[Coral-List] Bleaching in the Caymans

EWeil eweil at caribe.net
Wed Sep 23 22:15:46 EDT 2009


I have just been informed by Croy McCoy that they are having an intense and widespread bleaching event in Grand Cayman. He went 
diving yesterday and found totally bleached corals down to 30 m, observations indicate that close to 100% of scleractinians 
showed bleaching signs in deeper environments, and around 80% in shallower habitats. Water temps. have been above 29 Celcius 
since June (Hobo data). I will be conducting disease surveys in mid-November, so if anything like what we saw in 2005 with WPD 
and YBD outbreaks during and after the massive bleaching occurs here, we will probably have a chance to document this in our 
permanent survey transects around the island. Croy will be conducting quantitative surveys and tagging colonies in the next days. 

On the other hand, here in Puerto Rico, there are no signs of a bleaching event. Just the usual, a few pale colonies here and 
there. Same situation observed during our disease surveys last week in Grenada. 

Saludos!

EW 

Dr. Ernesto Weil
Department of Marine Sciences
University of Puerto Rico
PO BOX 3208
Lajas PR 00667
Pho: (787) 899-2048 x. 241
Fax: (787) 899-5500 - 2630




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