21 September 2010

Coral bleaching in Singapore in the news

60% of Singapore corals were bleaching in mid-2010, but recently, there are signs of recovery, reported the Straits Times today.
Mass bleaching at Terumbu Bemban
Mass bleaching seen in June on a submerged reef off Pulau Semakau

As with bleaching elsewhere, bleaching in Singapore is mainly attributed to unusually high sea temperatures.

Sea temperatures were unusually high in Singapore during May and June, research scientists from the National University of Singapore (NUS) told The Straits Times, with daytime temperatures on coral reefs here rising to more than 31 deg C or 32 deg C - at least two degrees above normal.

Most corals around Singapore were in danger because of sediment released during land reclamation work, NUS Associate Professor Peter Todd was quoted as saying.

Full article also on wildsingapore news

Reports about bleaching in Singapore shared in blogs or on facebook are posted on the Bleach Watch Singapore facebook page. From these trips, many corals indeed are no longer bleaching. However, there seems to be fewer corals. So it may be that many corals did not survive the bleaching.

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