Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Divers Asked to Take Special Care with Corals During Periods of High Seawater Temperatures

On Monday, the Bonaire Marine Park received their first NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Coral Bleach Watch for the season.  This occurs when NOAA satellites detect a “hot spot” in the southern Caribbean of 0.1 degree over the Maximum Monthly Mean. 

When this occurs, it means that the Sea Surface Temperature (SST) is higher than the average for this season. The NOAA Coral Reef Watch program indicates that there is a significant potential for coral bleaching in the Caribbean during 2009. Please note that in the July through October predictions, Bonaire falls in the category of Potential Severe Bleaching.

Remember that bleached corals are still alive and need special protection.  All divers and snorkelers, as well as other users of the park, should stay away from the reef and take all additional measures to reduce stress to the reefs, instead of adding to them.  Reducing reef stress can be done by eliminating contact with the reef, limiting boat bilge residue, and other contaminants.  Be sure buoyancy is good and do not stir up sand when diving which can silt out the reefs.

The marine park does request that divers report bleaching observations as soon as possible.

NOAA’s Caribbean Bleaching Outlook calls for the potential for high thermal stress now through October, 2009, and projections do indicate that bleaching could be significant to be on par with the 2005 bleaching event that the southern Caribbean experienced.  NOAA’s operational Climate Forecast System is now calling for development of an El Niño during 2009-10. Typically, this has the strongest impact in the Caribbean during the second year of the El Niño (2010).  Finally, in light of predictions for a potential of lower than normal precipitation in much of the Caribbean this year, it is not expected for cloud cover to provide relief from the predicted warming.

Our seasonal bleaching outlooks can be found at:  http://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/satellite/bleachingoutlook/index.html

Current Hot Spot and Degree Heating Week charts and data formatted for HDF and Google Earth can be found at: http://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/satellite/index.html

Time series graphics for index sites can be found at: http://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/satellite/current/sst_series_24reefs.html

Those interested may subscribe to automated bleaching alerts at: http://coralreefwatch-satops.noaa.gov/SBA.html

Please report bleaching events (or non-events) at: http://www.reefbase.org/contribute/bleachingreport.aspx

For more information about coral reef bleaching, click here.  (Source:  Bonaire National Marine Park)