Coral bleaching West Hawaii (Big Island)!

[FishCity]

Water got really HOT here tjis year and there has bern extensive coral bleaching on Kona and Kohala coasts. Had not seen much talk about this.
Yesterday went on a trip to Puako, looked ok there. But it has never bern spectacular.
But near Mauna Lani, Makaiwa Bay had been gorgeous with lots of coral covered lava fingers in 30 feet of water. Now almost all are bleached and covered in brown algae. Far fewer fish. The huge parrotfish were not to be seen. Fewer turtles. Horrible shock. A year ago these were covered in colorful healthy hard corals and teeming with marine life.
Just an FYI. Ask about sites that are "known" to be good. Stuff happens and a lotta bad has happened over summer 2015.
Have been coming to this same site for 26 years. First time like this.

 

[FishCity]

Sorry for all the typos in the above. Anyway, am interested in hearing from others...have divers seen this type of coral damage? Or is it limited to shallow areas? Any word if Honaunau and Kealakekua Bays are ok, not ok?
Thanks.

 

[tarponchik]

Been there end Oct-early Dec 2015. In Honaunau, lots of bleach, especially the plate corals along the drop-off. Ke'ei not that bad, but I never liked Ke'ei. Snorkeled once at Kealakekua, but poor vis so I can't really evaluate corals there. My impression was that cauliflower and antler corals were bleached the worst. Finger corals looked mostly not affected. Also, bleaching was not that bad in the North (Alula, Puako, Mahukona and Kapa'a).

I've seen a paper on Seychelles where they evaluated coral reefs recovery after bleaching in the late 1990s. If I recall correctly, half of the reefs recovered, something like 12 out of 23.

As for the fish, some have become rare in just the last 4 years. Most affected are the small puffers, the tobies. They used to be everywhere, this time I saw Crown Toby maybe two or 3 times. I haven't seen a single Ambon Toby this time, and BTW I did 53 dives so this tells you something. Bluespot Cornetfish also used to be everywhere, and now there are few of them. It took me 8 dives to spot the 1st one. I may be wrong but my impression is that Oval and Raccoon Butterflyfishes have become less abundant. On the other hand, I definitely saw way more Bluestripe and Blacktail Snapper this time. Turtles? About the same numbers as usual.

So keep diving while it lasts.

 

[FishCity]

Thank you! We will try Puako again. Kealakekua Bay has some bleaching and algae covered coral but not so bad. Still plentiful fish, but you are right about Tobies! Saw some small eels and a few cornetfish.
So glad to have seen reef glory and will keep on hoping!

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

There's been worldwide coral bleaching going on. Greater Caribbean got hit last summer pretty bad. Here in S. Florida my guess is 90% of corals were affected just off shore... in areas under 25' deep.

 

[Maryruth]

Water got really HOT here tjis year and there has bern extensive coral bleaching on Kona and Kohala coasts. Had not seen much talk about this.
Yesterday went on a trip to Puako, looked ok there. But it has never bern spectacular.
But near Mauna Lani, Makaiwa Bay had been gorgeous with lots of coral covered lava fingers in 30 feet of water. Now almost all are bleached and covered in brown algae. Far fewer fish. The huge parrotfish were not to be seen. Fewer turtles. Horrible shock. A year ago these were covered in colorful healthy hard corals and teeming with marine life.
Just an FYI. Ask about sites that are "known" to be good. Stuff happens and a lotta bad has happened over summer 2015.
Have been coming to this same site for 26 years. First time like this.

 

[Maryruth]

We were at 2-Step today, (Honaunau) and the 'antler' coral which was healthy and beautiful last September (prior to Dengue spraying!) looked Dead--covered in algae. I was SO disappointed because I am a coral lover. The animal life was still good--but a few less larger fish.