New recruitment of diverse scleractinian corals in little Andaman Island after tsunami

Abstract

Coral reefs of the east coast of Andaman & Nicobar Islands were affected by the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 26, 2004. Eight sites in Little Andaman Island were studied to observe the present status of coral reefs around the eastern and southern regions of Little Andaman. Damages caused by the tsunami are overturned massive corals, broken branching corals and smothering of corals by sediments and coral rubble with these effects being greatest in shallow waters. Overall damage was extremely localized affecting only large sectors of reef which were exposed to the full force of the tsunami waves. It is estimated that damaged sites have been recovering naturally in a time span since 2005 to till date.