We've been all through the Abacos, including some off-shore reefs, and have seen no evidence of bleaching. We know that several years ago, maybe 20, or so, the Bahamian government had really clamped down on using bleach for getting seafood. This is not to say that it isn't going on now to some degree, but no where near like it used to be. Rudy and Jill Treasure Cay, Abacos Briney Bug- a 34 foot sail-assisted trawler 850-832-7748

The current theory about bleaching is that the temperature in the oceans of the world has risen above what corals like to live in. I know everybody hates to hear my scientific explanation but here goes. Coral is a truly symbiotic organism which consists of an animal part, the zooid, and a weird tiny mobile algae called zooxanthilae. It is the latter which gives color to stony corals and many other reef organisms. The algae literally feeds the coral animal and in return gets a nice condo. When the temperature rises above a certain point usually around 90 degrees Fahrenheit then tiny mobile algae flees. The animal part of the coral then starves to death. But don't worry too much, coral is perhaps the most long-lived organisms on the planet with recognizable relatives which lived 200,000,000 years ago. PHD PhD On Mon, Jun 6, 2016 at 10:22 AM, Rudy and Jill <rudysechez@yahoo.com> wrote: > We've been all through the Abacos, including some off-shore reefs, and > have seen no evidence of bleaching. We know that several years ago, maybe > 20, or so, the Bahamian government had really clamped down on using bleach > for getting seafood. This is not to say that it isn't going on now to some > degree, but no where near like it used to be. > > Rudy and Jill > Treasure Cay, Abacos > Briney Bug- a 34 foot sail-assisted trawler > 850-832-7748 > >