Good morning Bay Islands. Our photo of the day comes from Erin Edney in Guanaja and shows a diver swimming with a nurse shark. I love horrifying North Americans by telling them how much I love swimming with the sharks. Most people don’t realize how calm most sharks are. They are truly great creations.
Our weather continues to be hot, dry and windy. That won’t change anytime soon, so I want to talk about the coral the shark is swimming over.
This is a map showing the heat warning status at buoys in the southwest Caribbean. You will notice in shallower waters toward the west, one location is in Level 1 heat stress, which indicates the likelihood of active coral bleaching, and other locations are in a warning state. We are in a heat watch on the west side and still OK on the east side, likely due to somewhat cooler ocean current to the east. Our surface temperatures are around 84F (28.7C). We are still a bit under our historic max temperature around 85 and bleaching begins around 89 degrees. It is still worrisome this early in the season. Late July and early August are key periods for coral bleaching and our best hope for avoiding it is a mild, but rainy, tropical storm to churn the water and cool things down.
Coral bleaching is a concern, but right now the coral is live and vibrant and Jolly Roger Roatan will take you to the most spectacular locations around the island.
Low tide is 7:30 p.m. Have a great Friday!
Welcome to Roatan Weather 