[Coral-List] Dustan post on coral death

Eugene Shinn eugeneshinn at mail.usf.edu
Fri Jan 3 18:38:36 UTC 2020


For many years I sat on Sanctuary and other coral reef committees with 
Phil Dustan in the Keys.  Both of us clamored for controlled research 
projects to isolate what was killing keys corals back then. We both knew 
that coral disease was happening simultaneously all over the Caribbean. 
The peak year for coral disease was 1983. That was the year 95 percent 
of the Acroporids around San Salvador died from disease. Coral death was 
well documented by the Finger Lakes Marine lab that was having its hey 
day on San Salvador at the time. There were no parrot fish eating them 
until after they died in growth position. It all happened during the 
summer of 1983. Historically the peak year of African dust flux 
throughout the Caribbean. Simple aquarium experiments would have 
confirmed a toxin (likely DDT and the approximately 200 species of live 
bacteria and fungi transported in the dust was likely the root cause. 
Must say we tried. All the attentions was being focused of boat and 
anchor damage. If this bickering keeps up I may have to reveal how and 
why the Sanctuary program was started in the first place. Gene

-- 


No Rocks, No Water, No Ecosystem (EAS)
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E. A. Shinn, Courtesy Professor
University of South Florida
College of Marine Science Room 221A
140 Seventh Avenue South
St. Petersburg, FL 33701
<eugeneshinn at mail.usf.edu>
Tel 727 553-1158
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