Cammy Clark
Source: The Miami Herald
March 10, 2010

Miami, FL - January's big chill led to widespread death of corals in many near shore and mid-channel reefs from Biscayne Bay to Summerland Key, but most of the popular offshore diving and fishing reefs in the Florida Keys were spared.

A survey conducted at 78 sites throughout the Florida Reef tract from Martin County to the Keys also found that corals fared well north of Miami and in the Lower Keys west to the Dry Tortugas.

Analysis of the data collected by 31 scientists from 13 organizations has not been completed to determine the amount of coral damage throughout the island chain. But James Byrne of The Nature Conservancy said it is more severe than the die-off from South Florida's last cold-water event in 1977 that killed hundreds of acres of staghorn and elkhorn coral.

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