IMA: Coral Whitening Alert for TT

This country has been on coral bleaching alert since August 21, said the Institute of Maritime Affairs (IMA).

IMA said that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) coral reef monitoring has published coral bleaching prospects for the next four months (August-November) in the Caribbean region.

According to the MAI, according to the NOAA publication, the TT coral bleach stress meter is currently at the "surveillance level".

This means that the waters around Tobago are above the average Sea Surface Temperature (SST) for this time of year.

"The NOAA predicts that over the next five to eight weeks, Tobago and the rest of the Lesser Antilles will have a 60% chance of reaching the" whitening alert level one "(high risk of bleaching of corals).

"Prospects for the next 9 to 12 weeks indicate a 60% chance of reaching the" whitening alert level two "(widespread coral bleaching and coral mortality)," said Lt.-Mar. IMA.

In a statement released on Friday, IMA said over the next three months it is important for people using the waters around Tobago to be alert to changes that could be made to the reefs.

IMA explained that corals are able to build huge underwater structures because they form a special relationship with symbiotic algae that live inside their tissues. The algae proceed to photosynthesis using sunlight to produce enough energy to supply themselves and their coral host.

In return, coral is a safe haven for algae, stores essential nutrients and removes waste from them.

"When the corals are stressed, for example when the water temperature is too hot or too cold, the coral / algae relationship breaks down and the algae are expelled from the coral.

"This loss whitens the coral and is therefore called coral bleaching. The loss of algae means that corals lose their main source of food. and if the adverse conditions persist, the coral will die of hunger and eventually die. "

Over the past 40 years, coral reefs around the world have suffered from global and regional coral bleaching episodes, during which large parts of the reef became white when the summer sea temperature became too hot. because of global warming.

Coral reefs off Tobago have also suffered multiple episodes of bleaching in the past, particularly in 2005 and 2010, which has severely degraded reef health.