Coral bleaching in Belize

[Jerry Wellington]

Extensive coral bleaching was observed at Southwater Key and Glover's Reef 
(Long Key - outer reef and lagoon) on Oct. 15-17.  Transect surveys revealed 
that 60% to 90% of  the Montastraea colonies were partially of entirely 
bleached.  Bleaching was more severe in shallow water (> 10 m), particularly 
on the forereef at Southwater Key. At depth, colonies of  Agaricia lamarcki 
were extensively bleached. Also, Agaricia agaricites, A. tenuifolia, 
Madracis spp. and Porites porites revealed extensive bleaching on patch 
reefs in the lagoon.  Corals with limited or no observed bleaching included 
Millepora spp., Porites astreoides, Montastraea cavernosa, Dendrogyra 
cylindrus, Acropora palmata, A. cervicornis, Diploria spp., and Dichocoenia 
stokesii.     

This appears to be the first time that coral bleaching has occurred in Belize. 



	*****************************	* 
	 Jerry Wellington	 
	 Department of Biology	 
	 University of Houston	 
	 Houston, TX 77204-5513	 

	 Voice: (713) 743-2649	 
	 FAX: (713) 743-2636	 
	 e-mail: wellington at uh.edu	 
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