 Florida's coral reefs are experiencing a multi-year outbreak of stony coral tissue loss disease. While disease outbreaks are not uncommon, this event is unique due to its large geographic range, duration, and the number of species affected.
As part of the team’s coral rescue efforts, FWC scientists are collecting flower, maze, and boulder corals, for research and preservation. These corals, plus others collected earlier in the year, are transported to Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota.
While the collected corals are in aquaria, some of them will be used in breeding and coral fragmentation programs to increase the genetic diversity and number of colonies available for transplanting back into the wild. An update from Mote reported the corals look good, with no signs of sickness. These corals will be kept at Mote until the disease passes and it’s safe to return them to the reef.
To find out more about coral disease and its affects, visit NOAA's web-page here. View our Coral Rescue Flickr album: http://bit.ly/2CA3F1D
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