Scientists Issue Strongest Coral Warning
Pastor Dale Morgan
Sep 26, 7:26 PM EDT
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Scientists Issue Strongest Coral Warning*
By MAT PROBASCO
Associated Press Writer
CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. Virgin Islands (AP) -- Scientists have issued
their strongest warning so far this year that unusually warm Caribbean
Sea temperatures threaten coral reefs that suffered widespread damage
last year in record-setting heat.
Waters have reached 85.5 degrees around the U.S. Virgin Islands and 85.1
degrees around Puerto Rico - temperatures at which coral can be damaged
if waters do not cool after a few weeks - said Al Strong, a scientist
with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Coral
Reef Watch, in a telephone interview Monday.
The warning issued Saturday by NOAA urges scuba-dive operators and
underwater researchers in the U.S. Caribbean territories to look for
coral damage and use caution around the fragile reefs, which are easily
damaged by physical contact.
Coral, which provide a sheltered habitat for fish, lobsters and other
animals, die from prolonged bleaching, when the water temperature gets
so high that it kills the algae that populate and build the reefs.
The new warning follows two watches issued since July.
Strong said the water was not expected to become as warm as last year,
when sea temperatures in the territories reached their highest levels
this decade and as much as 40 percent of the coral died around the U.S.
Virgin Islands.
He said researchers were monitoring how the heat affects coral recovery
from last year.
"There is still so much to learn about the physiology of coral" and
which species recover fastest, Strong said in a telephone interview from
Maryland.
Scientists have not pinpointed what is behind the warm sea temperatures
but some speculate global warming might be the cause.
Calm weather in the Caribbean this year has helped sea temperatures rise.
"As long as the winds stay light and the skies bright, you're going to
see the temperature increase," Strong said. "That's a lot of warm water
down there."
Millions of people visit the Caribbean each year to dive and snorkel
over the region's coral reefs, part of a multibillion-dollar tourism
industry.