Hawaii to experience worst-ever coral bleaching due to high ocean temperatures

Corals are recovering from last year's bleaching but warmer-than-normal ocean temperatures this year will likely lead to a more deadly year for coral reef

Warmer-than-normal ocean temperatures around Hawaii this year will likely lead to the worst coral bleaching the islands have ever seen, scientists said.

Many corals are only just recovering from last year's bleaching, which occurs when warm waters prompt coral to expel the algae they rely on for food, said Ruth Gates, the director of the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology. The phenomenon is called bleaching because coral lose their color when they push out algae.