smelled really terrible."

The cleanup was in response to a bigger concern.  The stench and murky green waters alerted biologists to poor water quality at the Piti Bomb Holes Marine Preserve that was affecting its coral nursery. Upon investigation, scientists discovered a coral disease outbreak that killed hundreds of corals in the preserve.  Data collected shows abnormally high levels of ammonia and nitrogen in the Taguag River, which can be lethal to marine species. 

Watershed management coordinator Reilly Kleven explained, saying, "Initially EPA and scientists of the University of Guam Marine Lab went out to take water samples from those three rivers [that lead into the preserve], and found that Taguag had really high levels of nitrate. I believe that it was seven times higher than average. That led us to conclude that the poor water quality could be coming from the Taguag river."

Fertilizers and improper sewage treatment are some examples of human-caused pollution that can contribute to the excess chemicals.  Trash can also lead to more bacteria in the water. 

Bañez added, "Cleaning up will definitely help improve the general water quality conditions flowing into the bay, which is where our coral nurseries live. Will it immediately stop all future coral disease? We don’t know. There’s a lot of factors that caused the coral disease. This is just one factor that we are able to actually do something about." She says the coral disease outbreak seems to have subsided, but mass amounts of trash still remain. 

The Guam Coral Reef Initiative plans to organize another cleanup with volunteers soon. For the time being, Bañez sends a reminder on the importance of ridge to reef protection, saying, "What we do on land impacts the ocean. What we do in the ocean impacts the land. So if we can just do a better job at taking care of all of these ecosystems and just not tossing trash on the land and think it's going to stay there– it won’t. It really travels and affects other ecosystems.

"So I think the more we can take a holistic mindset of protecting everything, the better we can do protecting our reefs, which are super important."