I Was Wrong

[willy69]

Couple weeks back I posted a thread bashing the 101 degree water temperature recorded in the Florida Keys. I blew it off as headlines and thought the corals would be fine in their heavy flow environment. I was wrong. I’ve been diving the last few days in the keys and it’s sad to say there’s a lot of white Coral. More white corals than colored ones. Everything is bleached. The most concerning part is that big corals are bleached. Corals that took years to grow are now dead.

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

Sad story…. But hey, welcome to the I’ve been wrong and admitted club! I mean, we’ve all been wrong at some point.

 

[BigMonkeyBrain]

Sad story…. But hey, welcome to the I’ve been wrong and admitted club! I mean, we’ve all been wrong at some point.

"Oh Lord, it's hard to be humble."


Probably happens !

 

[Lavey29]

Nature is resilient and will overcome this setback.

What is coral bleaching?

When corals are stressed by changes in conditions such as temperature, light, or nutrients, they expel the symbiotic algae living in their tissues, causing them to turn completely white.

oceanservice.noaa.gov

 

[Ordovician_Reef]

Nature is resilient and will overcome this setback.

Nature is resilient because of the process of evolution, the rate of temp change is and will continue to stress and kill species faster that they can adapt. The absolute temperatures we will reach are nothing new (see Cretaceous, PETM, so on) , it's the rapidity with which the changes are occurring.

Also, some species (Polar Bears) for example are so adapted to a given highly specialized ecosystem that they simple cannot adapt and are certain to become extinct.

 

[Lavey29]

Nature is resilient because of the process of evolution, the rate of temp change is and will continue to stress and kill species faster that they can adapt. The absolute temperatures we will reach are nothing new (see Cretaceous, PETM, so on) , it's the rapidity with which the changes are occurring.

Also, some species (Polar Bears) for example are so adapted to a given highly specialized ecosystem that they simple cannot adapt and are certain to become extinct.

We are our own worst enemy but I also don't buy in to all of these variations being man made. I think the planet goes through evolutionary phases along with the sun. Now if you want to talk about pollution of the ocean then we are totally to blame.

How do we know polar bears can't adapt?

 

[Anemone_Fanatic]

Fortunately, the coral species most affected are also found further south in the Caribbean. Because those corals are going to be in cooler water, it means that the species will still exist and eventually repopulate the damaged reefs up north. Unfortunately, if this starts happening every few years, there won't be time for recovery between events.

It makes it worse that it's in the Caribbean. When this sort of thing happens in the Pacific, hardier strains from the Red Sea and Palau can be used to replant the reefs. Because the Atlantic doesn't have the same species, that can't be done here.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Couple weeks back I posted a thread bashing the 101 degree water temperature recorded in the Florida Keys. I blew it off as headlines and thought the corals would be fine in their heavy flow environment. I was wrong. I’ve been diving the last few days in the keys and it’s sad to say there’s a lot of white Coral. More white corals than colored ones. Everything is bleached. The most concerning part is that big corals are bleached. Corals that took years to grow are now dead.

Thats weird as we were in keys Tuesday about 8 miles out and saw very little bleaching except for 3 large rock structures and from the looks of coral, they were bleached but not dead and if water temps cool, may be able to bounce back. Team research group in Key Largo have been pulling some of the bleached specimens to bring back to their lab to see if they can promote recovery according to one of the students on our catamaran.

 

[Ordovician_Reef]

We are our own worst enemy but I also don't buy in to all of these variations being man made. I think the planet goes through evolutionary phases along with the sun. Now if you want to talk about pollution of the ocean then we are totally to blame.

How do we know polar bears can't adapt?

Simple biology, they depend on sea ice to hunt, there will be no sea ice....pretty simple. They will also be absorbed into the Brown Bear population.

Also, as a scientist and geologist I can say there there is absolutely no debate about the cause of climate change. That politicized horse has long since left the barn.

 

[Uncle99]

Couple weeks back I posted a thread bashing the 101 degree water temperature recorded in the Florida Keys. I blew it off as headlines and thought the corals would be fine in their heavy flow environment. I was wrong. I’ve been diving the last few days in the keys and it’s sad to say there’s a lot of white Coral. More white corals than colored ones. Everything is bleached. The most concerning part is that big corals are bleached. Corals that took years to grow are now dead.

This is the hottest summer I remember in 60+ years.
Things are changing at a rapid rate.
I listen to science people who are way, way more knowledgeable than me.
Some of the change is normal planetary evolution.
Some is us.
But, that’s just my two cents.

 

[Reefering1]

Couple weeks back I posted a thread bashing the 101 degree water temperature recorded in the Florida Keys. I blew it off as headlines and thought the corals would be fine in their heavy flow environment. I was wrong. I’ve been diving the last few days in the keys and it’s sad to say there’s a lot of white Coral. More white corals than colored ones. Everything is bleached. The most concerning part is that big corals are bleached. Corals that took years to grow are now dead.

Thats weird as we were in keys Tuesday about 8 miles out and saw very little bleaching except for 3 large rock structures and from the looks of coral, they were bleached but not dead and if water temps cool, may be able to bounce back. Team research group in Key Largo have been pulling some of the bleached specimens to bring back to their lab to see if they can promote recovery according to one of the students on our catamaran.

Did either of you take pictures???

 

[vetteguy53081]

Did either of you take pictures???

Yes and as many here know- will be posting lots of pics. We were to return Saturday but booked a last minute cruise and and are on the cruise. Im on a tour bus right now or else I would not be online.

 

[Driftdiver]

Out of curiosity, where were you diving that you saw bleaching? On the actual reef (~30 ft) or on shallow patch reef (~10 - 15ft)? How far down the chain? Key Largo, Islamorada, Marathon, Bahia Honda, Big Pine Key, Looe Key, or Key West?

I remember seeing bleaching in John Pennekamp Coral State Park in the late 80’s early 90’s where some huge brain corals and Elkhorn patches that were bleaching and or experiencing die off. Fast forward a few years and some of the corals had healed, others were gone forever. Diving deeper depths approximately 60+ ft had healthy reef.

 

[Reefering1]

Yes and as many here know- will be posting lots of pics. We were to return Saturday but booked a last minute cruise and and are on the cruise. Im on a tour bus right now or else I would not be online.

I look forward to it!

 

[Ordovician_Reef]

This is the hottest summer I remember in 60+ years.
Things are changing at a rapid rate.
I listen to science people who are way, way more knowledgeable than me.
Some of the change is normal planetary evolution.
Some is us.
But, that’s just my two cents.

Interestingly enough, if not for the impact of humans, the earth should be cooling due to Milankovitch. We are in an inter-glacial, of course this is assuming that CO2 levels remained mostly constant as they have in the recent past and they have not done, due to human activity. There really is zero debate on this issue among people who study climate. The effects of Milankovitch are a 2nd order affect and are being drowned out by the rapid increase in CO2 since the 1800s.

 

[Lavey29]

This is the hottest summer I remember in 60+ years.
Things are changing at a rapid rate.
I listen to science people who are way, way more knowledgeable than me.
Some of the change is normal planetary evolution.
Some is us.
But, that’s just my two cents.

Exactly

 

[I never finish anythi]

Couple weeks back I posted a thread bashing the 101 degree water temperature recorded in the Florida Keys. I blew it off as headlines and thought the corals would be fine in their heavy flow environment. I was wrong. I’ve been diving the last few days in the keys and it’s sad to say there’s a lot of white Coral. More white corals than colored ones. Everything is bleached. The most concerning part is that big corals are bleached. Corals that took years to grow are now dead.

Sad news , without the ocean's life won't exist

 

[Lavey29]

Simple biology, they depend on sea ice to hunt, there will be no sea ice....pretty simple. They will also be absorbed into the Brown Bear population.

Also, as a scientist and geologist I can say there there is absolutely no debate about the cause of climate change. That politicized horse has long since left the barn.

While I respect your profession and knowledge in these areas unfortunately science has been very much politicized aka... follow the money so I trust a lot of these scientific climate reports about as much as I trust our current federal government. I think some of the issues are man made and some are just an evolutionary cycle of the planet.

 

[jabberwock]

Interestingly enough, if not for the impact of humans, the earth should be cooling due to Milankovitch. We are in an inter-glacial, of course this is assuming that CO2 levels remained mostly constant as they have in the recent past and they have not done, due to human activity. There really is zero debate on this issue among people who study climate. The effects of Milankovitch are a 2nd order affect and are being drowned out by the rapid increase in CO2 since the 1800s.

I study climate, and I would totally disagree about "zero debate". There is zero debate amongst climate scientist who agree with each other. Let's do science!

 

[blaxsun]

Also, some species (Polar Bears) for example are so adapted to a given highly specialized ecosystem that they simple cannot adapt and are certain to become extinct.

Polar bears are not even remotely going extinct (at least in our lifetime, anyway). They'll end up migrating south and probably breeding with other bear species. Not sure what's worse - polar bears migrating south or the new crop of mutant polar bear hybrids...