Coral bleaching closes dive sites

Hope for corals...popular dive sites in Malaysia were recently closed to protect fragile corals after a bleaching event. Bleaching is when corals lose their zooxanthellae (the colorful algae that live symbiotically with corals and provide food). After bleaching, corals are very, very sick and likely to die. Protection from diver-caused damage is one way to help stressed-out bleached corals have a chance of recover.

There are other things that help, like protecting herbivorous fish that keep plants from over-growing and smothering corals.

Then there's that whole CO2 problem that makes water warmer and causes coral bleaching.

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