"Coral Bleaching Event in Hawai'i"
Dave Alan Gulko
gulko at hawaii.edu
Thu Sep 12 18:17:39 EDT 1996
A major coral bleaching event began in late August in the south
basin of Kane'ohe Bay, O'ahu in response to high temperature. A long
period of hot, calm weather drove temperatures into the 29 - 30 degrees
centigrade range in the restricted basin (this is 1 - 2 degrees
centrigrade higher than oceanic temperatures). The return of trade winds
and cloud cover during the second week of September lowered surface water
temperatures into the "safe" range. If the temperatures continue at
normal levels, we expect most of the coral to recover within 1-3 months.
The event is under investigation by Paul Jokiel of the Hawai'i Institute
of Marine Biology (jokiel at hawaii.edu).
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