{"id":2349,"date":"2024-02-27T15:20:47","date_gmt":"2024-02-27T15:20:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/versicolor.ca\/barbados\/?page_id=2349"},"modified":"2026-02-04T12:05:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T12:05:08","slug":"vauxhall-reef-environs-2024-effects-of-2023-warming-events-on-the-3-acroporoids","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/versicolor.ca\/barbados\/observations-ii\/vauxhall-reef-environs-2024\/vauxhall-reef-environs-2024-effects-of-2023-warming-events-on-the-3-acroporoids\/","title":{"rendered":"Effects of 2023 extreme warming events on the 3 Acroporoids"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAVIGATION
\nThis page is a sub-page of Vauxhall Reef & Environs 2024.<\/strong><\/a><\/small>
\nVauxhall Reef & Environs 2024<\/strong>\u00a0is a sub-page of ObsII<\/a> a top-level page on the website Barbados Fringing Reefs and Seagrass Beds<\/a> (www.versicolor.ca\/barbados).
\nGo to ObsII<\/a> to view a list of all pages and subpages under ObsII<\/small><\/p>\n

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Above: Healthy\u00a0A. palmata<\/em>\u00a0in the \u201cMother Colony\u201d on April 3, 2023. Below:\u00a0A palmata<\/em>\u00a0dead and covered with epiphytes<\/a> on Jan 12, 2024<\/p><\/div>\n

All 3 of the Caribbean Acroporoid corals<\/a> occur on Vauxhall Reef<\/a> – at least they did 2015 to 2023<\/a>!<\/p>\n

SCTLD (Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease) took off on Vauxhall Reef in early 2023<\/a> but, as elsewhere, it did not attack the Acroporoid corals.\u00a0\u00a0I visited Vauxhall Reef for the last time in 2023 on April 3. In the fall of 2023, the whole Caribbean area including Barbados experienced extreme warming events with widespread coral bleaching. Commented Tom Goreau on Oct 14, 2023:<\/p>\n

The entire world is suffering record high temperatures, and the Caribbean is in the forefront of global warming\u2026The most affected species are the elkhorn, staghorn, and fire corals that build the reef crest and beaches. The event is only starting: all corals are fully bleached from loss of internal algae caused by extreme high temperature. Most are bright white, but turning brown day by day as they die and are overgrown by bacteria.\u00a0<\/strong>Decades of progress regenerating corals have been wiped out.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Acropora prolifera<\/em>: 2023 Coral Bleaching Mortality at Vauxhall Reef apparently 100%<\/strong><\/p>\n

So it was with some trepidation that on my first day on the Vauxhall Reef in 2024, Jan 12, I headed directly for the\u00a0A. prolifera<\/em>\u00a0Mother Colony<\/a> to check it out.<\/p>\n

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Above: Healthy A prolifera<\/em> in the “Mother Colony” on April 3, 2023. Below A prolifera<\/em> dead and covered with algae on Jan 12, 2024<\/p><\/div>\n

My worst fear was confirmed: the entire\u00a0A. prolfera<\/em>\u00a0component\u00a0 was dead and already covered with\u00a0 fine algae.<\/p>\n

The sea conditions were rough on that day; on Jan 15,\u00a0 I checked out corals on a route from the beach, through the Reef Flat, Diploria-Palythoa, Reef Crest, Seaward Slope, & Reef Front zones: every colony of\u00a0A. prolifera<\/em>\u00a0(in the first 3 of those zones) was dead including 15 individual colonies in the Reef Flat Zone, 4 in the Diploria-Palythoa zone, and the \u201cmother Colony\u201d in the Reef Crest zone. All had the same drab appearance and were heavily overgrown with epiphytes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Over the course of my time in Barbados in 2023,\u00a0 I visited Vauxhall Reef 14 more times (16 in total) the last on Apr 6, 2024m and on most occasions swam over the reef flat, always on the lookout for any signs of new growth on the A. prolifera colonies. I saw none.<\/p>\n

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Closeup of A cervicornis<\/em> on A-frame showing mostly dead coral, one living small branch<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

Acropora cervicornis<\/em>: 2023 Coral Bleaching Mortality at Vauxhall Reef close to, but not 100%\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Also on Jan 15, 2024, all colonies of\u00a0A. cerviconis<\/em>\u00a0I observed in the Reef Front area<\/a> appeared completely dead. Hardly good news!<\/p>\n

Later, I observed a few living pieces of A. cervicornis<\/em> on transplanted specimens<\/a> that otherwise were completely dead.<\/p>\n

Acropora palmata<\/em>: 2023 Coral Bleaching Mortality at Vauxhall Reef and other MPA Fringing Reefs and Breakwaters was highly variable<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was only somewhat\u00a0 later that I was able to look for\u00a0A. palmata<\/em>\u00a0colonies which are not numerous at Vauxhall.<\/p>\n

In late January\/early February, 2024, I viewed\u00a0 and photographed three specimens on the Vauxhall Reef<\/a>, and 3 more on reefs or breakwaters just to north for which I also had photos from early 2023. The apparent, approx, mortality of these colonies in 2023 was 75%, 100% and 100% for the three Vauxhall specimens; on Mar 10, 2024 I observed a specimen in the Reef Crest, no evidence of coral bleaching.<\/p>\n

It was\u00a00% (no dieback) \u00a0for two specimens on Reef 32<\/a> (and a 3rd, small specimen viewed later, no earlier photo was also 0%; & Mar 9, 2024, a 4th specimen<\/a> entirely healthy); and 100% dieback for a specimen on a breakwater<\/a>.\u00a0 I viewed 3 other specimens on the breakwaters but had no corresponding photos from 2023; for these specimens, one small specimen\u00a0 was entirely healthy; and for two there appeared to have been about 20% die- back.<\/p>\n

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In Conclusion…<\/strong><\/p>\n

So overall, it appears that\u00a0A. palmata<\/em>\u00a0was much less affected or more variably affected by the extreme temperatures of 2023, than were\u00a0A. prolifera<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0A. cervicornis\u00a0<\/em>on Vauxhall Reef & Environs; the latter experienced, evidently,\u00a0 100% (A. prolifera)\u00a0<\/em>or close to 100% mortality (A. cervicornis)\u00a0<\/em>in 2023.<\/p>\n

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Some related pages on this website<\/strong><\/p>\n