SUMMER HEAT QUANTIFIED: Mission: Iconic Reefs surveys impact to corals
A team of researchers from NOAA’s Mission: Iconic Reefs program and partners from Mote
Marine Laboratory & Aquarium and the Coral Restoration Foundation completed a scientific
mission February 14, 2024 to quantify the impact of 2023’s marine heat wave on corals in
Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Data from the research cruise will help NOAA and
partners understand the extent of the record-high marine temperatures from the summer of
2023 on both wild and restored corals — which are nursery-raised and out-planted on the reef
— and inform future restoration strategies to increase coral resilience.
Media resources from the research cruise are included here:
Animation illustrates unprecedented bleaching alerts between May and October 2023.