MANATEE BAY, Fla. – The water around South Florida has been record hot for this time of year, but the high temperatures may have just reached new heights.
A buoy in Manatee Bay in the Upper Keys recorded an astonishing temperature of 101.1 degrees Fahrenheit on July 24.
That would unofficially break the world record of 99.68 degrees set in the Persian Gulf.
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The day before that same buoy recorded a water temperature of 100.2 degrees Fahrenheit.
For perspective, the typical range for a hot tub is 100-104 degrees Fahrenheit.
The temperature is being recorded approximately five feet below mean lower low water.
Water temperature records like this aren’t kept like air temperature records are, however, the considered world record is 99.68 degrees set in Kuwait bay. The Persian Gulf is recognized as one of the hottest bodies of water globally.
This temperature would likely have to go through an extensive review process before being verified as official.
Several other buoys recorded water temperatures in the upper 90s during the same period. Johnson Key recorded a temperature of 98.4 degrees Fahrenheit Monday.
The water is so hot in South Florida and around the Florida Keys due to a number of likely factors. The overall weather pattern has been atypical for Florida with light winds preventing the upwelling of deeper, cooler water to the surface.
It has been an extremely hot and sunny summer allowing the ocean to heat up quickly.
Until recently, there has also been a lack of Saharan dust across the Atlantic. The aerosols in the dust help to reflect sunlight back into the atmosphere.
The record warm water temperatures in the Florida Keys and around South Florida have been threatening Florida’s coral reef for weeks.
Scientists have already documented coral bleaching, a process that essentially starves the coral.
Recently around the Florida Keys, the coral bleaching alert level has moved into alert level two, which means severe bleaching and significant mortality is now likely.
This was an upgrade from bleaching alert level one from just two weeks ago.
“A bleached coral is essentially starving to death because it has lost its main source of nutrition, the algal symbionts,” said Dr. Derek Manzello, coordinator of NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch program. “The damage that corals experience from marine heatwaves is a function of the duration, or how long the heat stress occurs, plus the magnitude of the heat stress anomaly.”
According to Manzello, typical bleaching events last about 4-6 weeks.
During the previous large-scale bleaching events, most recently that happened in the Florida Keys, bleach-level sea surface temperatures didn’t occur until mid-August.
“Thus, we are a full month ahead of what is the normal ‘bleaching season.’ What this means is, unless significant cooling takes place, such as repeat passage of hurricanes or tropical storms, the corals of the Florida Keys may be looking at upwards of three consecutive months of thermally-stressful conditions, which would be unprecedented,” Manzello said.
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