From Salon.com: Scientists are reporting an
unprecedented death of the coral reefs in the Caribbean, with over one-third of the coral in monitoring sites recently
dying. The reefs, which are the foundation of a multi-billion dollar tourism and commercial fishing industry in
the Caribbean (as key fish species use the reefs as feeding and nesting grounds), are not predicted to recover anytime
soon, since they only grow "the width of a dime" every year.
"It’s an unprecedented
die-off," said National Park Service fisheries biologist Jeff Miller. "These are corals that are the
foundation of the reef … We’re talking colonies that were here when Columbus came by have died in the past three to
four months."
This is horrible news — especially for all those vacationers who travel to the Caribbean
to dive. I live in the Caribbean, and while I haven’t been diving since we moved here a year ago, I’d heard
rumours that the reefs were actually making a comeback. My husband and I have planned a dive trip over the Easter
weekend — I’ll sure to check in and let you know what I find.