Belize coral bleaching

[circusoflife]

http://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/caribbean2005/

20-80% bleaching noted around Belize.

I will be staying in Caye Caulker, Belize in mid March. Does anyone know the reef condition off of Belize?

I've read/been told that bleaching has affected more the in shore reefs than outer atolls - like Turneffe/Lighthouse/Half Moon Caye.

I know judging reef quality is all relative to what you have seen. WIth that in mind, if you have any weblinks with recent information or you have dived in the area recently, that would be great. Depth vs bleaching would be good information to know too.

My initial thought is to avoid the Hol Chan Marine Reserve.

circus

 

[hil71]

A note on Hol Chan - this tends to be a dive that people who are getting certified are taken to as an early OW dive as it's pretty shallow and easy to navigate - you probably wont be taken to dive there unless you ask, but i would really recommend it for a night dive - it really comes alive then - it's pretty impresive.
The coral is fairly bleached but still alot to see - and it's really healthy on the outer atolls - Have a brilliant trip - i'm heading back there over Easter!

 

[Hank49]

I haven't seen it yet either. I snorkel and dive on the inner cayes down south, where the water is warmer in general and it's not happening here.

 

[DiveMaven]

We were on the Nekton Pilot mid-December for a week and didn't see any evidence of Coral bleaching. Everything we saw was healthy and thriving.

 

[circusoflife]

Cool. Thanks for the first hand reports. I'm more stoked now.....got some Tulum Cenote diving in one week exactly, then Belize, then a couple of weeks later - Galapagos land based diving. I'll post an update with health and specific sites when done.

 

[peterbj7]

I've seen lots of coral bleaching. In the Maldives for example, where the water temperature at the time was 93F. Here in Belize I've never known the water to be warmer than 85F, and at present it's several degree cooler than that. I don't know of any coral bleaching here, except maybe in one or two very shallow hot spots.

 

[Doc]

I've seen lots of coral bleaching. In the Maldives for example, where the water temperature at the time was 93F. Here in Belize I've never known the water to be warmer than 85F, and at present it's several degree cooler than that. I don't know of any coral bleaching here, except maybe in one or two very shallow hot spots.

Exactly. I did Maldives in 95, 98, 02.

In 98 bleaching was obvious. Different critters thrived on the situation. In 02 it was back to the way it was in 95.

It's a changing environment. Observe what happens- see what is thriving. Deduce why.

 

[surlytart]

I just got back from a Caye Caulker stay. I was really disappointed by how much of the local reef seemed dead while doing an afternoon snorkel, but Hol Chan was better. Lighthouse reef (Half Moon Caye and the Aquarium at Long Caye) was better yet.

I dove with Frenchies, btw. Aside from the sharks and eels and rays and reefs and barracudas, we were treated to dolphins and flying fish on our way out to the Blue Hole.

 

[Hank49]

I think the reef is still in a major stage of recovery. The El Nino of 98 and then hurricane Mitch pounded it pretty hard. The locals tell me Mitch killed a lot.

 

[Footslogger]

We were on the Nekton Pilot mid-December for a week and didn't see any evidence of Coral bleaching. Everything we saw was healthy and thriving.

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That's good to hear cuz we leave this coming Saturday for a week on the Pilot.

'Slogger