While the Marshalls had previously mostly avoided the coral bleaching episodes that happened farther west in the Pacific and in the Caribbean over the past few years, there was such an episode in the fall of 2009 during an El Niño when the water temperature rose to about one degree F higher than it usually does. Several species of corals bleached out (by expelling their symbiotic plants, the zooxantehllae), as did several species of anemones, including most specimens of Radianthus magnifica and some of Radianthus crispa, Entacmaea quadricolor, and Stichodactyla haddoni. While a fair proportion of a few coral species did not survive that particular bleaching, most of the anemones did, although a series of other bleaching events in 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2018 ended up causing many R. magnifica to disappear. While the bleaching is almost certainly not healthy for the anemones, it did make for some striking images. Another page shows more bleached Radianthus magnifica.
Created 1 September 2010
Updated 11 December 2024