Scientists have discovered the deepest known evidence of coral reef bleaching, more than 90 metres below the surface of the Indian Ocean. Identified during a research cruise, the damage to the deeper reefs in the Central Indian Ocean has been attributed to significant changes in the region's ocean temperature caused by the Indian Ocean Dipole.
The researchers have also warned such incidences are only likely to increase as a result of present and future climate change.Scientists have discovered the deepest known evidence of coral reef bleaching, more than 90 metres below the surface of the Indian Ocean.
Researchers from the University have been studying the Central Indian Ocean for well over a decade, with their work supported by the Garfield Weston Foundation and the Bertarelli Foundation. Over the subsequent months, the researchers assessed a range of other data collected during the research cruise and information from satellites monitoring the ocean conditions and temperatures.
Dr Nicola Foster, Lecturer in Marine Biology and study co-author, added:"Our results demonstrate the vulnerability of mesophotic coral ecosystems to thermal stress and provide new evidence of the impact that climate change is having on every part of our ocean. Increased bleaching of mesophotic corals will ultimately lead to coral mortality and a reduction in the structural complexity of these reefs.
However, this research highlights that may not be the case - and with deep water corals all over the planet remaining largely understudied, similarly damaging incidences of bleaching could be going unnoticed.
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