Record heat lethal to Florida's iconic coral reefs

Water temperatures off the coast of Florida are comparable to those in a hot tub right now, proving deadly for coral.

Transcript

00:00 Record ocean temperatures off the coast of South Florida are damaging the coral reef

00:04 and making some interesting vacation experiences for travelers.

00:07 Leslie Hudson has the story.

00:10 South Florida is baking on land.

00:14 Scruciating, very hot, hard to fish.

00:18 And under the sea, record heat is creating problems for the Sunshine State.

00:24 We're in the water as much as seemingly possible.

00:27 Florida closed out July as its hottest ever.

00:31 That record heat is warming the waters in South Florida.

00:36 Last week, a temperature sensor in the Keys hit 101 degrees, as hot as a hot tub.

00:44 That hot is lethal to Florida's coral reefs, a billion-dollar industry that supports jobs, tourism, and fisheries.

00:55 Dozens of reef propagators are moving their coral nurseries out of the hot water

01:00 and into triage facilities like the Keys Marine Lab, where the coral gets a chance to cool off.

01:07 So right now we're seeing water temperatures on a lot of the offshore nurseries

01:13 that are experiencing mortality events.

01:15 91, 92 degrees. I think some spots have even seen 93.

01:19 So this time of year, the water offshore should be between 84 to 86 degrees.

01:25 And so that is a huge, huge spike in temperature.

01:28 Here at the Keys Marine Lab, there's over 1,500 coral that they're trying to regenerate and get them healthy again.

01:35 Now what we've got going on here is what's called paling.

01:38 This large piece of coral, as you can see, has got some white, and it's not looking so great.

01:43 It will take weeks from now to know if the rescued coral will survive.

01:47 Reef conservationists say it will likely be months before the rescued coral can go back into the ocean.

01:54 For AccuWeather, I'm Leslie Hudson reporting.