C Time: Howland Island

One of the healthier reefs at Howland...

We have been transiting south from Johnston Atoll for the last four days and it is abundantly apparent the minute you step out on deck. The days have been getting longer and even the mornings before daybreak are hot and muggy now. We are currently only 15-20 miles north of the equator which has meant a refreshing change in water temperatures. The dives at Johnston, although quite beautiful, were getting colder as the days went by. Our first dive today felt like bath water. It was wonderful. The underwater portion of Howland is amazing! Most of our sites are on a steep wall that drops into blue water within 300 feet of the beach. We stay at 40-50 feet and even with 100+ feet of visibility, we couldn’t see the bottom. There was an incredible diversity of both fish and coral, however a large portion of the coral has been bleached. This happens when various stressors, normally high water temperatures, cause the algae that live within the coral and create the color, to either die or leave the coral tissue. This leaves the coral completely white and it may or may not survive the episode. According to our Oceanography team, water temperatures are about 5 degrees higher here than normal which is more than corals can normally withstand. Hopefully these will survive otherwise there will up to 80% mortality along the entire east side of the island. Although our team hasn't made it to the east side yet (currents would have been too strong for our surveys) we've been told by the tow team that it looked like a pine forest after a snow. Although our dives were wonderful now that I’ve shed my Baby Seal suit (5mm wetsuit plus vest), I would rather be a bit chilly and have the dive look a little less like a winter wonderland. It will be interesting to see what this area looks like when we come back in two years.