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A research proposal on

Detection of Coral Reefs Degradation using Geospatial Techniques around

Saint Martin’s Island, Bay of Bengal

Course Title: Environmental Health and Safety

Course Code: ESD415

Submitted by:
Abir Hasan Shovon
Student Id: 16ESD025
4th Year, 1st Semester
Department of Environmental Science and Disaster Management

Submitted to:
Md. Rajib Hossain
Lecturer, Department of Environmental Science and Disaster Management

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science & Technology University

Gopalganj Sadar, 8100

Date of Submission: 10 December,2020

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Abstract: Saint Martin’s is a unique island located in the Bay of Bengal where coral species
are abundant due to its favorable and unique environmental conditions. Coral communities are
in great danger due to global climate change, direct commercial coral extraction and unplanned
tourism around the island. The present study attempts to identify the coral zone and mapping
of coral reefs from the period of 1980 to 2020. The study utilized five sets of multi-temporal
Landsat satellite images to examine the changes of coral reefs in Saint Martin’s Island during
the study timeframe. Geospatial and image processing software was used for spatial coral
colony mapping and data analysis. Satellite images processed to remove water depth impacts
and supervised classification technique using the maximum likelihood decision rule suggested
the spatial change of coral colonies over time. The result of the study indicates that coral
colonies decreased steadily throughout the study period. A total area of 0.9342 km2 of coral
colonies disappeared during the study period from 1980 to 2020. Field observations around
Saint Martin’s Island indicates that destruction of coral reef habitat was basically caused by
anthropogenic activities like tourism and extraction of coral by fisherman. Analysis of the
historical data regarding tourism, population and households, and Sea Surface Temperature
(SST) along with field observations of these parameter during 2020, suggests that
anthropogenic factors are more significant than natural factors for causing coral reef
degradation. It is very crucial to raise consciousness not only in the vicinity of Saint Martin’s
Island but more widely regarding the significance of the biodiversity of the Island.
Keywords: coral reefs, geospatial techniques, satellite images, Saint Martin’s Island, Bay of
Bengal
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction……………………………………………………………………... 5-6
2. Literature Review………………………………………………………………..6-7
3. Materials and Methods………………………………………………………….7-10
3.1 Image Preprocessing………………………………………………………..7
3.2 Water column correction…………………………………………………..7-8
3.3 Image classification………………………………………………………...8-9
3.4 Field verification…………………………………………………………....9
3.5 Study area…………………………………………………………………..9-10
4. Results and Discussion…………………………………………………………10-16
5. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………16
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List of Tables
Table 1. Data properties and acquisition info of the collected satellite images…………….8
Table 2. Most abundant coral species in Saint Martin’s Island identified during
snorkeling………………………………………………………………………………. ….11
Table 3. Band-wise statistics (Min., Max., Mean, Standard Deviation) for each classified
thematic map from 1980 to
2018…………………………………………………………………………………………..12
Table 4. Summary of important land cover changes throughout the study period (1980-2018)
including coral reef degradation scenarios…………………………………………………..14

List of Figures
Fig. 1. Map showing the study area “Saint Martin’s Island”. Background image is Sentinel-2
satellite image as false color composite of red as band-4, green as band-3 and blue as band
2…………………………………………………………………………………………… 10
Fig. 2. Some photographs of the most abundant coral species in Saint Martin’s Island……11
Fig. 3. Showing the photographs of Healthy, Degraded and Dead corals around Saint
Martin’s Island. (Healthy, DG: Degrading, D: Dead)………………………………………12
Fig. 4. Plots of DN value versus Blue, Green and Red bands in the classified image after
processing and analysis from 1980 to 201 (Band 1: Blue, Band 2: Green, Band: Red)……13
Fig. 5. Changing Patterns of Coral Communities throughout the study period (1980–
2018)……………………………………………………………………………………….14
Fig. 6. Sea Surface Temperature (SST) (monthly average, March) of the Bay of Bengal
region for the year of a) 2013, b) 2011, c) 2008, d) 2005, e) 2003, and f) 2002 (modified after
NCOM). Circular sign on the eastern bay denoting the position of Saint Martin’s
Island………………………………………………………………………………………..15
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1. Introduction
Due to anthropogenic and natural factors, numerous coral reefs have become degraded
throughout the world (Bruno and Selig 2007). Most of the beautiful coral islands in the world
are experiencing such anthropogenic derived environmental stress. St. Martin’s Island is the
only small coral island in the Bay of Bengal which has become a spectacular tourist attraction
in Bangladesh. The island is completely disconnected from the main landmass and its
biodiversity is very unique in terms of different species of floral and faunal assemblages (Hasan
2009). For the last twenty years, the unique bio-diversified setting of this Island has undergone
remarkable catastrophic changes. Tourism has grown rapidly around the island area in the past
few years and simultaneous tourism interrelated development works pose a serious threat to
the biodiversity of this unique island of Bangladesh (Ali and Ahmed 2000; Hasan 2000; Islam
2001; Haider 2008; Hasan 2009). Many environmental dangers have been exacerbated by
tourism development in Small Island (Briguglio and Briguglio 1996).
The volume of environmentally dangerous products has increased around the island with
the upsurge in tourism in this area. Tourist related activity along with global warming and the
over exploitation of resources reduces the number of coral colonies and is destroying the overall
biodiversity of the area. The coral reefs are threatened by many dangers and most of them are
human induced. Coral reefs are especially vulnerable to human activities near shores where
human impacts are the greatest because most coral reefs form in shallow waters (Glynn 1996).
With the construction of hotels and other tourism facilities, numerous isolated beautiful
mangrove forests and ecologically crucial plant species have lost in the island area. Over half
the coral colonies have been disappeared as a result of tourist related commerce and property
deals. If there are no significant changes made immediately to preserve the wildlife and
ecological resources of St. Martin’s Island, the natural beauty and unique ecology of the island
will be lost (Thomson and Islam 2010).
Under the Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act, the National Conservation Society
announced that the small Saint Martin Island is an ecologically and environmentally critical
zone. Several domestic and international authors have studied the biodiversity status of coral
growth and its environmental degradation on the island (Ahmed 1995; Tomascik 1997).
However, since no work has been conducted after 1997 concerning coral degradation in this
area, a systematic study is needed. A monitoring system is essential to evaluate the ecological
and environmental circumstances of the coral colonies of this island. This information is very
important in determining what coastal management practices should be adopted in relation to
Saint Martin’s Island. Until now there exists no monitoring program in this area that utilizes
geo-spatial information and remote sensing techniques.
Satellite remote sensing data can be effectively utilized to assess land use and vegetation
conditions of an island like other terrestrial regions (Gazi et al. 2020). Different types of earth
structures, landscapes and points of interest can be identified and mapped on the basis of their
spectral signature through remote sensing software and technology (Jensen 2000; Lillisand and
Kiefer 2000). At the present time, significant advancements have been made in the area of
remote sensing in different parts of the world. Islam et al. (1997) used Landsat TM to display
detection of variations in the Sundarbans mangrove forest, Bangladesh. Hossain et al. (2001)
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used satellite images for selecting suitable areas of shrimp farming development in the coastal
zone of Bangladesh. The GIS technology combined with remote sensing data provide an
improved tool for the analysis of the distribution of island resources. Nowadays, geospatial
techniques are very useful for detecting spatial changes in coral communities along with other
aspects that have been reported by several authors from around the world. Some of these studies
include coral reef monitoring (Scopélitis et al. 2010), community composition of coral reefs
(Dustan et al. 2001), the physical environment of coral reefs and coral bleaching. The main
objective of this study is to identify the coral zone using different satellite images integrated
with real-world field data collection for coral reef habitat mapping and detection of change in
Saint Martin’s Island using multi-temporal Landsat images (1980, 1990, 2000, 2010, and
2018).

2. Literature Review
A wide range of reports and research papers were reviewed to predict the rate of coral
degradation in Saint Martin’s Island. Among them the report of Tomas Tomascik (1997) and
Thompson & Islam (2010) are notable to know the first ever and recent environmental profile
and coral habitats around the island. Both of them shares the same concern about the island and
degrading corals. Where there was still a good amount of live corals near the main island or
Narikel Jinjira according to Tomas, according to Thompson & Islam there are hardly any live
corals. Now most of the live corals are farther from the island and few are found around Chera
Dia. Though there has been a discovery of 15 new species of Scleractinian corals around the
island.

Various news report of national daily newspapers and TV reports were reviewed to analyze
the impact on Saint Martin’s Island’s ecosystem. Different news articles of The Daily Star
dated from 2008 to 2018 showed a huge concern for the biodiversity of the island at stake by
various reporter and researcher. To mention some the report of Dr. Md M Maruf Hossain on
May 24, 2008 which includes the causes and effects on the ecosystem. According to him along
with human activity, cyclones, storm surges, heavy fresh water run off during monsoon as well
as other anthropogenic activities like over exploitation of coastal fishery resources, harmful
boat anchoring practices instead of mooring buoy and uses of destructive fishing gear, mainly
the use of rock weighted gill nets over the inshore boulder reefs is a prime aggravation and one
of the main causes of death of the endangered rare turtle species, who came to lay their eggs
considering this island as ideal nesting ground after crossing many hundred miles. Nearly every
day one/two big turtles are found dead by human activities in the coastal water of Saint Martin's
island. At present, there is not much data or information on the present status of corals and
associated flora and fauna in Saint Martin's. No one is using currently available state of the art
technology and no 'Coastal Zone Management Unit' exits in this island. So, proper
implementation of the rules and regulations for 'Ecologically Critical Areas (ECA's)',
declaration and implementation of "Marine Protected Area (MPA)' as suggested by
(Thomascik, 1997) and other experts in 'Eco-tourism Saint Martin's Island' by
MoEF(GoB)(2004), control of pollution, sustainable and controlled tourism, alternative
livelihood for the local people, and further research should be immediately undertaken for
sustainable utilization and to save rich biodiversity of this only coral island of Bangladesh. In
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another report on November 18, 2016 it was reported by the SOS that the island's entire
ecological balance is dependent on the coral colonies surrounding the eight square kilometer
island populated by around seven thousand people, narrating the importance of coral for the
ecosystem of the island. Further it was told by the then assistant director of the Department of
Environment’s Cox’s Bazar district office, Sorder Shariful Islam that as a coral island, it has
its own unique characteristics. To protect the island, a separate policy should be developed for
it. This should specifically include what kind of construction and developmental works are
permissible in the island, dos and don'ts for the tourists, inhabitants, sailors and strict
enforcement of the regulations.

For getting a clear view of international approaches and concerns about corals and its
ecosystem, number of documentaries were viewed and number of Ted-talk presentations were
viewed. The documentary “Chasing Corals (2017)” a Netflix documentary was the most
informative and describes the present states of corals around the world and probes some
solution to save the corals and the ecosystem associated within. Kristen Marhaver talks in one
of the presentations named ‘Why I still have hope for coral reefs’ about the bleaching of corals
of the Caribbean and the introduction of super corals to save the coral reefs. Verena Schoepf,
Research Program Leader of ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at the
University of Western Australia told in her presentation named ‘Super-Corals and The Future
Of Coral Reefs’ about the future plan of super corals to regrow the coral reefs. Another
aquaculture researcher Dr. David Vaughan, manager of the Coral Reef Restoration Program in
Florida Keys told in his presentation about the restoration program they are following to
recover the coral degradation in that area.

3. Materials and Methods

3.1 .Image Preprocessing

Multi-temporal and multi-sensor remote sensing satellite images i.e. Landsat TM, ETM+,
OLI and TIRS were utilized in this study. Satellite images were downloaded from USGS online
data archives (https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/). Detailed information of the obtained datasets is
provided in (Table 1). Image processing is composed of two main steps including mask in
ArcGis and image classification in Erdas Imagine software. Before employing the
classification, satellite images have been corrected for atmosphere induced errors like haze,
humidity and clouds. Standard time series approaches (SITS) were applied to the selected
images for detecting the spatial extent of coral colonies over time. The purpose of image
masking is to extract the area of interest from the regional image coverage.

3.2. Water column correction

Water column correction should be done for different water-penetrating spectral bands of
satellite imageries during the mapping of any underwater or benthic species like coral reef. The
study utilized this correction to omit the radiance received by sensors derived from the
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atmospheric factors, surface water and water column to determine the actual radiance reflected
from the corals

Table 1. Data properties and acquisition info of the collected satellite images

Sensor platform Acquisition date Spatial Resolution

Landsat 4 13th February, 1980 30m

Landsat 5 28th February, 1990 30m

Landsat 7 28th February, 2000 30m

Landsat 8 25th March, 2018 30m

around the Saint Martin’s Island. Water column correction is a clear measure to determine the
significant changes in the coral habitats during the study period and the classification accuracy.
A number of equations for water column correction proposed by several researchers generally
used to delineate the sea bottom features distribution remote sensing (Purkis and Pasterkamp
2004). Bierwirth et al. (1992) have been developed into a model for this kind of study. This
model is functional in clear water environments like Saint Martin’s Island. Coral structure
obtained from the bathymetric maps is combined with model outputs and the satellite image
with bottom reflectance. Real shallow island bottom reflectance was derived using the
following equations (Bierwirth et al. 1992):

I = E0·Tθ·cosθ + ED (1)

Where I = Total solar irradiance, E0= Emitted and reflected energy, Tθ= Atmospheric
transmission, θ = Nadir angle, and ED= Atmosphere radiance

LT = (RE + RWS+ RW + RB)·TΦ·I (2)

Where LT= Total object radiance transmitted by the atmosphere, RE= effective radiance,
RWS= radiance surface of the water, RW = water column radiance, RB = Bottom radiance, TΦ
= atmospheric transmission, and I = Total solar irradiance.

LS = LP + LT (3)
Where LS = Total sensor radiance, LP = Atmospheric radiance, LT = Total radiance of
objects transmitted by the atmosphere

3.3. Image classification

A supervised classification technique was employed by selecting training samples in this

study to prepare the coral colony distribution map (Fig. 1). The training samples were
collected during fieldwork in the study area and image acquisition of the corals which are
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representative of the abundant coral species. The study used the most common parametric
rule “Maximum likelihood decision rule” for image classification. In this case, pixels were
grouped to a class on the basis of its likelihood of fitting to a particular class. The key
component of this classification of rule is the Mean vector and covariance metrics that were
retrieved from the training data. Corals represent the pixels grouped in a class based on the
Mean vector and covariance metrics other than the non-coral features. The accuracy
assessment of remotely sensed classified image data was done by the method of error matrix
also termed as confusion matrix. This was done by comparing the classified image with real
world class derived from field observations (e.g. ground truth sampling points). However,
water column correctionwas employed before applying the supervised classification
technique.

3.4. Field verification

I conducted a field investigation on 3rd March, 2020 in Saint Martin’s Island. Images of the
coral colony were captured by employing a digital underwater camera while scuba diving.
About 100 points (around 50 points from Uttar para and 50 points from central and Dakshin
para) were selected around Saint Martin’s Island and each coordinate point was recorded with
the GPS, including the time of acquisition. Sampling and the photographs were taken when
the water was shallow and clear enough to identify the coral habitat from the boat.

3.5. Study area

Saint Martin’s Island is one of the most eye-catching islands in the Bay of Bengal and is
also referred to as Narikel Jinjira or Coconut Island by the local people of the island. It is
located almost 9 km south of the Cox’s Bazar-Teknaf peninsula in the Bay of Bengal (Fig. 2).
The island is blessed with plenty of resources and boasts an abundance of biological diversity
i.e. fish-150 species, amphibian-5 species, mollusk- 300 species, turtle-5 species, bird-200
species, mammals-20 species, coral-66 species and snail-5 species (Ahmed 1995). Depending
on the tidal level, the surficial extent of the island may vary but it is about 8 km2 on average.
The study area has wide-ranging variability in terms of land-cover types, for instance rocky
shores, sandy shores, mangrove forests and agricultural land cultivating rice, water melon,
maize, seasonal vegetables, ground nuts, as well as coconuts, nuts and betel leaf.

The mean yearly maximum temperature recorded ranges from 30.3ºC to 33.0ºC and the
minimum temperature ranges between 19.3–22.4ºC. However, as it is bounded by sea, St.
Martin’s Island should have higher minimum temperatures and lower maximum temperatures
than the Cox’s Bazar region (Tomascik 1997). Humidity levels on the island area remain
relatively high throughout the year with the average humidity being 79.7%. (Islam and Roshid
2017). According to Islam and Roshid (2017) the average annual rainfall for Cox’s Bazar
fluctuates between 2,867 mm and 4,684 mm. The coastal water salinity of St. Martin’s Island
fluctuates between 26 and 35 ppt as measured for the period of dry season (Tomasick 1997).
The tidal system of Saint Martin’s Island is normal semidiurnal tides comprising two hind and
two low tides with the tidal period of 24 hours and 52 minutes (Banglapedia 2008). The tidal
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range of Saint Martin’s Island is in and around 1.87 m, which is very close to the tidal range of
Shahpuri Island located about 9 km NE of Saint Martin’s Island. Chera Dwip becomes
inundated during high tide and separates from the main Island.

Fig. 1. Map showing the study area “Saint Martin’s Island”. Background image is Sentinel-2 satellite
image as false color composite of red as band-4, green as band-3 and blue as band-2

4. Results and Discussion

In the southern part of the island, dead and fossil corals are copious in the upper littoral
zones. Living corals are observed in the submerged rocky substratum that becomes flooded
during high tide. Muddy and sandy substratum don’t contain any coral colonies. The eastern
part of Galachipa, the stony region of Siradia, the southern coast of Daskhinpara and the
southeast coast of Daskhinpara are densely populated with different coral families (Haider
1992). In some protected regions of the study area with favorable environments there
is a high density of living corals and other coralline species. Excessive tourist intrusion and
overexploitation of coral by island habitants are destroying coral from different regions
of the island. Agricultural activities generally produce a huge amount of silt and turbidity that
might be a cause for coral degradation in the study area. Tomascik (1997) observed 65 species
of 22 genera of corals from St. Martin’s Island. He identified 19 species of fossil (dead) corals
and 36 species of reef-building coral families from the island. In this study, some of the most
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frequent coral species were observed by snorkeling and photographs were taken for
identification (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2. Some photographs of the most abundant coral species in Saint Martin’s Island. a) Acropora
hyacinthus, b) Diploastrea heliopora, c) Favia favus, d) Favites abdita, e) Leptastrea pruinosa, f)
Lobophyllia hemprichi, g) Platygyra sinensis, h) Goniastrea aspera

The identified speciesare tabulated in terms of their family, genus and species (Table 2).

Table 2. Most abundant coral species in Saint Martin’s Island identified during snorkeling

Order Family Genus and species

Acroporidae Acropora hyacinthus

Poritidae Acrqora aculeus

Porites lobata
Porites solida
Montipora turtlensis
Goniopora djiboutiensis

Seleratetinia Faviidae Favites abdita

Favites halicora
Platygyra daedalea
Diploastrea heliopora

Mussidae Lobophyllia hemprichi

Favia favus

Siderastreidae Coscinaraea columna

Psammocora profundacella
Psedosiderastrea tayami

Merulinidae Hydnophora exesa

Hydnophora micoconos
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Photographs of healthy, degraded and dead coral were also documented to discern the status of
the presentcoral colony in Saint Martin’s Island (Fig.3).

Fig. 3. Showing the photographs of Healthy, Degraded and Dead corals around Saint Martin’s Island.
(Healthy, DG: Degrading, D: Dead)

For better understanding of the final classified image output, basic statistics were calculated
for the multi-band images for 1980, 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2018 (Table 3). The minimum,
maximum, standard deviation and mean spectra show that the data precision level is good
enough to estimate coral colony distribution in the study area (Fig. 4). Spectra for blue, green
and red bands show more or less similar DN value for the respective years in the study area.

Table 3. Band-wise statistics (Min., Max., Mean, Standard Deviation) for each classified thematic map
from 1980 to 2018
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Fig. 4. Plots of DN value versus Blue, Green and Red bands in the classified image after processing and analysis
from 1980 to 201 (Band 1: Blue, Band 2: Green, Band: Red)

The present study sought to quantify coral degradation trends for different time periods in
the study area. It was observed from the study that coral colonies covered only 0.3942 km in
2018 (Fig. 5). Conspicuously, the area of coral decreased drastically from 1980 to 2018. In
1980, coral families covered the island to the extent of about 1.3284 km , which is huge
compared to area in 2018 (Fig. 5). In the years of 1990, 2000 and 2010, coral colonies
accounted for about 1.1197 km , 0.8680 km and 0.6399 km respectively (Table 4). Throughout
the study period from 1980 to 2018, a total area of 0.9342 km coral colonies disappeared due
to continuous anthropogenic activities.

In this study, urban areas could not be identified due to the low resolution of the utilized
Landsat images. Urban areas are generally scattered and sporadic covering homogenous areas
of less than 30m which is below the detection limit of the Landsat sensor resolution. It is
important to note that most of the urban structures are shadowed by canopy cover in the study
area that is classified as belonging to the class of vegetation. However, training samples and
field verification confirms the higher density of urban structure in the northern part of the study
area locally known as “Uttar Para” compared to the southern part of the study area known as
“Dakhin Para”.
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Table 4. Summary of important land cover changes throughout the study period (1980-2018) including
coral reef degradation scenarios

Year Vegetation Cover Breland Coverage Areal Coverage of corals in Saint

Martin’s Island (Km2)
(Km2) (Km2)

1980 4.5463 2.8766 1.3284

1990 4.2345 2.6766 1.1197

2000 3.2345 2.4476 0.8780

2010 3.3549 2.2354 0.6399

2018 3.0978 2.0764 0.3942

*Total 0.9342 Km2 area of coral degraded throughout the study period

Fig. 5. Changing Patterns of Coral Communities throughout the study period (1980–2018)

Accordingly, it is vital to adopt some emergency measures to preserve the coral resource
and conserve coral growth in the island. A coral monitoring system should be employed that
incorporates regular Sea Surface Temperature (SST) measurement, coral bleaching Hot Spot
(HS) analysis, calculation of Degree of Heating Week (DHW) and assessment of Thermal
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Stress Levels (TSL). These recommendations with detailed methodology and techniques were
also suggested by (Rahaman and Hossain 2015). A coral resource inventory must be prepared
with detailed maps of the island to depict

Fig. 6. Sea Surface Temperature (SST) (monthly average, March) of the Bay of Bengal region
for the year of a) 2013, b) 2011, c) 2008, d) 2005, e) 2003, and f) 2002 (modified after NCOM).
Circular sign on the eastern bay denoting the position of Saint Martin’s Island

and identify the changes with time due to natural and man- made causes. It is very clear from
the Sea Surface Temperature (SST) data from 2002 to 2013 that SST is increasing gradually.
The most obvious change also happened in and around the study area as pointed out by a circle.
Between 2002 and 2003, average SST was near 25°C. From that time, SST has slightly
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increased to about 26°C (Fig. 8). However, the highest SST was observed in 2011 and 2013
and was recorded as about 27 to 27.5°C respectively. So, the presented data clearly suggests
that SST is increasing in the Eastern Bay of Bengal and this is leading to climatic change and
ultimately impedes coral growth around the island. Anthropogenic activities like marine
pollution, overfishing and unplanned tourism harm both warm and cold-water coral reef
ecosystems globally (Hall-Spencer et al. 2002; Burke et al. 2011; Hughes et al. 2011). During
the last twenty years, ocean warming and higher sea surface temperature (SST), changes in
ocean chemistry and higher concentrations of atmospheric CO2 have been responsible for mass
coral bleaching and, in the near future, this increase in temperature will result in the rapid
intensification in the severity of coral bleaching (Donner et al. 2005; Hoegh- Guldberg 2014).
Over the past two centuries, overexploited resources and polluted coastal waters as a result of
human activities have been the prime causes for the rapid decline and degradation of coral reef
growth (Jackson et al. 2001; Pandolfi et al. 2003).

During the past 30–50 years at least 50% warm-water coral reefs have decayed in most of
the world's humid areas (Bruno and Selig 2007; Graham et al. 2015). Obliteration of cold-water
reefs are caused by hydrocarbon exploration and production, offshore mining and pollution,
waste dumping, coral exploitation, and destructive scientific sampling (Hall- Spencer et al.
2002; Gattuso et al. 2014; Roberts and Cairns 2014). In addition, increases in sea temperature
are responsible for the increased mortality of corals throughout the world (Hoegh-Guldberg
and Smith 1989). Macro and microplastics concentration in marine sediments disseminated
from land areas has found to be very high and this also led to coral bleaching and is recognized
as one of the major threats to coral reef ecosystems (Hall et al. 2015; Reichert et al. 2018).
Furthermore, diseases affecting coral reefs throughout the world including the Great Barrier
Reef and Indo-Pacific corals are playing a more massive role in the degradation of coral
communities in the region than previously thought (Poush 2006).

5. Conclusion

The findings of the present study indicate that coral colonies have been reduced
significantly during the last four decades from 1.3284 Km in 1980 to 0.3942 km in 2018. Coral
reef colonies are rapidly disappearing due toa number of anthropogenic factors i.e. tourism,
extraction of coral by fisherman, turbidity from agricultural activities, building construction
and probably climate change, all of which were noticed during field observations of the shallow
water of Saint Martin’s Island. Here, high-resolution images would be better to compare the
results more precisely. This is the first remote sensing and GIS based approach applied in Saint
Martin’s Island of Bangladesh to detect coral reef degradation. Hence, this study will guide
researchers when conducting further detailed investigations on coral reef degradation. The
present study also successfully mapped the coral colonies with time series data. Finally, it is
strongly recommended to restrict or ban the entrance of tourists to the island for a certain period
of time in order that the past status of biodiversity of this coral island can be restored.
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Acknowledgements

Author want to acknowledge the oceanic scuba diving team due to their assistance during
the fieldwork. I am also grateful to the department of Environmental science and Disaster
Management, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science & Technology University for
giving me laboratory and software facilities.

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