Image by Flickr user algaedoc Image by 20090309-coral.jpg

The Post and Courier's Po Petersen writes about a first report coral off South Carolina's coast may be in danger, and some is dying.

Read more stories on this subject in our environment topic page.Go read about it.

Coral death and bleaching is generally a sign that ocean conditions are changing and waters are either becoming to warm and/or too toxic for coral, which acts as an important part of the ecosystem including the young fish that team around them.

Until this report, South Carolina's waters were thought to be healthy, and important enough that Gov. Mark Sanford had petitioned that they be preserved as a national monument.