That is surface buoy data maintained by Noaa. You can even go back and see historical data, and watch the temps rise/fall throughout the day. Granted this is all surface water temperatures, but our reef creatures aren’t from very deep in the ocean, but it gives you an idea.
well, here is an article/blog on reef and tank temperature swings.
http://www.reefs.org/library/talklog/d_warren_011898.html
note the 2 degree C temp swing they talk about as ok is 3.6 degrees F per day. my tanks swing that much in the summer between lights on and lights off.
OOH! Good study on an extreme Red Sea Gulf of Suez Reef. not only huge daily, and seasonal temp swings, but really high salinity too.
http://www.amnh.org/nationalcenter/youngnaturalistawards/2008/Zaki.html
we need corals from this region to handle our tank parameters.
Oh WOW! and this puter animation of daily time lapse temperature change on a Florida Reef slope due to sun heating and deep ocean upwelling and tide.
http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/08bonaire/background/oceanography/media/scripps_boa_array.html
those are pretty big daily temp swings.
and the source article.
http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/08bonaire/background/oceanography/oceanography.html
Hey Jon, was this part of your trip down there last year?
Oh Yeah. Same UD Group. theres yer mug shot!
http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/08bonaire/logs/jan20/media/lighthouse.html
Great links you two!
The temps vs. depth is a good point and one i was always quick to make in previous discussions.
from Ken’s link
Yes, temp will vary with depth. but the point of the animation is that any point on the reef, at any depth can have large daily temp swings due to the deep ocean upwelling waves. this chart shows a 12 degree F swing during the day. from 72 to 84. blue to orange.
[quote=“kaptken, post:22, topic:1787”]
Hey Jon, was this part of your trip down there last year?
Oh Yeah. Same UD Group. theres yer mug shot!
http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/08bonaire/logs/jan20/media/lighthouse.html[/quote]
Educational trip to Bonaire…I’ll take one of those please.