Florida Fails to Respond to Epizootic Coral Disease: What Happened?

Florida coral populations took a massive hit in 2020.

(Photo : Olga Tsai on Unsplash)

Florida Fails to Respond to an Epizootic Coral Disease 

A coral population from Florida, all the way to the greater Caribbean basin, suffered from a great number of losses due to a lethal case of STCLD (Stony Tissue Loss Disease). Because of the high mortality and the massive number of susceptible species affected, this epizootic epidemic is likely the worst and most lethal case recorded in modern history.

But, unsurprisingly, this breakout did not happen in just one instance.

For too long, there has been a terrifyingly steady decline in coral reefs. At first, it was believed that this was due to the local dredge projects, which had been ongoing during the preliminary reports. However, in a recent study published by carbonate sedimentologist William Precht, he provided an in-depth overview about what might have gone wrong and how Florida's coral population ended in such a dire situation.

In his study published in the scientific journal "Rethinking Ecology," the current Director of Marine and Coastal Programs for the independent environmental consulting firm Dial Cordy and Associates Inc. said that the state authorities failed to prevent what could have been a completely avoidable mass population decline. He also highlighted the steps that should be taken to avoid the regional extinction of various coral species.

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Coral Disease Observed in 2014, but Not Addressed. What happened?

The coral disease that devastated the local population was first observed in September 2014 near Virginia Key, Florida, and is, unfortunately, still active throughout the Caribbean to this date.

Despite the clear signs of a bigger catastrophe, the authorities missed the short window of opportunity to respond to the emerging epidemic before it managed to spread.

The moment is started spreading, many, including the mass media, were quick to blame the ongoing Port Miami Dredge Project for the coral reef losses, even though its activities, meant to widen or deepen existing ship channels while minimizing damage to coral reef resources, had already been under thorough scrutiny by government agencies and intensive monitoring, conducted by trained scientific divers. Nevertheless, dredging has typically been assumed to be bad for corals. Furthermore, these events coincided with Florida's prohibition for government employees to acknowledge global warming in their work.

All the blame game gave the SCTLD enough time to incubate and spread even further.

"Finally, when the agencies responded to the outbreak, their efforts were too little and much too late to make a meaningful difference. While eradicating the disease was never a possibility, early control measures may have slowed its spread or allowed for the rescue of significant numbers of large colonies of iconic species. Because of the languid management response to this outbreak, we are now sadly faced with a situation where much of our management efforts are focused on the rescue of genetic material from coral species already at risk of regional extinction," explains Precht.

"Why was the response to the loss of our coral reefs to a coral disease epidemic such a massive failure? This includes our failure as scientists, regulators, resource managers, local media, and policymakers alike," he adds.

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