Spokane man spotlights demise of coral reefs

A marine scientist is scheduled to give a Spokane presentation about coral reefs that’s likely to be colorful in more than one way.

Dr. Dean Jacobson, who taught at Whitworth University in the 1990s before leaving with his canoe and dive gear to the Marshall Islands, will speak at 7 p.m. Monday at Mountain Gear Corporate Offices, 6021 N. Mansfield. The program is sponsored by the Spokane Canoe & Kayak Club.

After 12 years of teaching, researching and exploring the islands, Jacobson was arrested, discussed in Parliament and deported from the Marshalls in 2011. He had put up a one-man protest against USA-funded coral reef destruction along Majuro Atoll, the most populous in this group of Pacific Islands.

“I took on a contractor who was waving $20 million to the islands,” he said, noting that he stopped the dredging of one reef – “an accomplishment that gave my life a lot more meaning and satisfaction!”

But ultimately he lost the battle.

“A year later, they moved their dredging to another reef. Many acres of productive coral, huge populations of small reef fish, have been converted with the OK of the (Federal Aviation Administration) into deep sand-filled pits that look like bomb craters.

“The reef was destroyed without proper environmental review at the expense of the U.S. taxpayer.

“The reef had been there for thousands of years, providing habitat for fish and protection to the island from ocean waves.”

Of course, Jacobson’s experience in the Marshalls wasn’t all bad.

“Teaching on the Marshalls was a dream job for a marine biologist,” he said. “I soon began learning everything I could about coral and coral disease. I have the photos and data for a coral reef survey I conducted almost every weekend for 10 years in my back yard.”

The biologist, artist and photographer plans to show images of the reefs, tropical fish and island living, with an emphasis on the impacts of coral dredging, pollution and rising sea levels in the Marshall Islands.

Although the Marshalls are near the equator about twice as far from Spokane as Hawaii, Jacobson said he’s surprised at how many connections they have to Spokane.

“I was in the library on Tuesday and found myself sitting next to a Mormon elder who’d done his mission in the Marshalls,” Jacobson said. “He told me there are roughly 3,000 Marshallese in the Spokane area. “