Ocean Temperatures Threaten to Eliminate Caribbean Coral

Ocean Temperatures Threaten , to Eliminate Caribbean Coral.

The Caribbean Sea is experiencing an episode of coral bleaching that may be the region's worst ever, scientists say.

Unusually warm waters are to blame, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The issue could cause a mass "die-off of corals in the area," NBC News reports.

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The current predicament follows one of the worst-ever bleaching events near Florida.

Florida is just the tip of the iceberg.

The entire Caribbean right now is bleaching.

, Derek Manzello, the coordinator of NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch Program, via statement.

If you picked a random spot on the map in the Caribbean and jumped in the water, you’re going to see bleached corals, Derek Manzello, the coordinator of NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch Program, via statement.

Phanor Montoya-Maya, a marine biologist at the Coral Restoration Foundation, .

Said that this year's heat waves were so intense that some corals didn't even have time to react.

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On those occasions where the temperature went up so quickly, they didn’t even have time to bleach.

They were burned to death, Phanor Montoya-Maya, a marine biologist at the Coral Restoration Foundation, via statement.

However, experts say that the issue in the Caribbean isn't as bad as the Florida area yet.

There’s not much worse than the death of these important species, but at the same time, I have been truly surprised that we have not seen more destruction as of yet, Ian Enochs, a research ecologist at NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, via statement.

There’s been a whole bunch of mortality and death, but we have seen some recovery as water temperatures have dropped down.

And that, to me, it means that in the face of all of this, there’s still hope, Ian Enochs, a research ecologist at NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, via statement