STINAPA EMERGENCY: Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) is in Bonaire

[Joneill]

Unfortunately I agree. the prevailing current in Bonaire is south. Why wouldn't SCTLD spread south? This information makes me very sad, my wife and I have our 9th trip to Bonaire at the end of August. How did SCTLD get to Bonaire? Doesn't seem like currents. I would guess commercial or cruise ships.

And it spread completely around Grand Cayman in a relatively short period of time during the pandemic - when there were very few divers on the reefs.

I was thinking of getting on a November Bonaire trip with my dive shop, but will likely head elsewhere now as I’d expect the site closings and restrictions to only increase by then. I hope I’m wrong!

 

[scubadada]

My wife and I have a 2 week trip at the end of August. Will let you know what we find.

 

[deeper thoughts]

Do these decontamination efforts even work? I seriously doubt you can prevent spread in an open ocean setting this way unless many of the divers are dragging along against the coral - which is a whole other issue if it is?

Some of the researchers here in the keys attributed to fish also

 

[Joneill]

Some of the researchers here in the keys attributed to fish also

Makes sense!

 

[drl]

Is there evidence that SCTLD is spread largely by divers, rather than by water movement/currents or boat traffic?
We all want to stop the spread, and evidence-based mitigations are more likely to help.

 

[KDAD]

When I heard this I checked to see if Karpata is close to the cruise ship terminal. Ends up that it is close to the BOPEC pier best I can tell. Unless ocean currents are spreading it I can't see divers bringing it home for weeks or months gear rinsed and drying out and then bringing it down there.

I will be there Saturday for my first trip there and will report back.

 

[NDL_Diver]

My belief it is spread more by balist water in large ships.

 

[tursiops]

My belief it is spread more by balist water in large ships.

That could be how it got to Bonaire, but it does not account for how it spreads once it gets there. An argument against the "ballast water" hypothesis is the geographical spread. It started in FL and then did not follow the main shipping routes but rather the currents. See Coral Disease Outbreak - AGRRA

 

[scubadada]

It is interesting to look at the spread of SCTLD. Until now, does not appear that it has been identified anywhere near Bonaire. From AGRRA Coral Disease Outbreak - AGRRA

 

[Joneill]

It is interesting to look at the spread of SCTLD. Until now, does not appear that it has been identified anywhere near Bonaire. From AGRRA Coral Disease Outbreak - AGRRA

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Yup - I’ve been to Aruba 3 times in the last year and, thankfully, have seen no evidence of it there!