[Coral-List] White plague disease

[Billy Causey]

Hi Valeria,
Thank you for this posting.  I am responding to you and the entire Coral List because I
had not yet reported the coral bleaching that Graham Edgar and I observed on some of
the nearshore patch reefs off San Andres during our International Advisory Board
meeting (Oct 4-8).  While I would not call it a mass bleaching event, I would say that
the corals were extremely stressed and many were pale to fully bleached.  If you
recall, I mentioned some of our observations were near one of your sampling sites.  I
hear from some of the CORALINA staff that you had experienced about a month of
slick-calm, hot weather conditions and I would suggest this set the stage for some of
what you are now observing.

We did not see any coral bleaching in some of the deeper coral reef areas, although our
observations were limited due to the work that we were in San Andres to perform.  Are
your white plague observations on both shallow and deeper corals?

Again, thank you for keeping us updated!  And, by the way, congratulations on the coral
spawning observations .... I saw the photos and it was spectacular!

Billy


Valeria Pizarro wrote:

> Dear Coral-listers,
> During the last two months in the islands of San Andres and Old Providence (Western
> Caribbean, Colombia) white plague disease has been observed in different reef areas.
> The incidence of the disease has increased in both islands, but the species affected
> vary. While in San Andres brain corals (genera Diploria and Colpophyllia) seem to be
> the most affected, in Old Providence it is Montastraea annularis and M. faveolata.
> Disease progress in Old Providence varied between 0.16 and 0.6 cm per day. This
> variation might be related to the coral species affected by white plague. It has
> been estimated that approximately 20% of the coral cover has been killed by the
> disease. The extent of mortality in San Andres is less, estimated around 10%. We are
> planning a detailed assessment of the extent of the disease at both islands, and if
> possible in other reef areas of the Archipelago of San Andres, Old Providence and
> Santa Catalina. We would like to hear from other researchers working on disease
> monitoring programs along the Caribbean.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Valeria Pizarro, PhD Student
> Pilar Herron, MSc
> Santiago Posada
> Giovanna Peñalosa
> Nicasio Howard
>
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----
Billy D. Causey
Superintendent
Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
P.O. Box 500368
Marathon, FL  33050

phone: (305) 743-2437 x26
fax: (305) 743-2357

http://floridakeys.noaa.gov