Health of reefs around Key Largo

[gentlegiant]

When my wife and I dove Saturday on Pickle Barrel and the Pillars I noticed that a fair amount of the coral looked bleached out, especially in the Pickle Barrel area. These are fairly shallow reef sites, but I was surprised at the amount of white I saw on the coral structures. Has anyone else noticed this? Is this a problem specific to the shallow reef areas or is it an indicator of a larger problem?

 

[CBulla]

I noticed it some in Ft Lauderdale.

 

[archman]

Depending on who you talk to, the coral cover in the Florida Keys has been degraded by anywhere from 25-50%. This is all within the last fifty years, and pretty much linked to degrading water quality and it's associated sidekick, disease. There are similar patterns in most other coral reefs adjacent to human population centers. Many reefs are functionally dead.

There is no management plan of any consequence currently enacted in Florida to rectify this. The political cost is too high.

Bleaching of coral can be an indicator of poor water quality, but also of high temperatures. El Nino years are particularly tough on shallow water corals. Increasing levels of ultraviolet radiation are also being thought to enhance bleaching.