M/V Elpis Coral Reef Restoration Monitoring Report, Monitoring Events 2004-2007

This document presents the results of the first three monitoring events to track the recovery of a repaired coral reef injured by the M/V Elpis vessel grounding incident of November 11, 1989. This grounding occurred within the boundaries of what at the time was designated the Key Largo National Marine Sanctuary (NMS), now designated the Key Largo NMS Existing Management Area within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS). The restoration monitoring program tracks patterns of biological recovery, determines the success of restoration measures, and assesses the resiliency to environmental and anthropogenic disturbances of the site over time. To evaluate restoration success, reference habitats adjacent to the restoration site are concurrently monitored to compare the condition of restored reef areas with "natural" coral reef areas unimpacted by the vessel grounding or other injury. The monitoring program at the Elpis site includes an assessment of the structural stability of installed limestone restoration boulders, and comparison of the recovery of coral populations, to be performed on the following schedule: nine, ten, twelve, and fifteen years after restoration. Restoration of this site was completed in the summer of 1995 with monitoring planned to begin in following years. However, due to staffing and other logistical constraints, the first biological monitoring event for this site, used as a "pilot project" to establish data collection methods, was delayed until August 2004. In June and July 2005, the second monitoring event took place, and in August 2007, the third. This report presents the quantitative results of the latter two monitoring events.