Coral bleaching in the Andaman Sea: Rains come to coral's rescue

Bangkok Post 9 Jun 10;

Coral bleaching in the Andaman Sea is expected to ease with the arrival of the rainy season, officials say.

Wannakiat Thubthimsaeng, director of the Phuket Marine Biological Centre (PMBC), said the average sea temperature in the Andaman Sea had fallen because of the influence of the southwestern monsoon that brings cooler water from the Gulf of Bengal.

The decreasing sea temperature would ease the coral bleaching in the area, he said. Coral normally lives at temperatures of between 28C and 29C.

Severe bleaching in the Andaman began to be noticed early last month when temperatures jumped as high as 31C.

Coral reefs in the Andaman Sea off Phangnga, Krabi and Phuket, including popular diving sites such as the Similan, Phi Phi and Surin islands, have been damaged by the phenomenon.

Between 50% and 90% of coral reef inside the marine national parks boundary has been bleached.

The affected national parks include Had Chao Mai and Mu Koh Lanta in Trang province and Petra and Tarutao in Satun.

"Forty percent of coral reef in the affected area has already died," Mr Wannakiat said.

"But it doesn't mean that we will lose the coral reef forever. If the ecological system returns to normal, there is a high chance it will recover."

In a bid to allow the bleached coral to recover, the PMBC has asked for the cooperation of diving operators to avoid organising trips to the affected sites to reduce disturbance to marine life.

"We do not worry much about coral reef inside marine national parks because the parks will be closed during the monsoon season, but coral reefs outside the protected area are prone to human disturbance," he said.

If the bleaching was not too severe, the coral would take at least four months to recover, but in serious cases, it might take up to five years, he said.

A PMBC survey found coral species hardest hit were staghorn, mountain, mushroom, boomerang, ring, fine spined and cauliflower corals.