A DISCUSSION ON THE MAIN REASONS CAUSING THE MASS MORTALITY OF CORALS AND BENTHOS IN CONDAO ISLAND DURING OCTOBER 2005.

During Mid October of 2005 a mass mortality of the corals occurred surrounding Con Dao Islands (South Vietnam) where is the recognized as one of the most famous marine parks of Vietnam. Results from the field survey in October 2005 showed that the mass mortality of corals and benthos focused only on the North-West of the islands whereas there was almost no death recorded in the South - East parts. Based on field data it was assumed that an overlap between high water temperature ($>30^{\circ}C$) and low salinity (<25%o) during short term was the impact causing the situation. In this paper, we try to explain this phenomenon based on the hydrographical view together with analyzing ocean colour images. A coral bleaching warning system also is proposed for Condao site.