[Coral-List] Present Bleaching Event - PR & USVI etc.

[Alan E. Strong]

Hi Kristen -- Now that would be an interesting survey....we have often 
observed that once an overall bleaching tendency has established itself 
over a certain region as hurricanes move though that region SSTs are 
brought down by mixing and upwelling.  Obviously, this extra "fuel" 
available for the tropical storm has the ability to enhance these 
tropical storms...so much more is necessary from the atmosphere to first 
permit a tropical depression to first develop...therein lies the key.... 

Right now we are witnessing a large pool of anomalously high SSTs 
centered around the Virgin Islands...but no hurricanes have actually 
formed or been enhance, to my knowledge, over that area yet this year...

Cheers,
Al

Kristen Hoss wrote:

> Hello,
>  
> I was wondering if anyone has ever studied the correlation of coral 
> bleaching episodes as possible indicators of what hurricane activity 
> may be like during the year?  I was wondering if there was a 
> connection that could be used as a prediction tool, or if the 
> correlation would just be related to the already known water 
> temperatures and weather patterns, etc....
>  
> -Kristen Hoss
> Marine Researcher
> and Wildlife Biologist-USDA/APHIS/WS
>
> */"scott.stripling" <scott.stripling at noaa.gov>/* wrote:
>
>     With the NE Caribbean currently located underneath an elongated
>     area of
>     low pressure,
>     light and variable winds will continue to dominate the region for the
>     next 1 to 2 weeks.
>     Computer models are forecasting only brief (6-12 hour periods) of
>     anything
>     approaching normal trade wind flow during this time. Thus the
>     stagnant
>     mixing conditions will
>     persist regionally through the first week of October, at the least.
>
>     Scott Stripling
>     NOAA/NWS San Juan
>
>     Alan E Strong wrote:
>
>     > *NOTICE - Bleaching continues to evolve throughout Eastern
>     Caribbean*
>     >
>     > Beginning in the central Keys during August (Sombrero Key
>     especially)
>     > the warm water episode and accompanying bleaching for this year is
>     > progressing south and eastward through Cuba, Puerto Rico and the
>     > Virgin Islands. This can visually be seen in our recen t 12-week
>     > composite of HotSpot accumulations - Degree Heating Weeks (DHWs):
>     >
>     > http://www.osdpd.noaa.gov/PSB/EPS/SST/data2/dhwa.9.19.2005.gif
>     >
>     > and HotSpots:
>     >
>     > http://www.osdpd.noaa.gov/PSB/EPS/SST/data/hotspotwnc.gif
>     >
>     > Extremely high DHWs above "8" in much of the Virgin Islands are
>     quite
>     > worrisome as these levels in past bleaching events typically bring
>     > some mortality to corals. This evolving episode continues to be at
>     > near unprecedented levels of thermal stress for this region
>     since our
>     > satellite records began in the mid-80s. From the chart one can
>     observe
>     > that eastern Puerto Rico is under higher levels of thermal
>     stress at
>     > present than western PR....hence the recent reports of considerable
>     > bleaching. Until some reduced solar radiation and/or wind & mixing
>     > comes to the "rescue" we worry about prospects along much of the
>     > Windward Islands toward South America over the next month or so.
>     >
>     > Sorry our repot couldn't be more positive.
>     >
>     > Regards,
>     >
>     > Al Strong
>     > NOAA's Coral Reef Watch
>     > http://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/satellite/index.html
>     >
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-- 
**** <>< ******* <>< ******* <>< ******* <>< ******* 
Alan E. Strong  
Branch Chief, Marine Ecosystem and Climate Branch (MECB)
Coral Reef Watch Project Coordinator
Phys Scientist/Oceanographer 
  NOAA/NESDIS/ORA/SOCD -- E/RA3  {formerly NOAA/NESDIS/ORA/ORAD}
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        Alan.E.Strong at noaa.gov
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