Dataset: Physical Monitoring Data

Ocean deoxygenation is a growing threat to marine life worldwide but our knowledge of oxygen dynamics in tropical coastal regions is poorly resolved. Here we provide high-resolution oxygen data for five coral reefs throughout Almirante Bay, Bocas del Toro, Panama. This current dataset includes a six-month record of hourly temperature and dissolved oxygen concentration measurements on five coral reefs, with two loggers taking data at each reef, one from a shallow (3 m) location and the other from a deeper (12 m) location. All loggers were deployed approx. 20 cm above the seafloor on concrete blocks that were nestled within the reef matrix. Preliminary data shows low oxygen values (<1.0 mg/L) occurring in all the deep sites on all the reefs except one, i.e., Hospital Point. Additionally, near anoxic oxygen conditions (> 0.3 mg/L) were measured on the Roldan Reef for approx. two weeks in February 2022. Loggers will continue to be serviced, calibrated, and maintained, and this dataset will be updated to create a three-year time-series of oxygen and temperature measurements at these tropical, coral-reef sites.