Divers experience Cold Water upwelling in Florida; Video

Divers experience Cold Water upwelling in Florida; Video

Nowadays anything can cause an alarm on the SE Florida Reef System with Oil Spill Damages impending, but these divers never expected to see Reef Fishes strugling to breath, Eutrophication? No. as Dr. Phipps of the OR Scientific Advisory Board, and local Reef PBC Expert explains:

“William,

Apparently our “annual July upwelling” occurred this weekend. I was diving in Boca on Saturday and fortunately did not experience those temperatures!  As to the fish…they were cold shocked. These upwellings can occur fairly rapidly. Yes, upwelling water is nutrient enriched..it is not eutrophied.  Also, the cold water of upwellings can often hold higher levels of oxygen than warmer waters.  The video showed cold shocked parrotfish…there was probably a really cold diver behind the camera, too! JP 

Janet J. Phipps, Ph.D.

Coral Reef Ecologist 

Dept. Environmental Resources Management

2300 North Jog Road, 4th Floor

West Palm Beach, FL 33411-2743

Office TN:  561.233.2513

Jphipps@pbcgov.org