Coral reefs skirting the Kuwaiti island of Garu have been bleached, largely due to waters’ upper layers overheating and altering the environment related to climatic change, the Environment Public Authority (EPA) said on Monday. Abdullah Al-Zaidan, deputy director general for technical affairs, told KUNA EPA"s teams during surveys of locations around the island found that the coral reefs there have been bleached. Measuring the water heat, they found that it hit 34 degrees on Saturday, as compared to 37 degrees in July. The bleaching of the reefs may occur when the heat rises at least one degree for three consecutive weeks, he said, indicating that they may re-live once they are liberated of the heat related stress. The EPA also recorded harmful acts on Garu island and examined the status of surrounding coral reefs. Some persons were found using prohibited fishing tools and were penalized according to the environment protection law, EPA said in a press release. The personnel reminded visitors of the relevant laws for protecting the environment, namely the islands, keeping the island clean and the reefs in healthy condition. EPA has repeatedly urged sea goers to abstain from acts that harm the reefs, like random dropping of anchors that damage them. Garu is one of several Kuwaiti islands with the crystal clear waters surrounding it are favored by scuba divers. The EPA also on Monday denied online reports claiming the coastal regions have witnessed death of large numbers of fish. There was a countable number of fish deaths at some coastal regions over the past few days, EPA said in a statement, on Monday, clarifying that the death of fish could not be classified as serious unless numbers exceed 100,000. The fish death is a global phenomenon that recurs annually, it said affirming that fish die due to high temperature and irresponsible acts by sea-goers. — KUNA