Dr. Or M. BialikThe #mesophotic environment is often invoked as a refuge for corals and #reefs in a warming world. But mesophotic corals are not the same as shallow water ones, and might be much more sensitive to #warming at depth.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-42279-2
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-42279-2
Mesophotic coral bleaching associated with changes in thermocline depth - Nature Communications
Rising global temperatures cause widespread bleaching of shallow coral reefs but mesophotic reefs at depths over 30 metres are thought to be sheltered by cooler waters. Here, at sites in the Chagos Archipelago, the authors show bleaching of corals at depths of 90 metres, which might be due to warm surface waters being pushed deeper by the ocean’s response to the Indian Ocean Dipole.