Sea temperatures put local coral at more risk
(CNS): The record-breaking local sea temperatures this summer have already gone beyond the threshold that coral reefs can comfortably tolerate, more than a month ahead of the expected seasonal peak. Department of Environment (DoE) Deputy Director Tim Austin, a marine scientist, has said this is causing real concerns. The DoE has been monitoring the marine temperatures and last month was the hottest July on record globally.
Appearing as a guest on Radio Cayman’s For the Record on Monday, with guest host Simon Boxall from Hazard Management Cayman Islands, Austin said that the waters around the Cayman Islands also reached some of the hottest levels ever recorded in July. He said this was particularly concerning because of how early the sea has become so warm.
Discussing the temperatures that corals can tolerate, he said, “Normally, we would expect the end of August… or the beginning of September to be the actual peak, so we’ve still got a period of warming and we are already over the threshold.”
Austin explained that excessively warm water causes the coral severe stress and brings on bleaching. If the heat continues, it will result in the loss of more coral, which is already under pressure from the stoney coral tissue loss disease. He said his team is already seeing some bleaching occur. With the high temperatures expected to continue this month, things are “not particularly hopeful”.
SCTLD is spreading around the Caribbean and has already touched every reef on Grand Cayman. “We are seeing significant mortality as a result of that,” Austin said. “Add the bleaching on top of SCTLD and all of the other impacts corals are facing now — it’s a pretty bleak outlook.”
The lengthy discussion also touched on the state of the corals around Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which have not been greatly impacted by SCTLD due to the amount of work that has been done to raise awareness, especially among divers and boaters, likely aided by the resilience of the reefs around both islands. Nevertheless, the increase in sea temperatures will place them under more strain making them more susceptible to this devastating coral disease.
Temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean have been skyrocketing since the spring (see NOAA graph above) but on 26 July, already the hottest month since surface air temperature had been documented, the Atlantic reached record-breaking levels. While the whole Atlantic was much hotter than it usually is at this time of year, a water temperature of 101.1 °F was recorded at Manatee Bay, Florida. Once officially confirmed, it might be the highest sea temperature on record.
The waters surrounding the Cayman Islands are some of the hottest on the planet, which not only puts coral reefs at extreme risk, it also has the potential to churn up storms. Despite predictions that the El Niño effect will dampen down the Atlantic hurricane season this year, this level of unprecedented water temperature could lead to sudden and rapidly intensifying storms that could be extremely dangerous.
See the For the Record show on Radio Cayman’s YouTube channel below:
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Category: Climate Change, Marine Environment, Science & Nature
Excuse me while I burst out sleeping.
Although we can have very little impact on global warming due to our small size, we should still implement renewables ASAP because the cost of diesel will continue to rise. Sun and wind are free. Just make the investment, you deep pocketed ones (CIG, DartCo). CUC and OfReg will not be happy but this will benefit all residents and Premier Wayne can take credit.
quick question in the quest to be devil’s advocate.. Can you name one factory (especially one that makes solar panels and wind turbines) that runs off of renewables? Also, where in Cayman do you expect to place these things? what do you think will happen to the land prices after requiring large amounts of land to set up these “renewables”? Do you actually know what it takes to make renewables? What about disposals when they no longer work? Renewables recharge things, Renewables don’t build or move things. Better regulation of the cost of petrol is the key right now.
Do the hard things.
“We shall send to the moon 240,000 miles away, a giant rocket, more than 300 feet tall on an untried mission to an unknown celestial body, and then return it safely to Earth. But why some say the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask, why climb the highest mountain? Why 35 years ago fly the Atlantic? We choose to go to the moon. We chose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things not because they are easy, but because they are hard. Because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we’re willing to accept. One we are unwilling to postpone. And therefore, as we set sail, we ask God’s blessing on the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure that man has ever gone.” JFK
2:49, There are a number around the world, with at least 5 in Europe, however, Dansk Soleenergi in Denmark is one of the best.
Ermmmm..so the cruise ship who destroyed the reef got fined how much ! ?
$100,000 see link:
https://caymannewsservice.com/2015/03/cruise-line-coughs-up-100k-for-reef-damage/
Can’t find any fine for Paul Allen’s (Microsoft) yacht “M/V Tatoosh” destruction of coral reef in Jan 2016.
CNS?
CNS: Allen and DoE complete joint coral restoration plan
Wild that there is only one comment on this story… The sea is literally boiling our main tourism attraction and no one cares.
Our diving industry will be wiped out soon.
The dive industry is already declining, has been and will continue. There are nicer, cheaper places to visit. However, the government does not care about diving.
Yes, the sea is boiling.
I guess mother nature wants to return us back to the way it was when Colorado, Wyoming, Montana were all under water during the Western Interior Seaway. Go figure…
Relax people