Increasing sea surface temperature (SST) and its consequences
on marine ecosystems are widely discussed.
Andaman Sea witnessed a few bleaching events during
1998, 2002 and 2005. The present study was taken up
to assess the extent of bleaching during 2010 in
selected reef sites in the Andaman through line intercept
transect survey. It was found that the fully
bleached corals as a percentage of total coral cover
were maximum at Havelock Island (69.49), followed
by South Button Island (67.28), Nicolson Island
(56.45), Red Skin Island (43.39), North Bay (41.65)
and Chidiyatapu (36.54). Branching corals were the
worst affected, whereas the massive corals were found
to have relatively withstood the elevated SST. The
status of reefs and the variability in bleaching with the
progression of SST with respect to different coral species
are discussed
