coral reefs to continue thriving while others have succumbed to the effects of global warming and El Nino.

The news is contained in a 1998 study which was prepared by the organisation Reef Check which compiles scientific information on coral reefs from around the globe.

The study showed that 15 percent of the world's reefs have died off in the first "mass mortality event'' ever recorded.

Since that study was compiled, a third of the affected reefs have recovered, new information shows.

Bleaching -- when coral colonies expel most of the algae they need to survive -- appeared to be the main cause of coral death, the study found.

While the remaining algae can repopulate the remaining coral later on, climate changes are causing that algae to disappear.

Bermudian Thad Murdoch, a marine science doctorate student at Daulphin Island Sea Lab in Alabama, said Bermuda was one of the first places to exhibit signs of minor bleaching.

He said this was largely due to temperature changes and ultra violet rays but noted the Island's reefs appeared to be unaffected by the recent coral reef die out.

"Bermuda's reefs are some of the best in the Caribbean because of the cooler waters,'' he said.

"The coral death is a signal which raises concerns about global climate changes.'' Coral reefs contain more living species than rain forests and the wealth of information they offer is only beginning to be tapped into.

The reefs affect not only ocean health, but coastal health as well as they serve as natural breakwaters to protect land from hurricanes and erosion.