[Coral-List] Where are corals bleaching? Now you can find out…

[Andrea Rivera-Sosa]

Hi Coral-List!,

Today the Allen Coral Atlas released a new version of its coral bleaching
monitoring system, including biweekly bleaching data from 2019 to the
present. This unprecedented data release helps resource managers react to
bleaching events as they occur, and decision-makers as they prioritize
areas for restoration and mitigation.

“Coral bleaching is one of the most important threats to the world’s reefs.
Yet coral bleaching has proven nearly impossible to monitor at a large
geographic scale,” said Dr. Greg Asner, Center Director for the Center for
Global Discovery and Conservation Science at Arizona State University (ASU)
and Managing Director of the Allen Coral Atlas. “That’s why we continue to
improve our global threats monitoring system, and with our new v2.0 system,
we track this threat with improved accuracy and detail.”

This improved method was developed and implemented by the ASU team, who
leads the Allen Coral Atlas program. In partnership with Coral Reef
Alliance, the Atlas team has spent the past two years gaining feedback from
local experts about coral bleaching events to compare with the method, for
iteration and improvement. The team has partnered with best-in-class field
data programs like Mermaid to utilize their database of coral reef
bleaching survey data to do so.


The bleaching datasets are already being used by resource managers
globally. “The GBRMPA (Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority) uses the
bleaching monitoring system feature during the summer’s weekly Reef Health
Update to inform the general public,” said Jessica Stella, Chief Scientist
at the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. “The information is then
used by the Reef Authority in targeting specific areas on the Reef for
targeted in-water site inspections.”

See the current bleaching event affecting Fiji here(
https://allencoralatlas.org/atlas/?l=crwbaa%2Cmonitoring%2Cplanet%2Cplanet_2018&g=aca#10.53/-18.2546/178.2073
), and other large-scale bleaching events from around the world.

Thanks for sharing!

Andrea Rivera-Sosa, Ph.D
Project and Outreach Manager
Coral Reef Alliance (coral.org)

Field Office: Bacalar, Quintana Roo, México

Email: arivera-sosa at coral.org
Cell: +52 983 181-23