Mass Explusion of Zooxanthellae by Easter island Corals

Abstract

Hermatypic corals of Easter Island lost their zooxanthellae following a torrential downpour in mid-June 1980. Whitened corals were seen islandwide in a patchy distributional pattern. Corals recovered their coloration within 2-3 months. This was the only occurrence of this phenomenon in memory of the older islanders, which spans a period in excess of 50 yr.