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Coral bleaching is by far the most damaging event in coral reefs and is currently viewed as a major threat to the long-term health of coral reef communities. Although there are certainly many other factors (fishing, outbreaks of coral diseases and predators, sedimentation and nutrient inputs) (Sebens, 1994; Jackson, 1997; Wilkinson, 1999), coral bleaching is currently viewed as a major agent of change in coral reef communities (Brown, 1997; Hoegh-Guldberg, 1999) and the rise in sea surface temperature causes stress, which leads to the expulsion of symbiotic zooxanthellae by the corals (Jokiel and Coles, 1990).