Diving Sites In Thailand To Be Closed For A Month

[Deeral]

I have been reading all the posts on this subject an yet I am astounded that despite all the opinions, and that's all they are, no-one has given the real cause of coral bleaching.

The primary cause of coral bleaching is high water temperature. Temperature increases of only 1.5–2°C lasting for six to eight weeks are enough to trigger bleaching. When high temperatures persist for more than eight weeks, corals begin to die. Many other stressors can also cause bleaching including sedimentation, pollutants and changes in salinity. These stressors usually operate at local scales. Elevated water temperature is of greater concern as it can affect reefs at regional to global scales. When bleaching occurs at these large spatial scales, it is a mass bleaching event.

This information is from the University of Queensland, marine sciences, which is monitoring coral bleaching events on the Great Barrier Reef.

Therefore, it is obvious that the banning of diving on the reefs is not going to cause the sea temperature to drop down to pre-bleaching levels.

It is a gobal phenomenom that is being attributed to the global waring trend.

But I and others have said this already

[webfact]

Thailand closes dive spots due to reef damage

BANGKOK, January 21, 2011 (AFP) - Thailand has closed a host of popular dive sites to tourists indefinitely to allow coral reefs to recover from widespread bleaching caused by warmer sea temperatures, authorities said Friday.

In total 18 areas in seven marine parks are off-limits, according to an order by the Thai National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department.

"Diving in all the spots is to be halted indefinitely until the reef has fully recovered," said department official Songtham Suksawang.

The ban, effective in seven of 26 marine parks, mainly covers sites in the Andaman Sea on the west coast. It also applies to snorkelling.

Songtham said the authorities would limit the number of people visiting certain other reefs at the same time.

Coral on Thailand's east and west coasts is thought to have been damaged by last year's unusually high sea temperatures caused by El Nino, as well as excessive human activity near the reefs, a statement by the department said.

The ban was imposed in certain areas that "have widespread bleaching of more than 80 percent to allow the reef to rehabilitate", it added.

Sea temperatures were said to be around two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than normal in the affected regions.

A study by Australia's Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies in October said reefs in Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean were dying from the worst bleaching in over a decade after sea temperatures across the region rose in May 2010.

Bleaching is caused by the warm water sweeping over the reefs, shocking the corals and causing them to shed the algae that nourish them. If corals fail to regain their algae, they starve to death.

Scientists say corals are vital to marine life because they provide habitats for a vast variety of creatures and absorb large levels of poisonous carbon dioxide.

Reefs are also a big draw for tourists looking to explore the wealth of underwater life.

Thailand is a popular destination for divers, with many resort islands offering excursions to the reefs strung along the country's more than 3,000 kilometres (1,900 miles) of coastline.

The ban affects certain areas in the popular national parks of Similan and Phi Phi, as well as sites in Tarutao, Chao Mai, Chumphon, Phetra and most of Surin.

Penalties for non-compliance will run to fines and jail sentences and authorities have also vowed to step up patrols to stop illegal fishing.

Anchoring sites at spots not affected by the closures would also be increased to reduce damage done by boats to reefs.

Authorities said the coral bleaching will be closely monitored while the ban is in place.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2011-01-21

[spidermike007]

This ban will last 30 days. They imposed a ban on fishing in the gulf, and guess how long that lasted. Where is the enforcement agency that is going to police these dive operators? And I agree with some of the other posts that diving does not affect the reefs too much. I would guess the garbage, and oil from fishing boats has a far greater impact. The enforcement agencies and the police here are an embarrassment to the country. Nearly completely impotent.

[Jimi007]

Here we go:

Bleaching is caused by increased temperatures. Fact. MANY studies have confirmed this, and it's a worldwide problem.

Increased temperatures is caused by EITHER human-caused climate change OR natural warming and cooling cycles, not divers.

People care about reefs only when they can ENJOY them (i.e. dive them, fish them, or make money from divers).

The best way to get people to forget about protecting the reefs is to not allow them to enjoy the reefs. It actually makes sense to encourage people to see the reefs, and the damage they have suffered. I also agree that banning dive boats is a great way to decrease surveillance of the reef, therefore letting illegal fishing increase.

It's time that we realize that climate change is happening, it's not going to stop (humans aren't about to change their consumption patterns), and we need to help our world (including the reefs) adapt. My idea: make artificial reefs in areas of slightly cooler waters, seed them with corals, and help them make a "fast-forward" migration.

The Similans and Phi Phi drive areas are closed most of the year as it is. They just opened them again in November. It will be at least 10 years for the reefs to recover, if we don't get another El Nino, which caused the warm water and bleaching. We are in a La Nina pattern now... It's not the first time coral bleaching has happened and it won't be the last.

[snorkelador]

Closing off badly effected reefs would no doubt help them recover, but only if they were not just closed for recreational purposes. Questions is who would be able to ensure the greatest damage to the reefs, except bleaching caused by high water temperatures, would be kept at bay? Probably not the marine park rangers, if back handers is one of their only incomes. So called marine park fees usually go to the HQ and get distributed around there. So with no one to trust with keeping the illegal and highly destructive fishing activities at bay, it would probably be best to allow diving boats to come to the areas.

Boats entering the marine parks really need to be improved big time, which is a topic the boat operators do not want to hear. Septic tanks, garbage disposal, fixing oil leaks, etc. would come to mind.

A good question is also what to do with the waste water once the septic tanks are full? How come there is no wastewater management implemented on island number 4, run by the marine park. You would think that the money collected from visitors would be used to manage the marine park's resources, dispose of garbage and deal with wastewater in en eco-friendly manner and ensure the reefs are not damaged any further, but this seems to be quite far from the truth. The whole operation appears to be seen as a money making machine by the guys in charge of it.

[sirchai]

Since diving does not cause coral bleaching, this is basically a useless move. Still no word on the fishing boats, I suppose?

"We will give the coral reefs time to recover naturally,"

\

Guess it' will take much more time to recover.....:jap:

[FarangBuddha]

You would think that the money collected from visitors would be used to manage the marine park's resources, dispose of garbage and deal with wastewater in en eco-friendly manner and ensure the reefs are not damaged any further...

:cheesy:

[Xonax]

Pollution in Thailand is rapidly growing everywhere. Not at least in the beach towns and oceans nearby, due to dumping of waste, chemicals and unfiltered waste water directly in the sea, not to mention the damage from the heavy use of fertilizer in the farming industry, which via the rivers are washed directly out in the sea. I have no doubt, that the heavy flooding in Thailand this year, is the main reason to the coral bleaching.

[Deeral]

Unfortunately bleaching "this year" is not the issue - it's not a short term issue, it's LONG TERM

bleaching and other damage has been occurring for over a decade. (The govt received a report on this in the 90s)Some of the things you mention may well be a contributing factor though.you might also want to include fish farming - especially shrimp farms and te destruction of 50% of the mangroves in your list.

..

Those who try and simplify the issue down to one simple cause and effect is both ludicrous and dangerous as any resulting action will be based on mis-information and therefore most likely ineffective.

Edited January 21, 2011 by Deeral

[Jimi007]

Pollution in Thailand is rapidly growing everywhere. Not at least in the beach towns and oceans nearby, due to dumping of waste, chemicals and unfiltered waste water directly in the sea, not to mention the damage from the heavy use of fertilizer in the farming industry, which via the rivers are washed directly out in the sea. I have no doubt, that the heavy flooding in Thailand this year, is the main reason to the coral bleaching.

You had better do a bit more reading. The current and past coral bleaching is due to high sea temperatures that happened in May and June this year. The sea temperature was up to 33ºC. A change of 1 degree can cause bleaching. It is very wide spread throughout the region; from the Maldives to Indonesia and beyond and was due to El Nino...See article here:

The heat bleaches coral off islands on both sides of Thailand

By The Nation

Up to half of the coral reefs off Surin Islands is now bleached due to the high temperature of the seawater, the Department of Natural Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation said yesterday.

About 70 per cent of the corals in diving areas in Phang Nga and Phuket provinces are now bleached, directorgeneral Jatuphorn Burusphat said, adding that diving would be temporarily prohibited in affected areas pending official announcement.

About 25 per cent of the corals near Similan Islands and 30 to 50 per cent in the North and South Surin Islands are bleached.

Wannakiat Thabthimsaeng, a senior Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) scientist, said the coral bleaching began since early April when the temperature of seawater rose by 23 degrees Celsius. coral reefs about 20metres high have mostly died due to direct exposure to sunlight, while those growing in greater depth were being bleached.

The other areas where coral bleaching is reported are off the coasts of Trang, Krabi and Satun provinces, located on the Andaman Sea, as well as in Chumphon, which is on the Gulf of Thailand.

Coral bleaching occurred in a large scale during 1991 and 1995, effects of which have lasted to this day. bleaching also occurred in 2004, but the coral reportedly fully recovered once temperatures returned to normal due to a southwest monsoon, Niphon Phongsuwan, another DMCR scientist, said.

"If there is no seasonal southwest monsoon this year, the coral bleaching will only expand," he added.

Edited January 21, 2011 by Jimi007

[Beetlejuice]

Closed for a month.

This is great news, it means Thailand’s natural sea environment is saved. Yippee.

Homo sapiens are the worst thing that ever happened to this planet. Our world is a paradise if only people would realise that and have more respect for nature.

[Deeral]

Pollution in Thailand is rapidly growing everywhere. Not at least in the beach towns and oceans nearby, due to dumping of waste, chemicals and unfiltered waste water directly in the sea, not to mention the damage from the heavy use of fertilizer in the farming industry, which via the rivers are washed directly out in the sea. I have no doubt, that the heavy flooding in Thailand this year, is the main reason to the coral bleaching.

You had better do a bit more reading. The current and past coral bleaching is due to high sea temperatures that happened in May and June this year. The sea temperature was up to 33ºC. A change of 1 degree can cause bleaching. It is very wide spread throughout the region; from the Maldives to Indonesia and beyond and was due to El Nino...

Sadly as with most of your posts you are either incorrect or partially incorrect.

warm water is not the only cause of bleaching - they have been progressively weakened for years and therefore are more susceptible to other stresses of which warm water is one.

Again no "report" in fact says what you imply and you are misreading it, if you've read any. I think you are relying on a journalist's interpretation of a scientific document...or even more an interpretation of a government interpretation of the original report.

I also think that most posters don't actually understand what coral bleaching is.

many clearly are confused and think it is something to do with bleach used for lobster fishing - which of course would cause coral bleaching but is not the same thing.The Thai govt will probably do this to which will again pt the corals in danger.

Bleaching is caused by the release of algae by the corals - they do this naturally in many circumstances but if stressed they release too many resulting in "bleaching"

Edited January 21, 2011 by Deeral

[Deeral]

Closed for a month.

This is great news, it means Thailand's natural sea environment is saved. Yippee.

Homo sapiens are the worst thing that ever happened to this planet. Our world is a paradise if only people would realise that and have more respect for nature.

I don't want to burst your bubble but it is just as likely to make things WORSE - for the reasons I laid out above

[softgeorge]

I am justing waiting to see the new linked thread on this titled "Dive operators refuse to refund Money." Just wonder how many people from around the globe have already booked and paid for thier diving holidays.

[Jimi007]

Pollution in Thailand is rapidly growing everywhere. Not at least in the beach towns and oceans nearby, due to dumping of waste, chemicals and unfiltered waste water directly in the sea, not to mention the damage from the heavy use of fertilizer in the farming industry, which via the rivers are washed directly out in the sea. I have no doubt, that the heavy flooding in Thailand this year, is the main reason to the coral bleaching.

You had better do a bit more reading. The current and past coral bleaching is due to high sea temperatures that happened in May and June this year. The sea temperature was up to 33ºC. A change of 1 degree can cause bleaching. It is very wide spread throughout the region; from the Maldives to Indonesia and beyond and was due to El Nino...

Sadly as with most of your posts you are either incorrect or partially incorrect.

warm water is not the only cause of bleaching - they have been progressively weakened for years and therefore are more susceptible to other stresses of which warm water is one.

Again no "report" in fact says what you imply and you are misreading it, if you've read any. I think you are relying on a journalist's interpretation of a scientific document...or even more an interpretation of a government interpretation of the original report.

I also think that most posters don't actually understand what coral bleaching is.

many clearly are confused and think it is something to do with bleach used for lobster fishing - which of course would cause coral bleaching but is not the same thing.The Thai govt will probably do this to which will again pt the corals in danger.

Bleaching is caused by the release of algae by the corals - they do this naturally in many circumstances but if stressed they release too many resulting in "bleaching"

Hum, you must be correct, as usual. I was just trying to make the point it happened quite a while ago (8 months) and it was a dated article. But warm water is the main cause. See link: Australian Government Just a simple reference. There are many more I have read in the past while it was happening and the history of coral bleaching... But I don't want to rehash something that has already been discussed in this Forum before.

[naiharn]

I posted this in a predecessor to this thread. Posting it again here as that thread was closed before I got an answer.

Prolific commentator Deeral, on 2011-01-20 12:49, said:

Crushdepth, on 2011-01-20 09:49, said

I am 'read up'. I have a degree in marine biology and about 2 years of sea time *in the water* working on reefs both in ecotourism and on the scientific side. I work for an organisation involved in aquatic resource management, and I dive recreationally.

So who is ignorant here? Why don't you go do a diving course and go see for yourself. Then come back and tell me who's wrong.

if only you knew

If only he knew what?

Your;'re claiming dubious qualifications and putting forward both false and misleading information - are you OK or some kind of Walter Mitty or Munchausen? - you seem to be self-delusory.

.I actually think you don't have a degree, because you talk such nonsense - I think you are one of those people who thinks they know everything but in reality understands nothing - some of your theories are so preposterous you'd be laughed out of class.

I'm not going to enter a "my daddies a policman" argument but suffice it to say your'e arguing with someone much better qualified then yourself!I think other posters should know you for a fraud though.

Deeral:

- do you have a degree in marine biology?

- do you have a degree in any form of biology?

- are you a qualified SCUBA diver?

- if so approximately how many hours underwater have you logged?

- how many hours of diving have you logged around the Similan Islands?

- On what basis do you say Crushdepth's qualifications are dubious? Do you dispute he has a degree, or do you think that is irrelevant?

are you OK or some kind of Walter Mitty or Munchausen? - you seem to be self-delusory.

You might want to desist from this type of childish abuse: far from advancing your argument, it just presents you as a foolish person who can only rant and rave when someone presents a convincing case they don't agree with.

[Joolz63]

Acording to a leading UK newspaper the ban is indefinite ?

Bad news all round as Thailand is suffering from a big drop in tourists as it is and this will only add to the problem. How long till it hits us here on the Gulf side ?

Link here

http://www.dailymail...oral-reefs.html

Where do you get your information?

I just flew out of Thailand and the Bangkok airport was packed with people coming and going...Immigration room was full...doesn't appear to be a drop in tourism.

Yeah true Airport packed, they are coming through Immigration and then going to Air asia and flying out to Destinations like Vietnam, Cambodia and Phillipines. The immigration figures put tourism up on the figures, but most people are high tailing it out of the country within a few hours. Not good and closing dive sites certainly wont help !

[H2oDunc]

Acording to a leading UK newspaper the ban is indefinite ?

Bad news all round as Thailand is suffering from a big drop in tourists as it is and this will only add to the problem. How long till it hits us here on the Gulf side ?

Link here

http://www.dailymail...oral-reefs.html

THailand is NOT suffering from a big drop in tourists - on the contrary, figures are up.

Try telling that crap to the business owners here on Samui More dive shops and bars have closed this year than in any year I can remember. The island is dead at the moment.

[H2oDunc]

AH, Now I get it ! DEERAL !Having read a bit more it seems we have the Stephen Hawkins of the marine biology world on our forum and one who also is an expert, and probably holds a degree in Thai tourism as well. And there was all the people on Samui thinking there were very few customers when all along our numbers are way up. Remind me to go sack all my staff at the dive shop and bar as they have been telling me lies !

Silly me

Edited January 21, 2011 by H2oDunc

[reason1]

The main point about some hard corals taking up to 10 years to reach reproduction state and "Bloom" seems to be missed by all here.

All human activity, diving too, damages reefs.

Pollution, natural events and warming causing algae and other harmful effects.

Best is leave well alone for a long time and sacrifice some areas but police the reserves to keep all from doing more damage.

[Shurup]

Deeral:

- do you have a degree in marine biology?

- do you have a degree in any form of biology?

- are you a qualified SCUBA diver?

- if so approximately how many hours underwater have you logged?

- how many hours of diving have you logged around the Similan Islands?

- On what basis do you say Crushdepth's qualifications are dubious? Do you dispute he has a degree, or do you think that is irrelevant?

are you OK or some kind of Walter Mitty or Munchausen? - you seem to be self-delusory.

You might want to desist from this type of childish abuse: far from advancing your argument, it just presents you as a foolish person who can only rant and rave when someone presents a convincing case they don't agree with.

After reading all his comments I can bet he is one of those academics that the Thai authorities consulted with.

[Firelily]

Does the partial closure of Surin islands mean that it is still possible to stay at the national park campsite and snorkel some of the reefs?

The national park reservation website accepts online reservations at the moment - not updated yet.

[Crushdepth]

I think I met one of said academics a few months ago, a guy from Prince of Songkla Uni working on some joint project with CSIRO (Australia). They were asking divers to fill in a survey form about possible reef management measures and what they thought of them (I met him in the dive shop after we got back).

Some of the options in the survey included closing areas affected by bleaching (which has now happened) and charging divers a 'resource management fee' for access to the marine park. I forget how much the fee was, but if was something like $30-50 if I remember rightly, quite substantial.

[Deeral]

AH, Now I get it ! DEERAL !Having read a bit more it seems we have the Stephen Hawkins of the marine biology world on our forum and one who also is an expert, and probably holds a degree in Thai tourism as well. And there was all the people on Samui thinking there were very few customers when all along our numbers are way up. Remind me to go sack all my staff at the dive shop and bar as they have been telling me lies !

Silly me

Yes - silly you - failed to do your research posted a load of rubbish and now trying to talk your way out of it by slagging off the correct answer.

15 million this year - a lot more than last.

just because the demographics have changed oyu jump to the wrong conclusion.

Posts like yours that make assumptions based on what? - the perspective of one person over a brief visit? - are misleading and wastteful. If you are going to engage in a conversation at least do a bit of research and get your facts right. I've said before that facts aren't everything you have to interpret them and put them into context.

you have failed to do any of this and consequently your contribution to the thread is worthless.

Edited January 21, 2011 by Deeral

[Deeral]

Pollution in Thailand is rapidly growing everywhere. Not at least in the beach towns and oceans nearby, due to dumping of waste, chemicals and unfiltered waste water directly in the sea, not to mention the damage from the heavy use of fertilizer in the farming industry, which via the rivers are washed directly out in the sea. I have no doubt, that the heavy flooding in Thailand this year, is the main reason to the coral bleaching.

You had better do a bit more reading. The current and past coral bleaching is due to high sea temperatures that happened in May and June this year. The sea temperature was up to 33ºC. A change of 1 degree can cause bleaching. It is very wide spread throughout the region; from the Maldives to Indonesia and beyond and was due to El Nino...

Sadly as with most of your posts you are either incorrect or partially incorrect.

warm water is not the only cause of bleaching - they have been progressively weakened for years and therefore are more susceptible to other stresses of which warm water is one.

Again no "report" in fact says what you imply and you are misreading it, if you've read any. I think you are relying on a journalist's interpretation of a scientific document...or even more an interpretation of a government interpretation of the original report.

I also think that most posters don't actually understand what coral bleaching is.

many clearly are confused and think it is something to do with bleach used for lobster fishing - which of course would cause coral bleaching but is not the same thing.The Thai govt will probably do this to which will again pt the corals in danger.

Bleaching is caused by the release of algae by the corals - they do this naturally in many circumstances but if stressed they release too many resulting in "bleaching"

Hum, you must be correct, as usual. I was just trying to make the point it happened quite a while ago (8 months) and it was a dated article. But warm water is the main cause. See link: Australian Government Just a simple reference. There are many more I have read in the past while it was happening and the history of coral bleaching... But I don't want to rehash something that has already been discussed in this Forum before.

Yes Jim I am.

now lets quote that article YOU have cited so EVERYONE can see how people are making statements on this thread that are totally without any research jumping to conclusions and consequently meaningless.

"The primary cause of coral bleaching is high water temperature. Temperature increases of only 1.5–2°C lasting for six to eight weeks are enough to trigger bleaching. When high temperatures persist for more than eight weeks, corals begin to die. Many other stressors can also cause bleaching including sedimentation, pollutants and changes in salinity. These stressors usually operate at local scales. Elevated water temperature is of greater concern as it can affect reefs at regional to global scales. When bleaching occurs at these large spatial scales, it is a mass bleaching event. "

Unless people really appreciate what is happening to tthe corals - they won't be able to formulate an action plan - the Thai authorities have not done so, and as shown by many of the posts on this thread, the general public does not grasp the whole picture. Jumping to the conclusion that water temp is the ONLY cause of bleaching is INCORRECT.

it therefore has to be established what the causes of the bleaching are - this as far as I can see has not been done - only guesses are being made, not just by posters on this thread, but also the Thai authorities.

Edited January 21, 2011 by Deeral

[AleG]

Yes Jim I am.

now lets quote that article YOU have cited so EVERYONE can see how people are making statements on this thread that are totally without any research jumping to conclusions and consequently meaningless.

"The primary cause of coral bleaching is high water temperature. Temperature increases of only 1.5–2°C lasting for six to eight weeks are enough to trigger bleaching. When high temperatures persist for more than eight weeks, corals begin to die. Many other stressors can also cause bleaching including sedimentation, pollutants and changes in salinity. These stressors usually operate at local scales. Elevated water temperature is of greater concern as it can affect reefs at regional to global scales. When bleaching occurs at these large spatial scales, it is a mass bleaching event. "

Unless people really appreciate what is happening to tthe corals - they won't be able to formulate an action plan - the Thai authorities have not done so, and as shown by many of the posts on this thread, the general public does not grasp the whole picture. Jumping to the conclusion that water temp is the ONLY cause of bleaching is INCORRECT.

it therefore has to be established what the causes of the bleaching are - this as far as I can see has not been done - only guesses are being made, not just by posters on this thread, but also the Thai authorities.

While there are probably other factors at play, the mass bleaching in Thailand (and other areas in the region) was/is caused by unusually high water temperatures; coral starts bleaching at over 29/30 degrees, I've seen reports of temperatures going up to 33 or even more degrees in Thai waters. Even without any other contributing factors that is enough to cause wide spread bleaching.

I don't understand why you are so hell bent on downplaying the relevance of high sea temperatures in this instance.

[Deeral]

Yes Jim I am.

now lets quote that article YOU have cited so EVERYONE can see how people are making statements on this thread that are totally without any research jumping to conclusions and consequently meaningless.

"The primary cause of coral bleaching is high water temperature. Temperature increases of only 1.5–2°C lasting for six to eight weeks are enough to trigger bleaching. When high temperatures persist for more than eight weeks, corals begin to die. Many other stressors can also cause bleaching including sedimentation, pollutants and changes in salinity. These stressors usually operate at local scales. Elevated water temperature is of greater concern as it can affect reefs at regional to global scales. When bleaching occurs at these large spatial scales, it is a mass bleaching event. "

Unless people really appreciate what is happening to tthe corals - they won't be able to formulate an action plan - the Thai authorities have not done so, and as shown by many of the posts on this thread, the general public does not grasp the whole picture. Jumping to the conclusion that water temp is the ONLY cause of bleaching is INCORRECT.

it therefore has to be established what the causes of the bleaching are - this as far as I can see has not been done - only guesses are being made, not just by posters on this thread, but also the Thai authorities.

While there are probably other factors at play, the mass bleaching in Thailand (and other areas in the region) was/is caused by unusually high water temperatures; coral starts bleaching at over 29/30 degrees, I've seen reports of temperatures going up to 33 or even more degrees in Thai waters. Even without any other contributing factors that is enough to cause wide spread bleaching.

I don't understand why you are so hell bent on downplaying the relevance of high sea temperatures in this instance.

I'm not Perhaps you might do what I suggest and read up before you make any baseless remarks

PS - I take it then you have the last decade's water temperatures there and have worked out the deviation from the acceptable norm on those sites?

Edited January 21, 2011 by Deeral

[Deeral]

The main point about some hard corals taking up to 10 years to reach reproduction state and "Bloom" seems to be missed by all here.

All human activity, diving too, damages reefs.

Pollution, natural events and warming causing algae and other harmful effects.

Best is leave well alone for a long time and sacrifice some areas but police the reserves to keep all from doing more damage.

As most reefs are considered to be one living organism - how do you propose to cut them up into bits that will or won't be sacrificed.What interest will touoists have in viewing a sacrificed, dead reef?

[Crushdepth]

The primary cause of coral bleaching is high water temperature.

Is demonstrably true. Note the word 'primary' here, as in 'main cause'. This is a well-researched subject.

Jumping to the conclusion that water temp is the ONLY cause of bleaching is INCORRECT.

I don't see anyone disagreeing with this. The point is that high temperatures are the *primary* cause.

it therefore has to be established what the causes of the bleaching are - this as far as I can see has not been done

See the first quote about the 'primary' cause. Last year's bleaching event was associated with a delayed monsoon and extended peak water temperatures (we discussed it in the diving forum at the time). The Gulf and Andaman Sea all bleached at about the same time. Bleaching on such a wide spatial scale tends to rule out local factors.

Edited to add:

As most reefs are considered to be one living organism

Not by anyone I know.

Edited January 21, 2011 by Crushdepth

[Deeral]

"Sea temperatures being higher than normal for an extended period of time and you have a mass bleaching," - really and would you care to cite your source for that re- the Similans?