Reef health - any signs of bleaching yet?

[DeltaWardog]

I've been reading a lot of articles about the unprecedented ocean warming this year and was wondering how the Cozumel reefs are weathering it so far. I was there last fall and saw the bleaching last year, and am worried it's going to be even worse this year. Anyone been in the water recently that can give a current status report? Thanks!

 

[mstevens]

There are certainly some spots here and there.

 

[JFS]

Water temp for Cozumel is normal for this time of the year 84/85 degrees.

 

[ggunn]

I've been reading a lot of articles about the unprecedented ocean warming this year and was wondering how the Cozumel reefs are weathering it so far. I was there last fall and saw the bleaching last year, and am worried it's going to be even worse this year. Anyone been in the water recently that can give a current status report? Thanks!

When I was diving there in late June, I saw only occasional small patches of bleached coral. I saw some larger areas of that red algae, though.

 

[cozcharlie]

Water temp for Cozumel is normal for this time of the year 84/85 degrees.

Once again seconding what someone else said. This year temperatures haven’t been bad (yet).

We are still dealing with damage from last year and prior years though. Last year , the absolute peak temperature wasn't too far above normal—our problem was that instead of our normal two months of really warm water in the mid August to mid October period the water got hot in June and stayed that way for almost 6 months. You don’t see too much bleaching at the moment , but the cumulative stress on the reef from bleaching , SCTLD and pollution means the things we like (coral , fish etc ) aren’t that healthy and the things we don’t like (algae etc ) are taking advantage of it. This varies a lot from reef to reef. In general it seems the southern reefs near Palancar are in the worst shape (but those sites were more known for their large formations and swim throughs as opposed to marine life that is often more abundant elsewhere ).

That is just my opinion, YMMV. In general there is still plenty of good diving here (especially when you are comparing it to the rest of the Caribbean where most places have also had significant stress ).