A buoy off the coast of Florida recently recorded water temperatures of 101.1°F (roughly 38°C), about the temperature of the average hot tub. It could be the hottest seawater ever tested.
The buoy reading, taken in Manatee Bay, Florida (south of Miami, near the Florida Keys) might have been considered an error were it not that it had been recording similar levels for several days, and other buoys in the area were also recording temperatures that were almost as crazy.
Most of the South of the United States has been stewing in record temperatures for most of the month of July (it has been over 110°F - 43°C - in Phoenix, Arizona, for the whole month). But this sea-water reading has still shocked scientists, and there are justifiable fears for the already hard-pressed coral reefs off the Florida coast, which are likely experiencing an unprecedented bleaching event. Coral-planting operations have been halted as sea temperatures in the high 80s Fahrenheit (low 30s Celsius) have been recorded as deep as 70 feet (20 metres) in southern Florida.
Scary stuff.
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