EL NIÑO IS COMING

An El Niño is heading our way and predictions are bleak for the Caribbean. The sea around Jamaica is already 29ºC and it's early May. Follow these trends here and here. As we brace ourselves for what could be another record-breaking summer for high temperatures, DBMS has been elaborating an emergency plan to evacuate as much coral from our in-situ nurseries as possible. To do so, we have consulted widely to elaborate the following low-cost emergency holding and cooling system that we can afford at this time.

Please review the shopping list below and consider donating either a single item or multiple, or make a contribution to DBMS via either of these two links, using the words El Niño in the description/message.

Gofundme

Sea surface temperature (SST) in northern Jamaica. Click on the map to review today’s SSTs around the Caribbean.

American Friends of Jamaica

The Plan

We will need to erect 2 above-ground pools near the shore connected to one another with a pump pulling water from the beach by hose. The pools will be chilled by portable fans aimed at the surface. The design draws from the experience of managers of long-term land-based holding systems that rely on above-surface fans for maintaining daytime temperatures at 27ºC without the need for costly aquarium chillers.

Our target is 5,000 USD to cover the following essential apparatuses in addition to basic construction materials, the technical guidance of an expert in land-based coral husbandry to oversee the installation, electrician and plumbing services, and water quality testing kits, while also allowing room for urgent impromptu purchases which is common when managing aquaria.

Shopping List

Why aren’t we investing in more resilient corals if they’re this vulnerable?

Firstly an El Niño combined with this year’s drastic emissions increases are NOT normal circumstances. Secondly, these are in fact the most resilient corals out there, hence having survived the last El Niño and it took three years to find them, which is why we’re not going to chance it if we don’t have to. Even if this is becoming the new normal, we are buying time in order to mature these corals and crossbreed them so as to produce even more heat tolerant offspring. Keeping them alive now, enables us to do all that. Failing to do so = instant extinction and project cancelled. It’s the same as if they were to be buried in a hurricane - but we’ve already proven our ability to survive those. 

We continue to bank on the fact that the corals in our offshore nurseries survived the last El Niño without so much as paling. We will shade these nonetheless come mid-July if things are looking bad. Hopefully this will suffice for 2026 and we can save the materials for the next emergency. However if we do not buy them now, we cannot act this summer. The temporary onshore installation would also be a great show and tell opportunity for locals and visitors … and the corals may even spawn in the system.