Scientists see bleached coral in northwest Hawai‘i

This 2014 photo provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology shows bleached coral at Lisianski Island in the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. The pale coral is bleached due to thermal stress, while the lavender-colored coral is healthy. (Image courtesy of AP/NOAA and the Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology, Courtney Couch.

Warm ocean temperatures have caused large expanses of coral to bleach in the pristine reefs northwest of Hawai‘i’s main islands, scientists said recently. Mass bleaching has occurred at Lisianski atoll, about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) northwest of Honolulu, said Courtney Couch, a post-doctoral researcher at the Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB). Coral also bleached at Midway, Pearl and Hermes atolls, but not as severely. Couch called the situation “dire,” particularly for Lisianski. In one shallow part of the reef, 90 percent of the coral was bleached, she said; an average of 35 percent of the coral sites observed at the atoll had bleached.

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