Lingering Effects of the 1987 Mass Bleaching of Puerto Rican Coral Reefs in Mid to Late 1988

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Abstract
Puerto Rican coral reefs were surveyed with photo‐transects and remotely operated vehicle observations, and permanently tagged individual corals were monitored. Seven of eight photo‐transects examined between April and October 1988 had bleached or pale colonies of eight species of corals. Between 2.7 and 19% of the living coral surface area was affected on a transect. These observations indicate that additional bleaching occurred after the recovery of most photosymbiotic hosts in January 1988. This continued bleaching may represent the longest bleaching event ever recorded. Individual coral colonies that were bleached in October 1987 were permanently tagged and photo‐documented in the field. Recovery of some of these colonies took more than 5 months. Some previously living parts of these colonies died and were overgrown by algae by January 1988. Surveys by remotely operated vehicle during 10–13 February 1988 disclosed bleached colonies of Agaricia spp. toa depth of 60 m and unbleached colonies to a depth of 89 m.

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