Eight years ago, a blistering heat wave sent local sea temperatures soaring in the eastern Caribbean, killing more than one-half of the region's coral reefs. Many have yet to recover. But in Hurricane Hole, a sheltered bay off St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands, one vibrant coral ecosystem survived unscathed. "We've identified more than 30 coral species" that avoided the catastrophe, says Caroline Rogers, a marine biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in St. John. "The diversity is astounding."
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