January, 2024 – The Initiative Française Pour Les Récifs Coralliens (IFRECOR) release a coral Reef bleaching report for the French Lesser Antilles
IFRECOR have released the latest report on coral reef bleaching in the French Lesser Antilles. This comprehensive assessment, covering the 2023 and 2024 bleaching events, provides critical insights into the health of coral reefs in French West Indies.
Key Findings:
- Approximately 95% of coral species and between 50% and 80% of coral colonies monitored were affected by the 2023 bleaching event
- Post-bleaching monitoring through to September 2024 estimated coral colony mortality between 34% for reefs in Martinique and 29% in Guadeloupe
- Highest mortality (70% – 100% mortality) were Acropora palmata, A. cervicornis, A. prolifera, Porites furcata, Agaricia agaricites, as well as the fire coral Millepora complanata, Agaricia humilis and P. porites
- The bleaching event in 2023 and subsequent mortality in 2024 are amongst the most significant bleaching events to have affected the reefs of the French West Indies.
- Future monitoring of the reefs in the French West Indies will seek further record the impact of the 2024 bleaching event.
To read the full report, visit the IFRECOR website and download in both French and English.

ICRI and NOAA confirmed the Fourth Global Bleaching Event on 15th April 2024. The current climate model predictions for coral reefs suggest that bleaching impacts will increase in frequency and magnitude as the oceans warm due to human-induced global warming caused by climate change.
Previous global mass bleaching occurred in 1998, 2010 and from 2014-2017. The Global Coral Reef Monitoring network (GCRMN), and operational network of ICRI, demonstrated in 2021, through its ‘Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2020‘ report, that large scale coral bleaching events are the greatest disturbance to the world’s coral reefs with the 1998 bleaching event alone killing 8% of the world’s coral, and the subsequent disturbance events resulted in a loss of 14% of the world’s coral from 2009 – 2018. And with the possibility of a fourth mass bleaching event in 2024, concern is abound amongst the coral community, but this bleaching event is not a surprise, and preparations for management, monitoring and recovery are in motion.
It is critical to remember that bleached corals are not dead corals, and they can recover if ocean temperatures return to normal. Solutions are being deployed to help build the resilience of coral reef, so they can better withstand the impacts of climate change into the future.