Following what is expected to be the warmest year on record, next year could bring massive coral bleaching events that disrupt marine ecosystems. Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, a marine studies professor at the University of Queensland, Australia, is predicting that coral reefs will experience dramatic bleaching. Hoegh-Guldberg and colleagues shared their predictions in a “Perspectives” piece for […]
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef extends 1,429 miles over an approximate area of 133,000 square miles and is the largest coral reef system in the world. The magnificent reef is home to thousands of marine species, but for years has been under threat from pollution and climate change. The warming ocean has caused coral bleaching, and […]
Temperatures in the waters off the coast of southern Florida and the Florida Keys this month have been as high as 97 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the National Data Buoy Center. In the summer, waters in the Keys are normally reminiscent of bath water, but temperatures that high can threaten coral reefs. And it’s still […]
The ocean conservation nonprofit announced the winners of its annual photo contest in a blog post last Monday, in the latest iteration of a tradition that’s been running 15 years. “The annual Ocean Conservancy Photo Contest presents a unique opportunity to engage our audience in a fun way,” Ocean Conservancy said in an email to EcoWatch.
Sea sponges are simple marine animals that have been around for about 600 million years. Their skeletons are dense and porous and they adapt well to their particular habitat, attaching themselves to different types of surfaces, from rocks and corals to soft sediments, like mud and sand. They have even been known to fasten themselves […]
More than 90 percent of the Great Barrier Reef was impacted by coral bleaching during the Australian summer of 2021-2022. This is the conclusion of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, which released the results Tuesday of aerial surveys taken of 719 reefs between Torres Strait and the Capricorn Bunker Group. “The surveys confirm […]
Awareness of the impacts that some sunscreens can have on coral reefs has been on the rise in recent years. But while scientists knew that chemicals like oxybenzone were causing problems, they weren’t exactly sure why or how. Now, a group of environmental chemists and biologists has come up with an explanation. The scientists first […]
Coral bleaching leaches a reef of its yellows, greens and pinks, leaving behind a graveyard of brittle white. Now, new research indicates that it isn’t just the coral that loses its colors after a bleaching event. The fish that find a home there become less brilliant, too. “We found that as the cover of structurally […]
The coral of the Great Barrier Reef is experiencing “widespread” bleaching just two years after the reef’s last mass bleaching event in 2020. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority said Friday it had observed the bleaching after conducting surveillance flights over the 1,243-mile reef, as AFP reported. “Bleaching has been detected across the Marine […]
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