Coral distress: Shocking photos show once brightly colored ocean organisms have been bleached WHITE by record water temperatures off Florida coast

A series of shocking photos from the Florida Keys have shown a coral reef bleached completely white due to record temperatures, with scientists concerned about its future sustainability.

The photos were taken by divers from NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic & Meteorological Lab around the Cheeca Rocks reef, just east of the Florida Keys.

The corals, which are meant to burst with color, appear white and sickly early in the summer season, during which Earth’s oceans have experienced record temperatures.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” says Ian Enochs, the chief ecologist of NOAA’s AOML Coral Program.

“The corals at our primary climate monitoring site, Cheeca Rocks, are completely bleached. No coral is left untouched. It’s shocking.’

The corals, which are meant to burst with color, appear as white as a volleyball early in the summer season, during which Earth’s oceans have experienced record temperatures

The lack of color is due to heat stress and is no surprise given that the Sunshine State has seen temperatures three to five degrees above normal, according to the Washington Post.

When the ocean gets too warm, algae produce toxins that experts say should be expelled by coral.

That heat stress occurs when the water reaches 88 degrees, but with the heat wave particularly extreme this summer, some temperatures were in the 90s.

That heat dome in Florida has caused underwater temperatures of 92 to 96 degrees in the Keys.

The NOAAs Coral reef watch has set itself to ‘Alert Level 1’, the second highest it can be.

“I’m worried because it’s so early in the season and they could stay stressed for a while,” Enochs said.

Bleaching was expected due to the El Nino weather system, but this goes beyond what biologists predicted.

The photos were taken by divers from NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic & Meteorological Lab around the Cheeca Rocks reef, just east of the Florida Keys.

When the ocean gets too warm, algae produce toxins that experts say should be expelled by coral

That heat stress occurs when the water reaches 88 degrees, but with the heat wave particularly extreme this summer, some temperatures were in the 90s

The lack of color is due to heat stress and is no surprise as the Sunshine State has seen temperatures three to five degrees above normal

“This is more whitening than I’ve seen, sooner than I’ve ever seen,” Enochs added.

“We have another warm South Florida summer ahead of us, which means more stressful conditions.”

The coral in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico can go through rough times well into October.

Enochs noted that bleaching doesn’t always kill the corals, which can recover as temperatures cool.

That would allow the algae population to replenish and restore the coral to full health.

With August, as usual, the hottest month of the year for Floridians, it will be a tough time for the coral until then.

The summer of 2023 adds more troubling records to the history books, with the world’s oceans reaching their highest ever recorded temperature, scientists have revealed.

The coral in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico can go through rough times well into October

Experts noted that bleaching doesn’t always kill the corals, which can recover once temperatures cool

With August, as usual, the warmest month of the year for Floridians, it will be a tough time for the coral until then

Data from the EU’s Copernicus program shows average sea temperatures this week reached 20.5°C, beating the record high of 20°C set in March 2016.

Average sea temperatures have risen steadily since the 1970s, the data shows, as greenhouse gases trap more heat and make the water feel “like a bath,” according to one expert.

Global air surface temperatures for July 2023 were also expected to be the warmest month on record.

The new data tracks the hottest June on record and extreme weather events, including heat waves in Europe, North America and Asia and wildfires in Canada and Greece.