[Coral-List] Florida now has one spot with the highest recorded sea surface temperature

[Ellen Prager]

Are the reported corals bleached or dead? Both are bad, and if they are not dead now, they may be soon. But it is important to make this distinction as corals can recover from bleaching (one can only hope this summer).

It is also important to note that where the reported record high SST temperature is - is in Florida Bay, where isolated Bays and the tops of mud and shelf banks get extraordinarily hot. Years ago Bob Halley and I were mapping bottom habitats and studying wave and sediment dynamics in Florida Bay and hoped out of the boat onto a mudbank. The water was so hot we jumped back into the boat. We then discovered that due to evaporation of the water on top of the mud/shell banks the density increased and water cascaded into the adjacent shallow bay. There was warm, higher salinity water at the seagrass covered seafloor in the adjacent shallow bay. We published an article on it in the Journal of Coastal Research.

Ellen


Ellen Prager, PhD
Earth2Ocean, Inc/StormCenter Communications
Recently Released: Escape Undersea 
@elprager

> On Jul 26, 2023, at 2:17 AM, Douglas Fenner via Coral-List <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:
> 
> Hottest sea surface temperature recorded anywhere in the world, ever.
> 101.1F
> 
> https://www.yahoo.com/news/florida-just-had-the-hottest-recorded-ocean-temperature-heres-what-that-means-for-the-environment-215110797.html
> 
> 100% coral mortality at Sombrero Reef in the Keys.  Also most of the corals
> in the Looe Key nursery have died.
> 
> https://www.yahoo.com/news/hot-tub-water-temperatures-off-183657140.html
> 
> https://www.yahoo.com/news/water-tip-florida-hits-hot-000913172.html
> 
> https://www.yahoo.com/news/florida-ocean-temperatures-rise-above-213944171.html
> 
> https://www.yahoo.com/news/extreme-heat-wipes-coral-reef-195403237.html
> 
> https://www.yahoo.com/news/101-1-degrees-water-temperatures-214600885.html
> 
> https://www.yahoo.com/news/ocean-temperatures-around-south-florida-223041666.html
> 
> https://www.yahoo.com/news/florida-keys-lab-races-save-203112888.html
> 
> https://www.yahoo.com/news/florida-everglades-water-temperatures-reach-170400166.html
> 
> Mass coral bleaching predicted:
> 
> https://www.foxweather.com/extreme-weather/hot-florida-sea-surface-temperatures-coral-bleaching-event
> 
> Cheers, Doug
> 
> -- 
> Douglas Fenner
> Lynker Technologies, LLC, Contractor
> NOAA Fisheries Service
> Pacific Islands Regional Office
> Honolulu
> and:
> Coral Reef Consulting
> PO Box 997390
> Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799-6298  USA
> 
> One recent study estimates over 61,000 people died from heat during
> Europe's record-breaking summer last year.
> 
> https://www.yahoo.com/news/record-breaking-heat-bakes-us-014459083.html
> 
> 1 million Florida buildings will be overrun by sea-level rise, new study
> shows, at a cost of $261-624 BILLION
> 
> https://www.yahoo.com/news/1-million-florida-buildings-overrun-091203340.html
> 
> Scientists size up human predatory footprint
> Humans are the ultimate predators, trapping, hunting, or otherwise
> exploiting 15,000 species of vertebrates—300 times more species than
> jaguars and 113 times more than great white sharks.
> https://www.science.org/content/article/news-glance-muscular-dystrophy-therapy-lab-grown-chicken-and-humans-toll-wildlife
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