Source: The Jakarta Globe
October 19, 2010

Sydney, Australia - Coral reefs in Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean are dying from the worst bleaching effect in more than a decade, Australian marine scientists said on Tuesday.

The bleaching, triggered by a large pool of warm water which swept into the Indian Ocean in May, has caused corals from Indonesia to the Seychelles to whiten and die, Australia's Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies said.

Reefs in the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore were also affected by the phenomenon, where sea temperatures rose by several degrees Celsius in Indonesia, researcher Andrew Baird said.

"It is certainly the worst coral die-off we have seen since 1998. It may prove to be the worst such event known to science," he said.

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