Last month saw record-setting heat waves sweeping across the country. Hawaiʻi may not be part of the continent, but that doesn't mean the islands are in the clear.
Kuʻulei Rodgers, a coral researcher with the University of Hawaiʻi's Institute for Marine Biology, called temperatures "unprecedented." She urged people to prepare for warmer water in the months ahead.
"There's a low level of heat stress, but it is heating up by September," Rogers said.
People should look out for "possible [coral] bleaching by October for some sections of Oʻahu and the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands," she added, citing the NOAA Coral Reef Watch.
Rodgers said Hawaiʻi has not seen bleaching events as severe as those in the Great Barrier Reef and the Caribbean because of its position in the Pacific. But that has changed recently.
"It used to be every 50 years that there might be a large bleaching event," she explained. "But now it's every six years predicted for Hawaiʻi."
Coral is the foundation of ocean ecosystems, providing for countless other organisms.
"Hawaiians understood that that was the keystone species, and everything is connected to the coral reef," Rodgers said.
"You have this community connection with fishes, invertebrates that actually feed on corals that use corals for protection, that feed on things that feed on coral."
In an effort to conserve some of the coral, the Hawaiʻi Institute for Marine Biology, in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution, has begun testing cryopreservation — freezing coral and bringing it back to life.
Although there has been some success, Rodgers the technique is difficult.
"They are not just an animal. They're also a plant because the little algae is inside the coral," she said. "So they have to be able to preserve a lot of this."
Rodgers encourages ocean users to report any signs of bleaching to federal and state agencies as they frequent their favorite ocean spots.
This interview aired on The Conversation on August 3, 2023. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1. This interview was adapted for the web by Emily Tom.
