ASSESSING CORAL BLEACHING RECOVERY AT THE SANDY BAY-WEST END MARINE RESERVE, HONDURAS 

The Sandy Bay-West End Marine Reserve in Roatan (SBWEMR), Honduras, a region within the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, is recognized worldwide for its coral diversity and structural complexity within its reef, providing habitat to multiple species. During the summer of 2023, the Caribbean region experienced a massive coral bleaching event due to unprecedented sea surface temperatures, leading to drastic losses of reef-building coral colonies. Assessing the recovery process of ecologically valuable surviving coral colonies in the affected regions of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef is of utmost importance. Our goal was to determine the degree to which the SBWEMR was impacted. A series of belt transects were performed at 30-40 feet and 50-60 feet depth to compare the diversity and post-bleaching recovery of the coral colonies at these depths. Coral colonies were assigned to one of three categories: bleached, partially bleached, and recovered. We demonstrate that coral colonies found at a greater depth present a higher recovery rate compared to shallower colonies. In particular, the coral Agaricia agaricites was abundant and was the most affected by bleaching. Due to its structural complexity, the loss of this coral species represents a threat to the habitat quality of many species. This study is a glimpse into how the coral species in the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef are responding to the massive bleaching event. 

For more information: asjuarez@eckerd.edu