The U.S. Department of the Interior recently revealed the bleaching problems for coral reefs. Bleaching happens when coral gets stressed.
"From the Florida Keys to @DryTortugasNPS in the Gulf of Mexico, @USGS scientists have recently observed that many coral reef communities are experiencing unprecedented bleaching events due to extreme water temperatures," DOI said in an Aug. 8 post on X, formerly Twitter.
Corals at Dry Tortugas National Park have been infected with Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease, which was discovered in May 2021. It has spread to the entirety of Florida’s coral reef and in the Caribbean, according to the Dry Tortugas National Park page on the corals. There are 30 species of coral at the park, and it’s quite a sight to see.
Stony Coral Tissue Loss was first discovered in 2014, but it wasn’t until May 29, 2021, it was discovered in Dry Tortugas National Park, according to a release. The staff of the Dry Tortugas National Park regularly monitored nearly three dozen sites and created the Coral Response Team in January 2021 to monitor the coral and respond to the disease as it was found in the park’s waters.
The infected coral were treated with an antibiotic paste, but as of December 2021, there has been Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease at 69 different sites within the park, the release said.
The Coral Disease Intervention Dashboard shows the location of affected coral, as well as the number of corals treated. As of July 6, 24,548 coral have been treated.
There are nine species in the park that are threatened, according to the National Park Service. Those are elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata); staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis); pillar coral (Dendrogyra cylindrus); rough cactus coral (Mycetophyllia ferox); lobed star coral (Orbicella annularis) mountainous star coral (Orbicella faveolata); and boulder star coral (Orbicella franksi).
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration describes coral bleaching as a three step process. Healthy coral becomes stressed from a variety of factors, including changes in water temperatures or pollution, and the colorful algae that has a symbiotic relationship with the coral leaves the white coral, taking its color. What remains is the white or pale coral that is more susceptible to disease.
