I love diving Guam’s beautiful coral reefs.  With crystal clear water that’s 82-84 degrees year-around, it’s hard not to jump in every chance I get.  While the color and variety of life isn’t as thriving as nearby Palau, there is still much to appreciate amongst Guam’s coral reefs.  I love seeing our resident sea turtles and the unique blue linckia starfish.  We have a nice variety of angel fish, butterfly fish, parrot fish, box fish, and puffer fish.  I’ve swam with schools of squid, and I’m always on the lookout for octopus and nudibranchs.

Sadly though, I’ve been noticing more coral bleaching around Guam in the past two years.  In just the past six months, I’ve witnessed the shocking phenomenon of anemone bleaching as well.  Clown Town at the local Gab Gab dive site off the Navy base is almost entirely bleached, and countless giant carpet anemones are bleached as well. The anemone fish are turning from orange to pink in their stressed-out states.

I am holding out hope that both the coral and the anemone bleaching will recover, but so far I’ve only seen signs of it getting worse, not better.