I noticed that the water temp was quite warm last month. The ambient air temp was perhaps 33 or 34C and I suspect the water temp was about the same - 33C. As a learning opportunity, I had some communication with some reef specialists and learned that in some Pacific regions, there is transient bleaching during the summer which reversed during the "winter" months. Would the beaching I observed reverse?
I have followed the global warming discussions, but they did not touch me personally. Suddenly, with the potential demise of my weekends at Bintan Agro Beach - with snorkeling trips to White Sand and Mapur Islands - I was suddenly brought into actually feeling the potential distruction associated with global warming.
This trip, I packed an indoor/outdoor thermometer, my GPS and digital underwater camera (Olympus uTough 8000) as a portable laboratory. The ambient temperature was 32.4C and the water temp was 30.4C - 30.6C. I understand that anything > 29C is problematic, so at least this region is poised for bleaching activity.
Tables of Acropora
A small blenny, I think - to the left of the central coral structure
A small surprise. A new growth on the top of the Acropora cones
Giant tables of Acropora
Yu - an exchange student at NUS and spider enthusiast
To be identified?
More Acropora
More Acropora and some fish. The green Acropora is rather new
I believe the central region of the reddish Acropora is recovering from the bleaching episode
Looking across the table
Hungry reef fish
Soft coral that I've not identified
More detail
Another variety
Many fish
Many fish over old bleached / diseased coral
Soft coral and some bleached / recovering coral in the background
More recovering coral, I think
Another view
Interesting pattern of shades of green
Jolly green giant clam
Jolly blue giant clam
Another blue giant clam
Soft coral to be identified
A coral zoo - brain coral, acropora, and soft coral
Details of the soft coral
Details of a maze
More details
White something
Acropora and what I call table fish
Porites I think
Interesting patterns in Porites
Blue buds
Sabellastarte indica (feather duster) worm - extended
Sabellastarte indica worm - retracted
Blue Christmas tree worm
Closer view - more detail
Closed or contracted anemone Heteractis magnifica
A small clown fish
A hiding clown fish
Sleeping clown fish
The purple membrane of the anemone Heteractis magnifica - paying against the colors of the fish is just plain fun to watch (see video above)
Another view
The purple stalk of Heteractis magnifica and a family of happy clowns
Clowning around
More clowning around
Feather worm
A spider web?
On the edge
A little fish
Yu diving
Hmmm
Acropora
Yu reflections
More acropora
A coral garden
Hungry fish
More hungry fish
Soft intertwined coral
Staghorn coral
Baby clown and retracted anemone Heteractis magnifica (I think)
Inside the shell - a hiding hermit crab
A hermit walking
Footprints
The beach at Mapur Island
Yu and Gabe
C. Frank Starmer