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Coral reefs that were heavily damaged or wiped out by Typhoon Bopha in the eastern part of Palau’s main island can recover with time says experts.
Based on studies from the 1998 coral reef bleaching epidemic, Yimnang Golbuu, Chief Research and CEO of the Palau International Coral Reef Center (PICRC) says coral reefs have shown to have great capacity to recover, slowly, but resilient.
For the damages caused by Typhoon Bopha, Golbuu estimates that it would take between 8-10 years to recover given that there’s no crown of thorns outbreak, increase in sedimentation or another bleaching event.
With Palau’s relatively clean marine environment, Golbuu is confident that these corals can recover back to pre-Typhoon Bopha.