Cold Temperatures Wiping Out Florida Coral

Unusually cold weather in the U.S. Southeast this month has caused a massive die-off of coral reefs, the Miami Herald is reporting.

“Scientists have only begun assessments, with dive teams looking for ‘bleaching’ that is a telltale indicator of temperature stress in sensitive corals, but initial reports are bleak,” reports the Herald.

“Star and brain corals, large species that can take hundreds of years to grow, were as white and lifeless as bones, frozen to death. There were also dead sea turtles, eels and parrotfish littering the bottom,” according to the Herald.

"Corals didn't even have a chance to bleach. They just went straight to dead," said Meaghan Johnson, marine science coordinator for The Nature Conservancy, who recently surveyed reefs in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. "It's really ecosystem-wide mortality."

Although it is only the beginning of February, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reports a record number of manatees have already been killed by cold temperatures this year. Already, 77 manatees have been killed by cold temperatures in 2010, easily surpassing the previous record of 56 set in 2009.

“Massive fish kills also have been reported across the state,” reports the Herald. “Carcasses of snook and tarpon are still floating up from a large fish kill across Florida Bay and the shallow waters of Everglades National Park.”