Corals Moving to ‘Colder’ Waters
A new study shows that corals around Japan are moving north at incredible speeds. One species has even moved an amazing 14 kilometers a ye ar. This could mean that Ocean ecosystems could shift rapidly due to climate-change impacts such as warming seas.
The study, soon to be published in Geophisical research letters, will be the first one to document coral mass migration.
Japan is not the only place where this phenomenon has been observed. As early as 2004, staghorn and elkhorn corals were observed farther north than their usual ranges; and in Australia, reef-dwelling fish have been found farther south than before as well.
According to Hiroya Yamano of the Center for Global Environmental Research in Tsukuba, Japan, this coral migration to both poles is necessarily good news. It might be good for the corals but not for the whole ecosystem surrounding them.
