Transport of warm, high-salinity water to fringing reefs in the Exuma Cays, Bahamas: implications for coral bleaching

Salinity, temperature and current data are used to document transport of warm, hypersaline water from Great Bahama Bank into Exuma Sound through a tidal channel in the Exuma Cays, Bahamas. Data collected from GalliotCut during the,summer of 1998 indicate that water exiting the bank during the latter part of theebb tide can be up to 2 psu higher in salinity and over 2°C warmer than the oligotrophic waters of Exuma Sound (bank salinities reached over 39 psu and temperatures approached 32°C). Most of the reefbuilding stony corals in this region are found in the well-developed fringing reefs over the shelf on the Exuma Sound side of the island chain, and this study documents a mechanism for transporting heat and salt to these reefs which may trigger bleaching.