JEDDAH, 2 February 2008 — Dr. Abdul Mohsen Al-Sufyani, a Saudi oceanographer, warned against the negative impact of undersea communication cables on marine life in Red Sea, adding that the cable could change marine atmosphere along Saudi coasts.
Sufyani is a member of a committee that has consulted with FLAG Telecom, the world’s largest undersea cable operator responsible for a majority of the world’s undersea telecommunications infrastructure, on matters related to laying cable within Saudi territorial waters.
The committee has recommended that the so-called Fiberoptic Link Around the Globe (FLAG) be buried under the seabed.
“Experts from the College of Marine Science at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah are studying the cable’s effect on Jeddah seashore environment,” said Sufyani, a professor at the college.
“Precautionary measures are being taken to protect rare marine life in the Red Sea, including 230 kinds of corals and more than 1,300 types of fish.”
He cautioned against the cable’s negative impact on corals in Red Sea, which can be seen within a depth of 50 meters.
“Ideal temperature for coral growth is between 25 and 32 degrees Celsius and they live in warm tropical waters,” he explained.
He said it would require about 300 years to correct any damage caused by the cable to the environment.
He also spoke about the slow growth of corals as it takes one year to grow 0.2 to 0.7 centimeters. “The corals which we see today in the Red Sea might be centuries old,” Sufyani pointed out.
The Red Sea is currently home to several cables that connect Europe and Asia with telephone and Internet traffic. These cables route from the Suez, down the Red Sea and around the Arabian Peninsula.
The FLAG and SEA-ME-WE 4 cables that were severed off the coast of Alexandria on Wednesday were main arteries for this traffic between Europe and the Indian Subcontinent, as well as the Gulf countries and Egypt.
Meanwhile, a report issued by the Regional Commission for the Preservation Red Sea Environment said the variety of corals in Red Sea in large numbers would provide a suitable atmosphere for marine life.
The exceptional richness of marine life in the Red Sea is due to an unusual combination of environmental factors.
First, the Red Sea is comparatively sheltered and calm: its currents are gentle and regular, its tides almost non-existent, and its temperature warm and steady.
While its waters run quite deep, they are warmed by volcanic heat emanating from the seabed. The result of all these factors is an environment ideally suited to the complex and delicate ecosystem of coral reefs.
Both hard and soft corals are vulnerable to unusually strong waves as well as dramatic changes in the temperature and saline levels of the water.
