Coral bleaching
michel pichon
pichon at univ-perp.fr
Thu Mar 28 03:42:51 EST 1996
A CORAL BLEACHING EPISODE IN FRENCH POLYNESIA
The onset of a coral bleaching episode has been observed at Moorea
(Society Islands, French Polynesia) at the beginning of February 1996,
by the permanent staff of the "Centre de Recherches Insulaires et
Observatoire de l'Environnement/Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes".
(C.R.I.O.B.E./E.P.H.E.). The intensity of the phenomenon is moderate,
and it has not been reported from other French Polynesian islands,
where a network of observers is monitoring the situation. Some
unconfirmed reports, however, suggest that very localized coral
bleaching took place on Tahiti, Bora Bora and Rangiroa, in the
lagoons as well as on the outer reef slopes. The bleaching does not
appear to have gained in intensity since it was first noticed early in
February. At the beginning of March, at a depth of 9m, on the outer
reef slope on the north coast of Moorea, 27% of all coral colonies
were
affected by the phenomenon, with 17% partly bleached and 10%
wholly or partly fluorescent. The genera most bleached were
Montipora, Acropora and Pocillopora.
B. Salvat
Y Chancerelle
email : pol at univ-perp.fr
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