Hot tub-level ocean water temperatures off the Florida Keys caused massive bleaching of the region’s coral reef network, the third largest in the world, worrying scientists that the ongoing heatwave could cause catastrophic damage to the fragile ecosystem, the Washington Post reports.
“This is definitely the worst bleaching event that Florida has ever seen,” said Andrew Baker, director of the University of Miami the Coral Reef Futures Lab, about the damage done to the 360-mile-long reef. “We knew something like this was going to happen at some point, we just didn’t know when. We still managed to be surprised by the magnitude of this event and how early it came in the season.”