Hong Kong scientists have cautioned that local coral reefs will face more severe and frequent bleaching, with sea temperatures recently rising to as high as 30.7 degrees Celsius, and reported “different levels of coral bleaching” had been discovered in Hong Kong’s waters.  

The disappearance of reefs, which occupy just 1% of the ocean floor, is considered a global concern and a threat to the survival of the world’s most biodiverse habitats. Frequent coral bleaching can threaten their survival.  

As cited by the scientists, the average water temperature at a site in Tung Ping Chau Marine Park was 2 degrees higher in the past month compared with the same period last year. Hong Kong’s marine biologists also discovered mass coral bleaching in other protected waters, with some sites recording levels of bleaching at more than 70% of its “coral communities”.

Dickson Wong Chi-chun, a team scientist at global NGO Reef Check Foundation, studying corals in Hong Kong waters and found that the last major bleaching event happened in 2022 and it was only last summer that the corals had managed to regain their strength.

This year’s bleaching event was very alarming because of the higher frequency of recurrence and the greater scale of damage. “The bleaching has recurred so frequently and I’m concerned that if the corals cannot recover quickly enough, the whole community may no longer be sustainable and disappear for good,” said by Dickson Wong.