Project Summary (see also Summary Sheet on next web page):   Mounting evidence indicates that coral reefs are becoming more susceptible to “bleaching,” which occurs when the symbiotic organisms that live within the coral animal die or are expelled, usually as a result of rising water temperatures. There have been several global-scale bleaching events in the last 20 years.   As the climate warms coral bleaching appears to be becoming more frequent and the long term affects on coral reefs are unknown.

I was a proponent of a project termed “Bleach Patrol"  in 2016-2017 that hoped to motivate people interested in corals, coral reefs, and the ocean to  help monitor coral bleaching and overall reef health. Through the direct observation of coral reefs by motivated citizen scientists we wanted to better understand these beautiful and important ecosystems.

Bleach Patrol involved a collaboration between the World Surf League (WSL) the social networking app goFlow, and scientists at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. The goal of the project was to use the goFlow smart phone app to monitor coral bleaching events as they occur, in real time, by incorporating reports about bleaching and reef health from citizen scientists around the world. Data was to be made publicly available. Update 2023: Goflow has taken down the app, but there is still information  at WSL (see link) . We are evaluating the approach to determine how it could be modified going forward.

 www.worldsurfleague.com/coral-bleach-patrol

Please contact me with any questions at blinsley@ldeo.columbia.edu or 845-365-8306

Many thanks

Brad Linsley