FLORIDA’S SWELTERING SUMMER
Florida is always hot in the summer months, but beaches have always provided a dependable respite from the cooker, especially on the Atlantic coast. Going forward, gamefish in the shallow waters of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary might have to find their own summer refuge. ¶ On July 24, a temperature sensor in Manatee Bay, north of Key Largo, measured a reading of 101.1 degrees Fahrenheit. In fact, the days of July 23-25 all saw water temperatures reach nearly 100 degrees. The station, monitored and maintained by the National Park Service, is located at the northeast corner of Barnes Sound, east of US 1. ¶ “This data was consistent with high water temps seen across Florida Bay,” says Allyson Gantt, chief of communications and public affairs for the Everglades and Dry Tortugas national parks. “It was a few degrees higher than water temperatures at nearby stations, so we had no reason to doubt the measurement.” ¶ Sustained high temperatures have had detrimental impacts on marine plants, corals and animals. “High heat for long periods of time, combined with high salinities, can cause seagrass die-offs, which can lead to algal blooms and fish kills,” Gantt says. “For those fishing, high temperatures are not the best conditions. Much like humans when we are too hot, fish don’t eat much.” ¶ The scorching temperature was not a record for this station, Gantt confirms. The highest temperature recorded hit 102 degrees on August 15, 2017, with data available back to October 2004. During that same period in late July, Florida Keys corals also took a major blow from the scorching water temperatures. ¶ “On July 20, teams visited Sombrero Reef, a restoration site we’ve been working at for over a decade. What we found was unimaginable—100 percent coral mortality,” says Dr. Phanor Montoya-maya, restoration program manager at the Coral Restoration Foundation. “We also lost almost all the corals in the Looe Key Nursery in the lower Keys.” ¶ According to some estimates, Keys waters have lost up to 90 percent of their coral over the last 50 years. The foundation had to scramble to save other corals in the upper Keys, rescuing as many as it could from nurseries and relocating key genotypes to land-based holding systems, safeguarding the coral broodstock, says Montoya-maya. ¶ “This is not a partisan issue; everyone will be affected,” stresses Dr. R. Scott Winters, CEO of the Coral Restoration Foundation. “Our work is more relevant than ever. Hopefully, the dire situation we face will catalyze broader awareness and stimulate aggressive action to address climate change, triggering greater investment in the restoration and conservation of our planet’s life.”
Editor’s Note: At the time of this writing, late July had the hottest recorded water temperatures of the year in Florida.
“What we found was unimaginable—100 percent coral mortality. We also lost almost all the corals in the Looe Key Nursery in the lower Keys.”
—Dr. Phanor Montoya-maya