Date: Sat, 24 Oct 1998 14:08:23 -0700 (PDT)
From: tim Daw <tim_daw@yahoo.com>
Subject: Fwd: Bleaching in the SOUTHWEST RED SEA

---Marco Pedulli  wrote:

...concerning bleaching we too have, unfortunately, experienced such 
phenomenon on the corals around Massawa [Mitsiwa] recently. The 
water temperatures around the region of Massawa this past summer 
have been extremely on their high side (40 degree C). The increase in 
temperature is, therefore, most probably responsible for such bleaching. 
Moreover, the degree of bleaching varied in deep and shallow reefs.  
The latter, with high ambient temperature, were as a result affected more. 
 Now that the "hot season" is over most corals sprang back to attain their 
original state and have fully recovered while others have unfortunately 
suffered prolonged elevated temperatures and were overgrown by algae.  
Biologists have visited similar areas around the islands and around Assab 
[Aseb] but did not report bleaching at all. This showed that bleaching was 
localized and restricted to the Massawa Area (Massawa Proper and Green 
Island).
 
 -- 
 Marco Pedulli,  MSc                     
 Department of Marine Biology & Fisheries
 University of Asmara
 P.O. Box 1220
 Asmara,  Eritrea                                
 E-mail address:-  Marco@marine.uoa.edu.er