UM professor says marine life threatened by rising water temperatures
VIRGINIA KEY - A University of Miami Professor who has studied the coral reef system for nearly 30 years says it is being threatened by the rising water temperatures and that could jeopardize marine life.
He said it is the worst situation for corals that he has seen since 2005.
Coastal waters have reached temperatures of at least 95 degrees because of the latest heat wave at a time of year when authorities say the water is normally in the high 80s.
CBS News Miami's Peter D'Oench spoke with Dr. Andrew Baker, a professor of Marine Biology and Ecology at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric and Marine Science on Virginia Key.
Baker for nearly three decades has studied the impact of heat on corals and took us inside his laboratory at the Rosenstiel school where he has 6 different types of species of corals.
Baker said, "When we get heat waves like this one, there are periods of stress where the corals can turn white in a process known as coral bleaching. If they stay bleached for too long, we worry that sustained coral bleaching can have a catastrophic impact on Florida's coral reef."
He said, "The loss of corals means the loss of the organism of the coral reef system that we enjoy on our coastline that are home to lots of biodiversity and they also protect out coastline from the damaging effects of storms and flooding. So the loss of corals can mean the loss of the builders of our ecosystem and ultimately the loss of ecosystems and structures they build and that renders us vulnerable to wave impacts and also destroys our local economy because we depend on coral reef for all kinds of local fisheries and tourism is impacted as well."
Baker said, "Fish are impacted too because many of them depend on the large ecosystems for their life and a quarter to a third of all fish species depend on coral reef systems so they are critical for fish. Also, warm events can lead to periods of what we call anoxia where the ocean does not hold enough oxygen."
Baker said "The next month is going to be very critical in terms of whether this heave leads to severe bleaching or not. If the temperatures come down, this will alleviate the stress on corals."
On Virginia Key, swimmers said they could not believe how warm the water is.
Nadia Franco said, "I just came out of the water and it was extremely hot. Unbearably hot. I am extremely like saddened and disappointed and worried at the same time. This should not be happening to our world."
Robert Bernikoff said, "We just came out of the water and it was hot. It was very hot. It was almost like a Jacuzzi to be honest."e