Disir
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- Sep 30, 2011
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Ocean heatwaves cause vast coral bleaching events almost every year due to climate change, threatening reefs around the world. The high water temperatures stress reef building corals, causing them to eject the photosynthetic algae that reside in their tissue.
Losing these brownish-coloured plant cells lets the coral's white limestone skeleton shine through, turning reefs ghostly white.
But when some corals bleach, they undergo a mysterious transformation that has confounded scientists. Rather than turning white, these corals emit a range of different neon colours.
Colorful bleaching, as it's known, was covered in the documentary Chasing Coral, which showed a whole reef turning fluorescent. The underwater photographer who documented the event said:
www.sciencealert.com
That's a weird little process.
Losing these brownish-coloured plant cells lets the coral's white limestone skeleton shine through, turning reefs ghostly white.
But when some corals bleach, they undergo a mysterious transformation that has confounded scientists. Rather than turning white, these corals emit a range of different neon colours.
Colorful bleaching, as it's known, was covered in the documentary Chasing Coral, which showed a whole reef turning fluorescent. The underwater photographer who documented the event said:
This Eerie Neon Glow Coming From Bleached Coral Could Actually Be Good News
Ocean heatwaves cause vast coral bleaching events almost every year due to climate change, threatening reefs around the world.
www.sciencealert.com
That's a weird little process.
