Dr. Pat Colins, Director of the Coral Reef Research Foundation in Palau, who gave a presentation on the possible development of La Nina during the General Meeting of the Belau Tourism Association said that reefs are showing initial stage of coral bleaching.
Coral bleaching occurs when unusually warm water temperatures disrupt the relationship between corals and the symbiotic microscopic algae that live within their tissues, according to Colins.
Colins said that a possible La Nina event plays a major role in the coral bleaching.
“It is better to have cloudy and rainy weather. Clear sunny days are not good for the corals,” Colins stated.
Major coral bleaching occurred in Palau in September, 1998
Corals were bleached off of Peleliu, the Blue Corner, the Big Drop-off as well as Iwayama Bay in the Rock Islands near Koror.
Colins said that coral reef bleaching may be a climate-change related but at the same it is a natural phenomenon.
Palau’s healthy coral reef is one of the attractions of the country’s tourism.
Coral bleaching is considered the most serious threat to Palau’s coral reefs.
The effects of the 1998 bleaching were widespread, with as much as one-third of Palau’s hard corals destroyed.
Colins urged divers to take note of what’s happening.
