Lakshadweep coral reefs facing the heat

Researchers from the Nature Conservation Foundation’s (NCF) oceans and coastal team at Lakshadweep archipelagos made a startling discovery this month about the ill effects of rising sea surface temperature on the marine biology of the serene coral reefs. As the increasing temperature has already crossed the usual threshold by several degrees resulting into bleaching of lagoon sites, corals have already started dying.

Experts confirmed that scores of triggerfish, snappers, groupers and several other species of fishes are either floating dead on the surface of the water, drifting close to the shore or, in some instances, dead on the reef due to elevated temperatures. The discovery has proved how 2016, noted as one of the hottest years in the history of mankind, is already turning out to be a bad one for coral reefs around the world.

Research biologists, in a report, mentioned that extensive aerial surveys conducted across the length of Great Barrier Reef, point out how more than 90 per cent of the reefs have displayed signs of bleaching. However, the NCF study of Lakhsadweep Reefs shows how the current system is also weakening across the Indo-Pacific, giving signs of how 2016 is slated to leave a long lasting footprint on marine biology.

Experts confirmed that though the reefs have been hit in the past with El Niño events, in 1998 and 2010 the Lakshadweep reefs had showed a tendency to recover after the former one. However, effects of the 2010 one have left a lasting impact on the reefs.

NCF divers have noted the increase in temperatures in the first few meters of the reef were as high as 35 degree Celsius, which is highest the divers have ever noted in the waters over past two years. The change in temperature, as experts mentioned is causing hypoxia for most of the fish, affecting their respiration system. Triggerfish, snappers, groupers and several other species of the fish are largely affected due to the impact.

At the same time, corals of the surveyed reefs have started paling as the sign of full scale bleaching. Early data from April has shown worrying figures of how lagoon sites are pallid and bleached and corals have started dying due to heat stress.

Moreover, while the teams of NCF will return soon after conducting more surveys in the reefs, experts said that it’s still uncertain about how much of this bleached coral dies. Once the monsoon hits, the teams will get back in the water only later to check the total impact of the bleaching.