Coral Bleaching – Why it happens? Diving Maluku

[Patoux01]

So you claim this is not linked in any way to the fact that there is a massive amount of pollution coming up?

 

[Doc]

Coral bleaching has nothing to do with divers. Is a quick increase of decrease of the water temp from the optimal temp.

Yes, it has nothing to do with divers peeing in the water.

It might have something to do with divers flying there, flipping light switches, using sewage plants, cooking food, living on land that was disturbed causing run off.

But no, nothing to do with diving divers diving while doing diving.

 

[TMHeimer]

Yes, it has nothing to do with divers peeing in the water.

It might have something to do with divers flying there, flipping light switches, using sewage plants, cooking food, living on land that was disturbed causing run off.

But no, nothing to do with diving divers diving while doing diving.

Agree. I've been saying that for years. Obviously divers breaking off live coral (I've taken a few dead pieces over the years as souvenirs) hurts a lot, but there is evidence this has something to do with bleaching? There are those who say taking DEAD shells from a beach really hurts the ecology because those shells will break down and... etc. These are not the big problems.
The info. on not taking or touching live coral is something probably everyone on SB knows for years.

 

[Rred]

I shudder when I hear the term "coral bleaching" because it is an alternative fact, the kind of thing I'd expect to hear from an ecoterrorist.

There is no "bleaching" involved in this phenomena, that's totally misleading. Warmer water does not whiten the coral. Drunk yahoos aren't pouring Chlorox on the reefs.

What is happening is "algal expulsion". The algae that normally give coral most of its color, and 90% of its food source, change their metabolism in warmer water. Instead of food for the coral, they produce toxins, and the corals respond by actively expelling the algae. Which also expels most of their color.

If people would only understand the actual mechanism of what they are seeing, then the "solutions" to it also become more readily apparent. Global warming and sea water temperature no longer are an issue, if you see the real problem.

Preventing the algae from producing toxins will stop the coral from expelling them, ending the "bleaching" problem. The coral don't give a damn about the water being a little warmer. And getting the algae to stop producing toxins in response to warmer water?

Sounds like a classic program in selective breeding, the same thing that has been used on our food crops for over a hundred years, with incredible success. Left on their own, plain Darwinian evolution might accomplish the same goal, since algae that product no toxins will be sheltered by the corals and presumably outbreed the others. But a little selective breeding might make that change radically faster.

And when I found out it could be that simple, I asked around and was told yes, there already are some scientists who are looking into such breeding programs (or genetic engineering).

But the "cure" starts with first not using the term "bleaching". Sexy, but totally misleading.

 

[diver0008]

...But the "cure" starts with first not using the term "bleaching". Sexy, but totally misleading.

Part of the vernacular of the hard sell.

 

[Patoux01]

I shudder when I hear the term "coral bleaching" because it is an alternative fact, the kind of thing I'd expect to hear from an ecoterrorist.

There is no "bleaching" involved in this phenomena, that's totally misleading. Warmer water does not whiten the coral. Drunk yahoos aren't pouring Chlorox on the reefs.

What is happening is "algal expulsion". The algae that normally give coral most of its color, and 90% of its food source, change their metabolism in warmer water. Instead of food for the coral, they produce toxins, and the corals respond by actively expelling the algae. Which also expels most of their color.

If people would only understand the actual mechanism of what they are seeing, then the "solutions" to it also become more readily apparent. Global warming and sea water temperature no longer are an issue, if you see the real problem.

Preventing the algae from producing toxins will stop the coral from expelling them, ending the "bleaching" problem. The coral don't give a damn about the water being a little warmer. And getting the algae to stop producing toxins in response to warmer water?

I'll just add some bold to your message, and see how you manage your way around that, okay?

Maybe, just maybe, the "solution" is to keep the oceans from warming up?

 

[tursiops]

The bleaching (let's not get diverted by semantics) is just one symptom of ocean warming. Others include acidification and weather changes. Let's focus on the problem, not just one of the symptons.

 

[diver0008]

Maybe, just maybe, the "solution" is to keep the oceans from warming up?

How? What can I do?

 

[Patoux01]

Reducing your ecological impact is pretty damn easy... There's nothing new to that.
Environmental impact of aviation - Wikipedia is part of it.
Recycling.
Not using chemicals unless absolutely needed. How many times do we see people use bleach when they could just scrub for 1 minute instead...
Not going to places where the oceans are considered a garbage can... Maldive photos show mountains of plastic bottles washed up on islands | Daily Mail Online (see all those bottles in the pictures? Many of those can easily be recycled, even without infrastructures)
Not taking a dive boat if we can, you can do pretty damn good shore dives. Most of those claiming you need a boat to dive are the ones that never dived from shore in the first place.

Forget Indonesia, you have not even seen your local species!

@TMHeimer "There are those who say taking DEAD shells from a beach really hurts the ecology because those shells will break down and... etc. These are not the big problems."
No... there are species that go from shell to shell, which could have made good use the one you just took out because "look ma! so beautiful!"

 

[diver0008]

Reducing your ecological impact is pretty damn easy... There's nothing new to that.
Environmental impact of aviation - Wikipedia is part of it.
Recycling.
Not using chemicals unless absolutely needed. How many times do we see people use bleach when they could just scrub for 1 minute instead...
Not going to places where the oceans are considered a garbage can... Maldive photos show mountains of plastic bottles washed up on islands | Daily Mail Online (see all those bottles in the pictures? Many of those can easily be recycled, even without infrastructures)
Not taking a dive boat if we can, you can do pretty damn good shore dives. Most of those claiming you need a boat to dive are the ones that never dived from shore in the first place.

Forget Indonesia, you have not even seen your local species!

@TMHeimer "There are those who say taking DEAD shells from a beach really hurts the ecology because those shells will break down and... etc. These are not the big problems."
No... there are species that go from shell to shell, which could have made good use the one you just took out because "look ma! so beautiful!"

I already do all that, and more.

Anything else I can do to "keep the oceans from warming up"?