ABOVE: A reef off the coast of Florida that suffers from stony coral tissue loss disease
CONOR GOULDING, MOTE MARINE LABORATORY
A brutal disease is ravaging Florida’s reefs. Stony coral tissue loss disease first cropped up in 2014 in the shallow waters near Miami, before spreading north along the coast as well as south and west into the Keys. Roughly 80 percent of Florida Reef Tract, a system similar to a barrier reef, is now affected. In response, scientists studying the disease are teaming up with institutions and the public in a massive coordinated effort to stem the spread of stony coral tissue loss disease and look ahead to someday restoring the reefs that have already been damaged.
As its name implies, the disease causes the coral’s colorful tissue to slough off a colony, exposing its bright white skeleton, says Erinn Muller, a coral reef ecologist at Mote Marine Laboratory. This ...
