The BBC Earth section has posted an extended article about coral regeneration after bleaching events. Entitled ” The corals that came back from the dead”, the article talks about the “Phoenix Effect” which was first described in 1992 by David Krupp. It describes a process whereby corals can regrow from a small fragment of life after a sea temperature rise. Up until now, this has been observed only in disk corals, but the articles cites Peter Mumby’s experience with Porites sp corals in Rangiroa lagoon, French Polynesia.

Mumby compares his experience of diving the lagoon after the major bleaching event in 1998, to that of diving it more recently. He found extensive coral regeneration that was anticipated to have occurred over hundreds of years, to have happened in 15. The article cites similar experiences at Scott Reef, Palau.

The article does conclude that coral reefs will still face a very challenging future, but it seems that some of the models for reef repair need to be revised.