Just a note that /A. palmata/ (i.e. Elkhorn coral) colonies were observed to spawn Tuesday night July 19th.(Looe Key- Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, Special Protected Area), at about 2 hours after sunset. This is one month earlier than usual (3-4 days after full moon in August). Could this be a new trend with warmer seawater temperatures? It seams that corals may have spawned earlier these past two years as well. It seams apparent that some corals think its August or September.

Are there any other early spawning observations taking place?

Dave Vaughan,
Coral Reef Research Center Director
Mote Tropical Research Lab
Summerland Key, Florida,
DVaughan@Mote.org