New findings also point to coastal construction as potential way of further spreading coral disease
A new study found that seafloor sediments have the potential to transmit a deadly pathogen to local corals and hypothesizes that sediments have played a role in the persistence of a devastating coral disease outbreak throughout Florida and the Caribbean.
These new findings from the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science-led research team could help mitigate the spread of the deadly disease— stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD)—that causes white lesions and rapid tissue loss to reef-building corals.
Since first appearing in waters off Miami in 2014, stony coral tissue loss disease has now spread throughout all of Florida’s coral reefs as well as the wider Caribbean, affecting over 20 coral species and killing millions of coral colonies. To date, the microbe or suite of microbes causing the disease have not been identified, making it very difficult to manage and treat.
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