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Bleached coral

Bleached coral
Bleached coral
Bleached coral
Bleached coral
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143702
Kneeland, Jessie
Bleached coral
Still Image
05/20/2008
graphics/redsea_jesse/IMG_0317.JPG
Image of The Day caption:
Coral's colors come from symbiotic algae cells living inside individual corals, or polyps. This "bleached" coral has expelled much of its algae in response to the stress of unusually warm water, and the white skeleton shows through the transparent polyps. If high temperatures are short-lived, the coral will recover fully. A collaborative partnership with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia is giving WHOI researchers access to pristine coral reefs in the Red Sea, where they are studying the reef ecosystem.
2009 Calendar caption:
Coral's colors are from symbiotic algae cells living inside individual coral animals, or polyps. This "bleached" coral has expelled much of its algae in response to the stress of unusually warm water, and the white skeleton shows through the transparent polyps. Bleached corals are still alive and able to feed for weeks. If high temperatures are short-lived, algae will re-colonize the coral, and it will recover fully.
Caption from Oceanus magazine, vol. 49, no. 3, pg. 4:
Global-scale climate models predict that ocean temperatures will rise nearly 3°C (5.4°F) in the central tropical Pacific Ocean by the end of the century, wreaking havoc on coral reef ecosystems. Warmer waters often cause corals to bleach (right). They turn white because they lose the tiny colorful symbiotic algae that live in them and provide them with nutrition. But climate change could shift ocean currents in a surprising way that lessens the warming near the tiny Gilbert Islands right on the equator, say scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). As a result, these islands may become isolated refuges for corals and fish, according to research published in April 2012 in the journal Nature Climate Change.
Photo by Jessie Kneeland
© Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
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