The question of Bonaire's coral being dead

[Kharon]

I've seen posted on SB that all the coral at Alice in Wonderland is dead and heard on my return trip (Nov 2017) that Red Slave and everywhere else on Bonaire the coral is dead - it's a wasteland.

I'm wondering if the places these guys dive look like this:

and this:

and this:

They are obviously diving on the terrace and seeing only broken coral totally not at all representative. Dive the edge and the drop off and the view is distinctly different. Oh, and BTW the white tips you might see on the coral is NOT bleaching - it's new growth.

Take a look at this 3 minute vid of random shots from oct-nov 2017 (https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=xsBtLO7bNWc). Alice and Red Slave are included. I saw nothing but very healthy and vibrant coral everywhere I dove. I'd like to see some examples of Bonaire's wasteland coral. Put up or shut up. Or show me where in my vid the dead coral is.

 

[Willar]

I just returned from a week of diving around Bonaire. I have hundreds of pics (on my other computer, sorry) of beautiful corals. We saw very little dead coral except in the shallows where pieces had washed up.

During one of our dives at Karpata, two lady divers were coming out of the water with note boards. They said they were doing coral surveys to evaluate the health of Bonaire corals. When asked what they thought, they said the summer's hot water had some effect but since the water had cooled things were looking much better. They felt the corals where in very good condition.

We didn't dive at Alice but we did dive nearby sites. The corals we saw all week were healthy. As a matter of fact I had commented to my dive partner that I was happy to see some good sized stands of staghorn coral that looked quite healthy and were obviously growing. Yes, there were a few small areas of coral that looked damaged from storms, but overall we were impressed.

 

[svs]

I saw couple of places like this few years ago. They are relatively small in comparison to the areas of healthy corals. I read somewhere that such dead areas may form during storms with strong rip currents forming in some spots. I don't know it it is true or not.

 

[raftingtigger]

Nothing but beautiful healthy corals in early Aug 2017.

 

[oldschoolto]

September and October ..8 weeks of great reefs.. there are some dead spots in the shallow water..

Jim...

 

[ijdod]

The only site I felt looked bad the last 2 months was Red Slave. Shallows there as expected (rubble), but the dropoff looked unhealthy. Drab, lots of sand deposited on the reef. This could be temporary, it's on the south end of the island, things can change quickly there. But even this was not 'dead'; just not a site I enjoyed.

 

[oldschoolto]

If. And mean if you have good control light fanning over the coral head will remove the sand and algae blooms .. The coral will love you for it...

Jim...

 

[scuba127]

Last trip was in September.....we were told a storm blew out Red Slave....

 

[ijdod]

If. And mean if you have good control light fanning over the coral head will remove the sand and algae blooms .. The coral will love you for it...

Jim...

This is true, but in this case I'm talking the entire reef (went North from entrance due to current); I know form other dives that the reef between the radar tower and Willemstoren Lighthouse south of Red Slave is fine.