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Kuwait's coral reefs recovering |
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Sunday, 01 May 2011 08:10 |
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KUWAIT: During their latest inspections of the area of coral reefs in the waters to the south of Um Al-Maradem Island, members of the Kuwait Dive Team (KDT)
found that the reefs there have recovered fully from the coral bleaching detected there previously.
In a press release issued yesterday, KDT project supervisor Mahmoud Ashkenani revealed that whilst some areas of coral reef in Kuwait's waters are still affected by the phenomenon, which can be deadly for the reefs and the surrounding marine wildlife, inspections by members of the team in the past month showed that there are definite signs of recovery, despite the extreme conditions which the reefs have been subjected to.
Ashkenani further revealed that during their latest inspections of the reef sites, the members of the team, which is affiliated to the Environmental Voluntary Foundation, found that the reefs south of Al-Maradem, 23 kilometers east of Khairan, are now fully free of bleaching, with only 13 percent of the coral reefs in Kuwait's waters now affected by the phenomenon. Overall, 69 percent of all Kuwait's coral reefs are now healthy and free of the bleaching effect.
Coral bleaching occurs when the zooxanthellae symbiotic protozoa, the single cell organisms that give the coral reefs their color and nourishment via photosynthesis, die out due to a variety of conditions including marine pollution and high water temperatures. - Kuwait Times
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