[Coral-List] Caribbean Heating Up?

[Sonia Bejarano]

Hello listers,

During our Caricomp weekly measurment of surface sea water temperature on
May 25, we recorded the highest value of the year (29.9°C = 85.8°Farenheit)
in Bahía Chengue -Santa Marta (Colombian Caribbean) (11° 19' 32.2'' and 74°
7' 42.1'').
Checking in our monitoring data, we found that only one higher value has
been recorded in a week of May since 1992, on 1993 (30.2°C). Certainly it is
not the first time got it over 29°C, but those high temperatures have been
common in the region only on the second part of the year.
Nevertheless, no coral bleaching signs have been recorded in the area during
extensive health surveys carried during the last month, as part of the
project "Status of reef fish communities in the Santa Marta area: a support
to the Marine Protected Area Tayrona National Natural Park.

Regards,

Sistema Nacional de Monitoreo de Arrecifes coralinos en Colombia (SIMAC).
National Monitoring System for the Coral Reefs of Colombia (SIMAC).