I'm not sure how many of you follow seasonal sea surface temperature trends in the area and their impact on the reef, but I thought you might be interested in this information.
Most of us long for warm water for our winter dive vacations, but water that's too warm for too long stresses coral, which can lead to coral bleaching, which can kill the coral if significant enough. (More info here on coral bleaching if interested.) In early fall 2010 Bonaire suffered a coral bleaching event that was estimated to have killed 10% to 20% of the hard corals at many dive sites.
Typically the warmest water temperatures around Bonaire occur in late September and early October, such as happened in 2010. But this year the warmest water in the area is occurring now, which is rare. Observed sea surface temperatures in the area have been hovering at or above 29 degrees C (84 F) for several weeks, which is within the range known to stress coral to the point of leading to bleaching activity. Current water temperatures are the highest recorded temperatures in the last 15 years for this time of year.
Ellen Muller, a well-known local diver and photographer, recently captured photos of early stages of coral bleaching that are apparently affecting some species of hard coral near Something Special. If interested you can read her description in her own words and see photos in this public post on her Facebook page. In her post she goes out of her way to emphasize that "to be clear, there is not a mass coral bleaching event going on right now. Just some early signs of bleaching and more in certain species than others."
My motivation for sharing this today is to create awareness for those of you that are interested in the topic.
If interested you can view more information about sea surface temperatures in the area at the NOAA Coral Reef Watch website. Below are a few select screen captures from that site that support my comments above.
I'm not suggesting that the sky is falling, but it might be a good idea to keep an eye peeled towards the sky for a while.
Below is a 15 year graph of Sea Surface Temperatures (SST) in the region:
Most of us long for warm water for our winter dive vacations, but water that's too warm for too long stresses coral, which can lead to coral bleaching, which can kill the coral if significant enough. (More info here on coral bleaching if interested.) In early fall 2010 Bonaire suffered a coral bleaching event that was estimated to have killed 10% to 20% of the hard corals at many dive sites.
Typically the warmest water temperatures around Bonaire occur in late September and early October, such as happened in 2010. But this year the warmest water in the area is occurring now, which is rare. Observed sea surface temperatures in the area have been hovering at or above 29 degrees C (84 F) for several weeks, which is within the range known to stress coral to the point of leading to bleaching activity. Current water temperatures are the highest recorded temperatures in the last 15 years for this time of year.
Ellen Muller, a well-known local diver and photographer, recently captured photos of early stages of coral bleaching that are apparently affecting some species of hard coral near Something Special. If interested you can read her description in her own words and see photos in this public post on her Facebook page. In her post she goes out of her way to emphasize that "to be clear, there is not a mass coral bleaching event going on right now. Just some early signs of bleaching and more in certain species than others."
My motivation for sharing this today is to create awareness for those of you that are interested in the topic.
If interested you can view more information about sea surface temperatures in the area at the NOAA Coral Reef Watch website. Below are a few select screen captures from that site that support my comments above.
I'm not suggesting that the sky is falling, but it might be a good idea to keep an eye peeled towards the sky for a while.
Below is a 15 year graph of Sea Surface Temperatures (SST) in the region:
