Coral bleaching reaches alert level four around Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico is in a level four coral bleaching alert due to the continuation of the maritime heat wave suffered by the waters surrounding the archipelago.

According to information on the Coral Reef Watch page, A level four alert means that there is a severe risk or over 50% mortality of multiple coral species in the identified area.

According to the map shared by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), The most affected area is the south of the island while the waters to the north are on alert level three.

Coral bleaching is the moment of vulnerability that this organism reaches after the algae that cover it generate high levels of toxicity by not being able to process – through photosynthesis – the excess heat and sunlight they receive. As a natural mechanism against the toxic component, the corals expel the algae, which are what give them their color in stable conditions, and their skeleton is exposed, which is why they look white.

Since 2023, scientists have warned about the high level of heat in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean and its devastating effects on the coral reefs that surround Puerto Rico.

It should be noted that whitening is not synonymous with death. “The problem is that – if three, four or six weeks pass under these conditions – the coral, since its nutrition and oxygenation comes from algae, stops its growth, significantly decreases the ability to acquire nutrients and oxygenation, and that is when is affected,” explained marine biologist Edwin Hernández Delgado to this medium at that time.

An investigation that Estudios Técnicos conducted in 2007, at the request of the DRNA, showed that the reefs and associated natural environments provided an estimated value of $1,852 million annually for the east coast alone, a figure that would be multiplied if extrapolated to the entire archipelago. , including systems in the southwest, such as those found off the coasts of Guánica, La Parguera and Joyuda, in Cabo Rojo. The estimate made by Technical Studies – without taking into account factors such as inflation – is the equivalent of 15% of the budget that the central government has today.