Skip to content

How to Bleach a Coral Reef (Hint, Just add Bleach)…

February 27, 2017

Significant event’: Coral bleaching returns to the Great Barrier Reef

great-barrier-reef

Approx 10 large vessels navigating near the Barrier Reef daily.  Many/most will use ICCP for cathodic protection which is known to oxidize/corrode nearby structures.  Calcium & magnesium (reef structure) will oxidize very easily)

Source

container-ship-iccp-2

Typical large vessel cathodic system designed for 600 amps pumped into the seawater.  Military vessels put up to 1800 amps into the seawater

epa-iccp

EPA calculations for chlorine generation from ICCP electrolysis of seawater.

Source

chlorine-calcs-from-vessels

Using EPA calculations. 10 large vessels navigating along the Great Barrier Reef each day have the design capacity to generate as much as 420 lbs of chlorine, which is a strong oxidizing & bleaching agent, in the seawater.  Chlorine will last a day or more and attack all organic/biological species nearby.

iccp-downside

From → Biology, Geophysics

Leave a Comment

Leave a comment