Taiwan Today 19 Oct 10;
Coral bleaching in waters off Kenting in southern Taiwan has gradually receded over the past two months, said Lin Ching, director of Kenting National Park Headquarters, Oct. 19.
“Real-time data collected by our monitoring stations shows that coral bleaching has subsided to about 5 percent of the surface area of the reefs,” Lin said.
According to the park administration, serious bleaching of coral reefs did occur in early August, covering about 10 to 15 percent of the coral surface and showing signs of expansion.
This was due to rising ocean temperatures between July and September, the administration said.
However, Lin explained, northeast monsoons and typhoons have lowered water temperatures to more seasonal levels recently, indirectly resulting in a gradual reduction in coral bleaching.
Compared with same periods in the past few years, the coral bleaching phenomenon has not worsened, nor improved, the administration said.
The monitoring stations recorded average water temperatures of between 27.1 degrees Celsius and 29.1 degrees Celsius off Kenting for July and August. With the change of seasons, average temperatures dropped to between 28.4 C and 27.7 C for the September and October period, according to the park administration. (SB)
