2.2. Seawatertemperatureanomalies
Measured seawatertemperaturesandbleachingobservations
in 1998and2012werecomparedagainstcoralbleachingpredic-
tions fromHotSpotswhichwereobtainedfromtheNOAACoral
ReefWatchProgram(archivedathttp://www.ospd.noaa.gov/ml/
ocean/cb/hotspots.html).TheHotspotanomalyisbasedonthe
climatologicalmeanseasurfacetemperaturesofthehottest
month intheyear.WeanalyzedthedataobtainedfromNOAA/
NESDIS CoralBleachingHotSpotsfortheEasternHemisphereat
the studysiteduringApril–July 1998andApril–August2010.In
1998,theseawatertemperatureanomalystartedon17April,
reachingthemaximumon2Juneanddecreasedtonormal
conditions on21July.Howeverin2010,theseawatertemperature
anomaly startedon19April,reachingthepeakon15Julyand
decreasedtonormalconditionson30August(Fig. 2).