White Plague spreading on the Cozumel Coral???

[SeaWarden]

It's so sad, what is happening to the corals here.

 

[ggunn]

It's so sad, what is happening to the corals here.

It's happening to coral everywhere.

 

[scubafanatic]

Coz reefs are in a strait with currents, so local polution should be swept away.

New pollution replaces 'swept away' old pollution, keeping the area saturated via the never ending pollution production line.

 

[Pedro Valencia]

From what I know so far:
- it's a disease that was found first in Florida in 2014
-detected in cozumel around December 2018
-spreads really really fast and can kill a coral head in 2 weeks
-its not the same as the bleaching which can be seassonal and the coral can recover from that
-this disease kills the tissue of the coral
-autorities are working on a big scale plan to stop it (including polution control, appliying antibiotics, etc)
-if you see this kind of coral don't get close to it as you can become a beacon for the disease to spread

what recreational divers can do is take pictures of it and report it to the marine park, with location, depth and how long how you been in the dive. (example: palancar Gardens, 70feet, 10 minutes into the dive)

 

[tarponchik]

New pollution replaces 'swept away' old pollution, keeping the area saturated via the never ending pollution production line.

If you put it this way, using the term "saturated" is wrong. Saturated means that adding more pollution won't make things worse.

 

[scubafanatic]

If you put it this way, using the term "saturated" is wrong. Saturated means that adding more pollution won't make things worse.

At this point, the word 'pedantic' is the applicable term.

 

[Kaja]

From what I know so far:
- it's a disease that was found first in Florida in 2014
-detected in cozumel around December 2018
-spreads really really fast and can kill a coral head in 2 weeks
-its not the same as the bleaching which can be seassonal and the coral can recover from that
-this disease kills the tissue of the coral
-autorities are working on a big scale plan to stop it (including polution control, appliying antibiotics, etc)
-if you see this kind of coral don't get close to it as you can become a beacon for the disease to spread

what recreational divers can do is take pictures of it and report it to the marine park, with location, depth and how long how you been in the dive. (example: palancar Gardens, 70feet, 10 minutes into the dive)

Correct. Coral bleaching is one thing, the 'white plague' is totally different story. It is very alarming to see more and more coral affected, even in dive spots that are far away from the main tourist areas (cruise ship piers and town). We recently have many days with current changing its direction, many days with current going South which is not helping relatively healthy reefs closer to Punta Sur... There is a big Coral Restoration project started on Cozumel some time ago. With help of many volunteers, they are trying to monitor the plague expansion and stop it by applying some medication on the affected corals. There was also a special committee created a few weeks ago to fight the plague, with Marine Park officials and marine biologists who aim to find out what is causing the 'white plague' (as what was initially thought to be bacteria, might be a virus actually) and develop a deliberate action plan. You may read more about the Project here: Cozumel Coral Reef Restoration

Sunscreen policy doesn't really exist on Cozumel. Obviously, the Marine Park would advise to use reef-safe sun protection, so would the local dive shops, but there is not enough posters reminding the tourists what to do and how to behave while in the water (as we're also talking about all the snorkelers)...

 

[Charred]

Better do something quick on this.

I was there a week ago and nearly every of the brain corals I encountered had a significant amount of infection. I don't think I recall seeing a single one not impacted. I would guess that in a years time they will all be gone.

On the flip side, the barrel sponges spawned during the day with each one looking like a smoking barrel. It was pretty neat at first until they significantly reduced the visibility.

 

[Saxonjd]

I've posted sparingly as a newish diver, but it was sad to see the spread of the infection when I was down there the first week of April. Lots of white patching on brain coral, and complete heads that were white.

It's all speculation and to some extent rumor, but what was discussed on the dive boat centered around the cruise ships bringing the disease down from Florida. Pure speculation for sure. I don't doubt it's something that has been created from the many stresses from climate, or items put into the water (ie: runoff) that are affecting things. As we change the natural balance of the ecosystem from natural or man-made variations we can reasonably expect the environment to react.

Lots of talk about the issues in Florida but no one had info regarding how it's been treated there, or if things have been better or worse. I'm curious to hear. Above all, sad to think about the possible future of such a wonderful and beautiful ecosystem.

 

[scubafanatic]

I've posted sparingly as a newish diver, but it was sad to see the spread of the infection when I was down there the first week of April. Lots of white patching on brain coral, and complete heads that were white.

It's all speculation and to some extent rumor, but what was discussed on the dive boat centered around the cruise ships bringing the disease down from Florida. Pure speculation for sure. I don't doubt it's something that has been created from the many stresses from climate, or items put into the water (ie: runoff) that are affecting things. As we change the natural balance of the ecosystem from natural or man-made variations we can reasonably expect the environment to react.

Lots of talk about the issues in Florida but no one had info regarding how it's been treated there, or if things have been better or worse. I'm curious to hear. Above all, sad to think about the possible future of such a wonderful and beautiful ecosystem.

from the April 2019 edition of Undercurrent:

Red Tide Is Gone, But Here Is Florida’s New Coastal Threat

Every year, dive boats from Looe Key Reef Resort,
on Ramrod Key in Florida, take 20,000 divers to Looe
Key Reef, but that number is now being sharply
reduced -- this crown jewel in Florida’s reef system
is on the verge of extinction . From the Lower Keys to
Martin County in the north, Florida’s Atlantic coast is
suffering from stony coral tissue loss disease .

.......Brian Lapointe, a research professor at Florida
Atlantic University, just released a study of data col-
lected over three decades revealing what nobody
wants to hear . “Sadly, we’ve lost virtually all of the
coral [in Florida],” he says . “We’re down to five per-
cent of what we formerly had .”

---so Florida has already lost 95% of it's corals!