Scientists are mobilizing to prevent coral diseases from spreading in Florida, off St. Thomas in the United States Virgin Islands, as well as in the waters of St. Martin and its surroundings.
The disease of stony coral tissue loss, which was first discovered in Florida in 2014, causes coral death. This disease begins with white patches, which invade the coral, and which kill between 66 and 100% of the infected species. It is estimated that this disease caused corals to decline by more than 40% in the Upper Keys of Florida between 2013 and 2018.
In early 2019, the disease was discovered for the first time near the U.S. Virgin Islands, and is spreading rapidly at a rate of a few centimeters per day. Since its discovery in Florida, scientists consider that the disease has affected nearly 390 km000 of reefs. The disease of stony coral tissue loss has also been identified off the coast of Saint Martin, the Turk and Caicos Islands, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Jamaica.
Scientists are working to identify the pathogen that is responsible for tissue loss, better characterize the transmission of the disease, understand the patterns of spread across the reef, as well as the overall impacts of the disease. Corals are thought to be more susceptible to disease due to warmer water temperatures caused by global warming. _RM
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