BANDA ACEH, Indonesia, August 16, 2010 (ENS) – The rapidly rising temperature of south Asia’s Andaman Sea has triggered coral bleaching and die-off that scientists working in Indonesia are calling one of the most rapid and severe coral mortality events ever recorded. The coral die-off was indentified though monitoring by marine ecologists from the Wildlife Conservation Society based at New York’s Bronx Zoo, Australia’s James Cook University and Indonesia’s Syiah Kuala University in Banda Aceh. Following up on local reports of coral bleaching in the waters off the northern tip of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, the scientists determined from field studies completed in early August that 80 percent of some species have bleached and died since the initial assessment in May and more colonies are expected to die within the next few months. Bleaching is a whitening of corals that occurs when colorful algae living within coral tissues are expelled. It is an indication of stress caused by environmental triggers such as sea surface temperature fluctuations. The scientists say this event is the result of a rise in sea surface temperatures in the Andaman Sea – an area that includes the coasts of Myanmar, Thailand, the Andaman and Nicobar islands, and northwestern Indonesia. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Coral Hotspots website shows temperatures in the region peaked in late May, when the temperature reached 34 degrees Celsius (93 degrees Fahrenheit) – four degrees Celsius (7.2 degrees F.) higher than long term averages for the area. “This is a tragedy not only for some of the world’s most biodiverse coral reefs, but also for people in the region, many of whom are extremely impoverished and depend on these reefs for their food and livelihoods,” said WCS Marine Program Director Dr. Caleb McClennen. “Immediate and intensive management will be required to try and help these reefs, their fisheries and the entire ecosystem recover and adapt. However, coral reefs cannot be protected from the warming ocean temperatures brought on by a changing climate by local actions alone,” said Dr. McClennen. …
Corals Bleached and Dying in Overheated South Asian Waters
