"Discovery Bay is in the middle of the north coast of

Jamaica. The shallow-water marine environment,

both outside and inside the bay, is dominated by

coral reefs and associated habitats (Woodley and

Robinson 1977, Gayle and Woodley 1998). The reefs are

best developed on the submarine shelf outside the bay.

The entrance to the bay has been excavated to make a

shipping channel, 12 m deep. In the middle of the bay

there is deep water, with shallow sandy lagoons all

around, supporting beds of turtle-grass, scattered coral

heads and patch reefs. On the steep slopes towards the

centre, coral reefs occur down to about 20 m, especially at

Columbus Park and Red Buoy Reef. All reefs in the area

were in good condition until hurricane Allen (1980)

initiated a series of impacts (coral disease,

Diadema

mass

mortality, coral bleaching) that led to a catastrophic

decline (Hughes 1994)."- http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/general/lib/CREWS/dbjm_27.pdf