Coral beaching returns to Belizean waters

We last saw it in 1995 when a record summer heat wave was responsible for the phenomenon known as coral bleaching. Now, according to reports received by the Fisheries Department, the same symptoms seem to be coming back in the wake of the current high temperatures in Belize. Coral bleaching is the term given to what happens when once colorful species of coral rapidly lose their pigmentation and turn a ghostly white. Fisheries researchers emphasize that they are in the process of gathering precise data on the extent of the outbreak, but initial reports indicate that the problem may well be as widespread as the 1995 epidemic. It is estimated that between sixty and eighty percent of affected corals eventually recover their color.