Fast Moving Coral Disease Alert on Bonaire

[NW Dive Dawg]

I know this was first discussed in the Fall of 2022......but here is the latest today from Bonaire Insider.

Fast Moving Coral Disease Alert on Bonaire

Bonaire's reefs are experiencing a fast moving coral diease. As STINAPA monitors the disease, please follow the recommended precautions.

infobonaire.com

 

[drrich2]

Thanks for letting us know. From the article you linked, it's affecting areas from Something Special down to Bachelor's Beach.

 

[scubadada]

That certainly looks like SCTLD, hope that is wrong.
Map: https://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/...d5b16&extent=-68.8017,11.9105,-67.4545,12.493

30 Bari Reef
31 Front Porch
32 Something Special, caution
33 Town Pier, infected
34 Calabasas, infected
35 18th Palm, infected
36 Windsock, caution
37 Corp Meiss, caution
38 Bachelor Beach, caution
39 Chez Hines
40 Lighthouse Point

Avoid areas of caution and infection.

 

[Doctorfish]

If SCTLD, then, trying to limit spread by the quarantine measures suggested by STINAPA, is a pipedream. If lucky, these measures might, at best, slow the rate of spread a bit.

Have the scientists even figured out whether this is a virus, bacteria or fungus yet?

 

[noserider]

Been alerted to it on other Caribbean islands as well, a lot further south than Bonaire

 

[scubadada]

From the AGRRA website. Bonaire has had some negative submissions but has many pending submissions being evaluated. On the map, you can click on a submission and see the photo(s) that were submitted for evaluation. Many of us have seen white coral diseases for many years that are not SCTLD. I'm not at all sure I could accurately identify SCTLD Coral Disease Outbreak - AGRRA

 

[scubadada]

From Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) - Coral Disease & Health Consortium

Etiology​

The cause of STLD is an area of active research. Studies have found the disease to be transmissible between individual corals and between species via direct contact and via a waterborne agent. This, coupled with successful treatment with antibiotics and it’s clustered distribution as it spreads throughout the Caribbean, suggests that some communicable agent is contributing to SCTLD infections, although whether as a primary or a secondary pathogen remains unclear.
At the time of writing, the precise cause of SCTLD remains unknown. There is no histological evidence of bacterial communities consistently associated with diseased tissues; however, microbiological data suggests the potential involvement of the bacterial group Rhodobacterales. Early evidence from transmission electron microscopy has also detected the presence of wide-spread viral particles present in the chloroplasts of the algal endosymbionts, which may be contributing to the disease, though further work is needed to confirm their involvement in SCTLD pathology.


For the very interested, a recent sophisticated study implicating a variety of bacteria in the etiology of SCTLD. The second link is a brief summary from NOAA A meta-analysis of the stony coral tissue loss disease microbiome finds key bacteria in unaffected and lesion tissue in diseased colonies - ISME Communications, Meta-analysis finds key bacteria linked to stony coral disease outbreak This may help explain the apparent efficacy of antibiotic/epoxy paste in the treatment of SCTLD shown by some.

The NOAA strategy for SCTLD https://coast.noaa.gov/data/coralreef_noaa_gov/media/docs/NOAA_SCTLD_Strategy_2020.pdf

 

[wind forecaster]

This gif animation shows a patch of disease. This last month I have been monitoring the growth of this patch of disease at the Something Special dive site. So far the growth has been slow and it is the only patch I have seen at this site in town. My wife and I are restricting our diving to only one site per day and soaking all gear with fresh water, complete drying and sun exposure before diving another site.

I wonder if they are doing pathogen sampling of rinse tubs at resorts and if they have thought of having a disinfectant rinse basin at each station.

Incidentally, at the same site, there is sometimes a strong current. I have seen a few divers with very high-end camera gear doing macro photography holding location by gripping living coral heads with their hands.

Mike Godsey
Weatherflow.com
iwindsurf.com

 

[FishWatcher747]

What would be more likely to spread Stony Corral disease, a diver or a parrot fish?

 

[scubadada]

Primer on coral diseases

Coral Diseases: Corals Tutorial

Coral diseases generally occur in response to biological stresses, such as bacteria, fungi and viruses, and nonbiological stresses, such as increased sea surface temperatures, ultraviolet radiation and pollutants.

oceanservice.noaa.gov