The 1998 Bleaching Kills Two-Thirds of the Shallow Coral

1998

The 1997–98 El Niño, the strongest since 1950, drove mass bleaching across the Western Indian Ocean; at Aldabra coral mortality reached about 66% at 10 m depth and 38% at 20 m. Five years later, despite high recruitment, hard-coral cover still had not meaningfully recovered.