The race to save the coral of the Caribbean
Emily Hower, a research assistant at Nova Southeastern University doing field work on coral off Key West in Florida, bobs up out of the water and removes her diving mask. The news is not good.
Most of the pillar coral that her team have been monitoring for years are dead.
Left: Graduate students Bradley Arrington and Kathryn Cableigh pull a basket filled with corals afflicted by Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease to their research vessel.
Right: Karen Neely (left) works during a dive to collect samples of corals afflicted by Stony Tissue Loss Disease.
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"It is a huge disaster that's going on underneath the waves," says Karen Neely, a coral ecologist at Nova. "This is on the level of the Amazon burning. It is on the level of a disease that's wiping out all of America's forests."
Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease attacks the tissue of coral, transforming healthy, vibrant marine ecosystems into drab, dead worlds within weeks.
Polyps on an Eusmilia fastigiata (Smooth Flower Coral) are open and relaxed as the coral rests in a laboratory at a Florida Aquarium facility. This species of coral is susceptible to Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease.
Polyps on a Colpophyllia Natans (Boulder Brain Coral) create patterns on top of its skeletal base as the coral rests in a laboratory at a Florida Aquarium facility.
Polyps on a Pseudodiploria strigosa (Symmetrical Brain Coral) create patterns on top of its skeletal base as the coral rests in a laboratory at a Florida Aquarium facility.
Polyps on a Montastraea cavernosa (Large-cup Star Coral) constrict as the coral rests in a laboratory at Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium.
Polyps on an Mycetophyllia alicia (Knobby Cactus Coral) open as the coral rests in a laboratory at a Florida Aquarium facility.
A small Diploria Labyrinthiformis (Grooved Brain Coral) is photographed in a lab.
Polyps on an Orbicella faveolata (Mountainous Star Coral) are closed as the coral rests in a laboratory at Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium.
Polyps on a Meandrina Meandrites (Maze Coral) are protectively closed as the coral rests in a laboratory at a Florida Aquarium facility.
Polyps on a Montastraea Cavernosa (Large-cup Star Coral) constrict as the coral rests in a laboratory at Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium.
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The disease has ravaged the entire Atlantic reef off Florida, spread across parts of the Caribbean, and has recently been reported near Belize in central America. Pillar coral, whose clusters of spiky fingers appear to reach up from the sea bed, is "reproductively extinct" off the Florida coast, says Keri O'Neil, chief coral scientist at the Florida Aquarium.
At the aquarium, a rare ray of hope comes from a room that has the lights off for much of the year. Here, an elaborate and expensive system of LED lights is designed to emulate sunrises, sunsets and phases of the moon to coax pillar coral in tanks into reproducing as if they were in the ocean.
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Such a loss would represent "a loss of biodiversity which could be a source for future medicines, the loss of fisheries, the loss of tourism value," says Brandt. "A lot of Caribbean islands have part of their culture based around coral reefs and if you lose those reefs you lose an aspect of their culture."
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A colony of Diploria Labryinthiformis exhibits a loss of tissue from the Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease.
Emily Hower cleans her mask as she prepares to enter the water for a dive to apply antibiotic ointment to corals afflicted by Stony Tissue Loss Disease.
Graduate students and volunteers take part in a dive to familiarise themselves with methods used in the National Coral Reef Monitoring Program.
Graduate student, Sarah Heidmann, prepares diving tanks before taking part in a dive to inspect corals being killed by Stoney Coral Tissue Loss Disease.
Kylie Zimmerman from the Smithsonian Institute watches as Phd students Bradley Weiler (R) and Anthony Bonacolta take samples to study from corals afflicted by Stony Tissue Loss Disease.
Biologist Emily Williams moves corals between water tanks during work to learn more about an outbreak of of Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease at a Florida Aquarium facility.
Polyps on a Dendrogyra cylindrus (Pillar Coral) are reflected by the waters surface while it rests in a laboratory at at a Florida Aquarium facility.
Mussa angulosa (Spiny Flower Coral) rests in a laboratory at a Florida Aquarium facility.
Polyps on a Colpophyllia natans (Boulder Brain Coral) create patterns on top of its skeletal base as the coral rests in a laboratory at a Florida Aquarium facility.
Research technician, Danielle Lasseigne (right), works with graduate students Kathryn Cableigh (left) and Bradley Arrington to remove corals afflicted by Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease.
Graduate student Sonora Meiling measures a distance with Bradley Arrington on a dive to inspect corals affected by Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease.
An air bubble rises from the regulator of graduate student Bradley Arrington (L) as he and Sonora Meiling swim through the water to inspect a reef for signs of Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease.
Marilyn Brandt (right) makes a symbol with graduate students (left to right) Kathryn Cableigh, Sonora Meiling, and Bradley Arrington on a dive to inspect coral affected by Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease.
Graduate student Bradley Arrington uses a steel hammer and chisel to remove diseased corals on a trip to inspect corals affected by Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) near the University of the Virgin Islands campus.
A nail is used to mark the extent of tissue killed by Stony Tissue Loss Disease underneath an antibiotic ointment applied to a large Orbicella faveolata (Mountainous Star Coral) colony.
Kevin Macaulay ascends with a bin of coral towards the surface while on a dive.
