Bleaching Press Release

[Mark Eakin]

                      Subject:                              Time:  5:23 PM 
  OFFICE MEMO         Bleaching Press Release               Date:  11/9/95 

The following has just been released by NOAA Public Affairs: 

__________________________________________________________ 

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

WASHINGTON D.C. 20230 

CONTACT:  	Matt Stout 
		(202) 482-6090 

NOAA 95-80 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  11/9/95 

NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION 


CORAL REEF BLEACHING FOUND IN BELIZE FOR THE FIRST TIME 

	Coral bleaching caused by environmental stresses is threatening the Western 
Hemisphere's longest and most pristine barrier reef in Belize, as well as 
other areas of the western Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, according to 
scientists at the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration. 

	The same warm waters that spawned or strengthened hurricanes in the western 
Atlantic this year also are associated with this occurrence of coral 
bleaching. From August through October, NOAA satellites detected elevated sea 
surface temperatures spanning much of the Gulf of Mexico and the western 
Caribbean basin from Belize to Jamaica, Honduras and Venezuela. 

	Coral reef bleaching occurs when stress, such as high ocean temperatures, 
cold ocean temperatures, elevated ultraviolet light, sedimentation and toxic 
chemicals, causes zooxanthellae, a symbiotic algae living within the corals' 
tissues, to be expelled from coral, leaving it a ghostly white. Corals need 
this symbiotic relationship with zooxanthellae for nutrition, health, and 
survival. Although most corals survive infrequent bleaching episodes, 
repeated or sustained bleaching events kill corals. 

	Coral bleaching triggered by warm temperatures became a frequent problem in 
the 1980's to early 1990's. In 1983, increased ocean temperatures related to 
the El Nino resulted in widespread bleaching, mortality and even extinction 
of corals in the eastern Pacific and bleaching at many sites in the western 
Atlantic/Caribbean. Subsequent El Nino events have been connected with 
bleaching in the Pacific and Atlantic, and may be related to the current 
bleaching episodes. However, reefs in Belize and many neighboring nations in 
the western Caribbean/ Gulf of Mexico region had been spared from this 
disturbance. 

	NOAA's preliminary climate predictions indicate that after the current 
(1995-1996) cold period ends, another El Nino, perhaps a strong one, may be 
on the horizon for 1996-1991. 

	In addition to remote sensing and climate predictions, NOAA has been a 
leader with other federal agencies and internationally in the development of 
the International Coral Reef Initiative. 

	The Initiative's priorities include support for the establishment of a 
global coral reef monitoring network, launched by the Intergovernmental 
Oceanographic Commission, to be able to definitively tie coral reef events 
such as bleaching to their environmental causes. 

	Reports of recent widespread bleaching of corals in the western Caribbean 
were published in the Nov. 10 issue of Science Magazine. 

### 

Editor's Note: A color image of the NOAA sea surface temperature 
map is available on the World Wide Web at http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/ 

__________________________________________________________ 
C. Mark Eakin, Ph.D. 
NOAA/Global Programs, 1100 Wayne Ave., Suite 1210 
Silver Spring, MD  USA  20910-5603 
Voice: 301-427-2089 ext. 19              Fax: 301-427-2073 
Internet: eakin at ogp.noaa.gov