BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) – The Barbados-based Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH) Tuesday said that the coral reef in the entire region continues to be under bleaching watch conditions and that warning conditions are becoming more prevalent.

In its latest edition of the Caribbean Coral Reef Watch, CIMH said the bleaching outlook for the Caribbean indicates that the Windward Islands – Dominica, Grenada, St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines – as well as the Leeward Antilles including Antigua and Barbuda, St Kitts-Nevis, Montserrat, Anguilla and Trinidad and Tobago will be experiencing Alert Level 1 and 2 conditions from October, extending into December.

Alert Level 1, which means that bleaching is expected. According to CIMH, Alert Level 2 means there is widespread bleaching and some mortality is expected.

In its four month outlook, CIMH predicts that coral bleaching heat stress will be at bleaching levels from October to December.

“Heat stress conditions are now predicted to be at Alert Level 1 and 2 throughout the Caribbean basin, October and November,” the CIMH said.