[Coral-List] Caribbean Coral Disease Watch Website

[Judith Lang]

Caribbean Coral Disease Watch Website

Alert! Coral Disease Outbreak in the Caribbean

Stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) is a new lethal disease first reported in Florida in 2014. The cause of the disease is unknown but is affecting >20 species of corals especially massive brain, pillar, starlet and star corals. The disease spreads quickly causing high coral mortality. Outbreaks of SCTLD have been noted in other parts of the Caribbean including Jamaica, Mexican Caribbean, St. Maarten and, most recently St. Thomas, USVI and the Dominican Republic.

In response to the increased number of disease reports in the Caribbean and to provide technical support to partners in the Caribbean, we have developed a Caribbean Coral Disease Watch portal with 3 new tools on our AGRRA website to help share information and track the disease outbreak including:

Disease Watch Survey Online – An online survey to enter information on presence/absence, coral species affected, location, and ability to upload photos. You can enter data by Scientific Coral Name or Common Coral Name or Roving Diver Survey form. Data populates the online map after verification. 

Map of Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease in Caribbean – An online map to track recent reports of SCTLD and details of observations (in pop up table form). The map is updated regularly.

Educational Information – The website has information on the disease outbreak, identification guides, photos and additional resources. Links to reports developed by the Florida Disease Advisory Group and other partners are included.

The purpose of the Caribbean Coral Disease Watch portal is to enhance collaboration, streamline data collecting and sharing in the Caribbean and better track disease outbreaks (mainly those that resemble SCTLD). We will update the Disease Map and information regularly.

To access the Caribbean Coral Disease Watch website see: http://www.agrra.org/coral-disease-outbreak/ <http://www.agrra.org/coral-disease-outbreak/>
We encourage everyone to be on the lookout for signs of SCTLD (spot check your reefs), report disease observations and take photos for verification. If you have any questions, please contact us at info at agrra.org <mailto:info at agrra.org>. 

Thank you,

The AGRRA Team

Patricia Kramer, Judith Lang, Lynnette Roth and Shirley Gun