[Coral-List] Notice - high thermal stress in the vicinity of Pearl & Hermes Atoll in the NWHI
Gang Liu
Gang.Liu at noaa.gov
Thu Sep 16 15:27:42 EDT 2004
Notice high thermal stress in the vicinity of Pearl & Hermes Atoll in
the NWHI
Widespread bleaching with potential morality in Pearl and Hermes Atoll
has just been reported by Jake Asher and Rusty Brainard of NOAA
Fisheries Coral Reef Ecosystem Division.
CRWs current DHW chart shows that the DHW value is 4.4 at the 50km
pixel covering Pearl & Hermes Atoll. Pearl and Hermes Atoll is right in
the center of a small scale intrusion (about 150 km across) of
anomalously high thermal stress accumulations that extended form the
north and across the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI).
http://www.osdpd.noaa.gov/PSB/EPS/SST/data2/dhwp.9.14.2004.gif
The thermal stress started to develop to the north of the NWHI beginning
in mid-August but with only weak stress developing in the NWHI until
early-September when a wedge of stronger thermal stress started to
intrude across the NWHI at and near Pearl & Hermes Atoll.
http://www.osdpd.noaa.gov/PSB/EPS/SST/dhw_retro.html
http://www.osdpd.noaa.gov/PSB/EPS/SST/climohot.html
If this thermal stress continues to develop in the NWHI, coral reefs in
Midway Atoll, Kure Atoll and reefs further south in the NWHI need to be
under bleaching watch conditions. Currently, DHW values are 1.5 in the
vicinity of Kure Atoll and 4.4 just to the east of Midway Atoll.
NOAA Coral Reef Watch Program
Sept 16, 2004
--
=========================================
Gang Liu, Ph.D.
Senior Research Scientist/Oceanographer
(STG, Inc.)
NOAA Coral Reef Watch Program
NOAA/NESDIS/ORA E/RA31
SSMC1, #5310
1335 East-West Highway
Silver Spring, MD 20910-3226
Tel: 301-713-9386 ext 131
Fax: 301-713-3136
Email: Gang.Liu at noaa.gov
=========================================
More information about the Coral-List
mailing list