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themselves to flee the corals. To ensure short-term survival, the coral-polyp then consumes or expels the zooxanthellae. This leads to a lighter or completely white appearance, hence the term "bleached". Under mild stress conditions, some corals may appear bright blue, pink, purple, or yellow instead of white, due to the continued or increased presence of the coral cells' intrinsic pigment molecules, a phenomenon known as "colourful bleaching". As the zooxanthellae provide up to 90 percent of the coral's energy needs through products of photosynthesis,

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