Alert Diver Issue: Q1 2017

Differentiating Coral Bleaching and Coral Mortality

February 1, 2017  Sarah Egner

Corals bleach, or turn white, when their symbiotic algae are expelled from the corals’ tissues due to stressors such as excessively warm water. Bleached corals can and do recover when favorable conditions resume.

A stark white coral is nestled in a bed of other corals

Skin Bends in Cuba

February 1, 2017  Tricia Grimes

While diving in Cuba, a diver’s itchy rash didn’t seem immediately dire, but the condition quickly deteriorated. Seeking treatment was a complicated process, but the diagnosis was eventually skin bends.