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Title: Bleached Coral. Cayman Islands.
Filename: CAY10_am-12291.jpg
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A bleached brain coral (Colpophyllia natans). Corals bleach for a variety of stresses, when they expel their zooxanthellae (symbiotic algae) from their tissues. The most common cause is thermal stress from rising sea temperature, which was the likely cause here. This photo is not digital manipulated, but taken with a fisheye lens placed very close to the coral and flashes aimed to illuminate the coral colony and not the surrounding reef, to produce an ID style image of this species. East End, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. British West Indies. Caribbean Sea.
- Alexander Mustard
- Anthozoans: Anthozoa
- Atlantic Ocean
- boulder brain coral: Colpophyllia natans
- British West Indies
- Caribbean Sea
- Cayman Islands
- Cnidarians: Cnidaria
- coral reef
- Faviidae
- Faviina
- Grand Cayman
- Invertebrates
- Marine Life
- Stony Corals: Scleractina: Scleractinia
- tropical
- wide angle
- www.amustard.com
- © Alexander Mustard