Coral Bleaching in Thailand: Coral bleaching around Phuket
Coral Bleaching
Coral bleaching in Thailand isn’t a new phenomenon but this year we’re seeing some of the most severe coral bleaching around Phuket for more than 20 years. For dive industry workers in Phuket it’s horrifying to see such a drastic change in the corals in such a short space of time. Since mid April the water temperature around Phuket has been fluctuating between 31 and 33 Celsius. On a daily basis divers notice more and more coral bleaching. The water is just far too warm.
Coral bleaching is the whitening of corals due to stress induced expulsion or death of algae like protozoa (zooxanthellae), which inhabit the structures. It’s these algae, which carry the pigment that gives corals its vibrant colors. Corals that form the massive reef ecosystems depend on these algae for their survival.
This video was taken on 11th May 2010 at Home Run Reef, Racha Yai.
Once bleaching begins it usually continues even if the stress is removed. If the coral manages to survive the rise in water temperature, zooxanthellae will often require months to recolonize the coral and return to normal density. The new residents may be of a different species and possibly more resilient against further stresses. The worst case scenario is that the corals will die and never be recolonized. This could leave reefs barren of both corals and marine life.
Let’s just hope the corals recover after the water temp drops. Can’t believe how bad it is. Thanks for the video.
Extreme coral bleaching in the last 4 weeks on paradise reef near Patong.
50 % of the reef is white sins our last dive 4 weeks ago, in that time everything was normal.
today 20-05 we where realy shocked to see the status of the reef
I just dived at Koh Doc Mai a few days ago and was surprised at how dull the colours looked compared to my last dive there in 2007. Back then I had rated it as equal first with Maya bay and was very impressed by the colours and range of small marine life around. This time there were hardly any little creatures around and the wall just looked dull. I was just so sad to see this and hope that there will be a recovery….
Hi Meg… Are you sure you didn’t dive the shady side of Koh Doc Mai or it was cloudy? I was just there yesterday and it was amazing. Great visibility and lots of color and marine life. It was better yesterday them last time i dived there two years ago strange no?
unfortunately, it’s not only the west coast of thailand that is experiencing this severe bleaching. the gulf of thailand dive sites are also showing extensive bleaching, and it’s getting worse by the week.
i also heard that the perenthian islands in malaysia are suffering….
suddenly i’m begining to appreciate those colder (25-26 degrees) dives through the monsoon season that we didn’t get this year….