[Coral-List] Water temperature in the Caribbean
Eugene Shinn
eshinn at marine.usf.edu
Mon Sep 27 10:41:53 EDT 2010
Listers, While we did have an unusually cold winter that caused
extensive coral death among near shore corals in the Florida keys we
also had a very warm summer. Ironically we had cold water bleaching
off the east coast of Florida during the heat of summer. That posting
of bleaching appeared several times on the list with interesting
websites of before an after videos. The bleaching was caused by
upwelling of cold water on to the narrow shelf. Such upwelling
happens sporadically and has been reported by divers many times in
the past. What causes the upwelling is anyones guess.
Now we are hearing about bleaching and unusually warm
temperatures in the Caribbean. It seems likely that the recent
Caribbean hurricane below Cuba and the ongoing tropical storm-forming
conditions presently down there will cool things off rapidly. Do we
have any current on the scene data from down there? Gene
--
No Rocks, No Water, No Ecosystem (EAS)
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E. A. Shinn, Courtesy Professor
University of South Florida
Marine Science Center (room 204)
140 Seventh Avenue South
St. Petersburg, FL 33701
<eshinn at marine.usf.edu>
Tel 727 553-1158----------------------------------
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