Dynamite fishing, coral mining, and farm runoff take a toll

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Swiss National Science Foundation Project

The emblematic locus of human-caused extinctions, Mauritius is the Indian Ocean island where marauding Homo sapiens in the 1600s wiped from the face of the earth forever Raphus cucullatus, the dodo. Now the coral reefs here face decline at the hands of our hypersuccessful species. Reefs all over East Africa are falling victim to coral collection and coral sand mining, especially those in Mauritius; more than 500,000 tons of sand is excavated yearly from the island. Fisheries here have been over-exploited, and eutrophication (overnutrition due to fertilizer and sewage runoff) has damaged corals off Port Louis, opening the door to competitor organisms like algae. Tourism, too, is a rising threat: The government has said it intends to allow the tourism industry to grow up to 10 percent annually—which would double it in just seven years.