Ocean Heat Waves Increase Bleaching in Abrolhos Archipelago

A recent study of global climate change and its effects on coral reefs was collectively conducted by a group of scientists from a multitude of different organizations including the Department of Fisheries and the Government of Western Australia. The findings suggest a correlation between increased water temperatures and widespread coral bleaching throughout the Abrolhos Islands.  Figure 1: Images depicting the coral reefs of the Abrolhos prior to the 2011 bleaching event at site EG1 (a–b), and during the 2011 bleaching event at site EG2 (c–d). This Island set which contains some of the highest latitude coral reefs in the world, are cited as having a greater susceptibility to thermal stresses in relation to the corals found in tropical reefs located closer to the equator. Corals subjected to higher than normal water temperatures in 2011 proved to be detrimental to the overall health of both reefs, yet they suffered similar mortality rates despite being exposed to different durations of increased temperature. The scientist found that the reefs in the Abrolhos islands, which are made up of mostly of Acroporid corals, have a lower thermal threshold than their tropical counterparts and endured an average mean temperature of 28.1 degrees Celsius for 3.3 days in March 2011. Read more here!