[Coral-List] SCTLD in ballast water

sealab at earthlink.net sealab at earthlink.net
Mon Aug 8 13:51:36 UTC 2022


Dear Austin, Doug et al.,

I think we all know what it would take to truly “protect coral reefs”. Then there’s climate change and let’s not forget over-population. The scientific community could have done more, but consider what it would actually have to do in order to change the existing paradigm. Scientists would literally have to revolutionize the way much of the world thinks about the natural world vis a vis economic growth and development. Such a transformation would require a monumental shift in long held beliefs and values.

While I share your frustration with the infighting, complacency and lack of progress, could it be that we are expecting too much from the scientific community?

Regards,

Steve

On 8/5/22, 6:51 PM, Austin Bowden-Kerby <abowdenkerby at gmail.com> wrote:

Thanks Steve and Doug,

The issue of primary concern to the wider world (to all areas not yet impacted), is not what causes SCTLD, or how to treat it etc, but rather how it is spread. All of these questions can and must be figured out later, but this horrific disease must be stopped from spreading right now. It may be too late for the Caribbean, but if it proves to be spread via ballast water, then we all should be extremely worried for the corals of the IndoPacific region. If there is even a slight chance of that, then we need to take immediate and unified action, not get lost in disagreements that might lead to corporate and government inaction.

Right now, shouldn't ports with coral reefs receiving ships from the affected region be alerted and governments informed of the potential risk? Shouldn't they be advised to take stringent measures to prevent ballast water release, even if that requires banning certain ships? While I have no idea what sorts of biosecurity measures are already in place, I think they probably need to be urgently reviewed, especially in light of this disease and of the new findings on the ineffectiveness of UV sterilization. This is extremely urgent, but was lost in the earlier critique, which spun off and completely missed the most important finding of the paper- that the present sterilization systems of ballast water are not effective against stopping this (and other) diseases!

For those reading this from Hawaii, how many ships arrive annually into your ports via the Panama Canal? If (heaven forbid), there were an outbreak of SCTLD in Hawaii, would we finally assume that ballast water is to blame? Or would we continue to use the precautionary principle of science in a non-precautionary manner, cite a lack of definitive proof, and continue the present inaction? Would shipping continue as normal, ignoring the threat, like it did in the Caribbean? Effective action dealing with a Hawaii outbreak would likely require the temporary closure of all inter-island shipping and international shipping from Hawaii to Japan, China, Australia, etc. Huge economic costs would be incurred, but nothing compared to the cost of coral reefs of the region getting this disease.

It saddens me that the present adversarial, competitive, and overly critical nature of the scientific community has largely proven non-effective at protecting coral reefs and saving the planet in the face of climate change and other global threats. We continue undermining each other publically when the very fate of the planet is at stake, and without considering the wider impacts and how our discussions and nay-saying might feed corporate and government inaction, and that is where we are right now.

Regards to all,

Austin

Austin Bowden-Kerby, PhD

Corals for Conservation

P.O. Box 4649 Samabula, Fiji Islands

https://www.corals4conservation.org (https://www.corals4conservation.org/)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIAkO-hN1SM

https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/emergency-response-to-massive-coral-bleaching/ (https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/emergency-response-to-massive-coral-bleaching/)

Austin Bowden-Kerby, PhD

Corals for Conservation

P.O. Box 4649 Samabula, Fiji Islands

https://www.corals4conservation.org (https://www.corals4conservation.org/)

https://www.facebook.com/C4Conservation

TEDx talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PRLJ8zDm0U

https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/emergency-response-to-massive-coral-bleaching/ (https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/emergency-response-to-massive-coral-bleaching/)

Teitei Livelihoods Centre

Km 20 Sigatoka Valley Road, Fiji Islands

(679) 938-6437

http:/www. (http://permacultureglobal.com/projects/1759-sustainable-environmental-livelihoods-farm-Fiji)teiteifiji.org (http://teiteifiji.org/)

http://permacultureglobal.com/projects/1759-sustainable-environmental-livelihoods-farm-Fiji

https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/happy-chickens-for-food-security-and-environment-1/

On Sat, Aug 6, 2022 at 2:59 AM Douglas Fenner <douglasfennertassi at gmail.com (mailto:douglasfennertassi at gmail.com)> wrote:

The precautionary principle seems to be invoked most often in fisheries, where I believe it is interpreted as saying that when in doubt (which is much of the time), we should protect the resource; because if we don't, we could lose it. That would seem applicable to coral reefs as well. So if it appears possible that the disease could be spread by ballast water and it is highly lethal to many species, we should try to figure out ways to make it so it couldn't be spread by ballast water.

I'd add that if I remember, this new paper reports using ultraviolet light as it is used with ballast water, to try to sterilize water that diseased corals had been in. In spite of that, the corals caught the disease from the water. So it looks like UV sterilization ships use wouldn't prevent spread by ballast water.

Cheers, Doug

On Fri, Aug 5, 2022 at 2:55 AM Steve Mussman via Coral-List <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov (mailto:coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov)> wrote:

Dear Austin,

In the post-truth world of today, we would most likely not agree on the basic facts or the proper response even if it were a human pathogen. So, it comes as no surprise that SCTLD is provoking a discussion with some level of disagreement (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing). I don’t even believe that the rhetorical question you initially proposed regarding what is at stake can be regarded as a settled assumption. We may never be able to trace the exact origins of SCTLD or fully understand the dynamics of its transmission, but we could say unequivocally that this disease is piling on and increasing the overall coral reef crisis. We could also say that if we don’t change our ways coral reefs will continue their downward trend. We could explicitly pronounce that we now have a clear choice before us. We can embark on an attempt to take the necessary steps to restore the natural ecological balance or we can continue to squabble about the best ways to treat an ever-increasing list of incurable symptoms.

I’m not sure, but do you think we could we at least agree on that?

Regards,

Steve

P.S. Does anyone have any thoughts on the efficacy of decontamination of scuba diving equipment in an attempt to slow or stop the spread of SCTLD? I have friends within the diving industry on Bonaire who are trying to determine if this makes any sense as disinfection techniques are both time consuming and intrusive and would have to be repeated on their boats between dives during surface intervals.

On 8/1/22, 4:24 PM, Austin Bowden-Kerby <abowdenkerby at gmail.com (mailto:abowdenkerby at gmail.com)> wrote:

With SCTLD, it is clear that the very survival of multiple coral species in the Caribbean and potentially all global coral reef systems is at stake. Can we at least agree on that? Ballast water has been suspected in the introduction of all sorts of things, including the Indo Pacific coral Tubastraea micranthus into the Gulf of Mexico. If ballast water is indeed the vector for this disease, then coral reefs over the entire planet are now under an additional grave threat.

I have always understood that in situations like this, the precautionary principle of science must be turned on its head. The precautionary thing to do right now is to assume that ballast water is the culprit until proven innocent. If this disease were a water borne human pathogen with close to 100% mortality, we certainly would be closing down shipping and inspecting ballast water and looking into the effectiveness of ballast water purification systems, etc.

If we continue to follow the normal upright precautionary principle of science (innocent until proven guilty) with regards to this particular case, and to argue about how there is no definitive proof, then we are potentially putting coral reefs globally in grave danger. To have scientists arguing publicly and debunking the best study that is out there thus far- a study that adds important information about how the UV purification systems for ballast water may not be effective, completely dissipates the focus on finding solutions and answers. The large billionaire shipping and cruise line corporations just love these critical discussions! On the present trajectory, will transferring the disease to Hawaii or Australia be the only way we can finally accept the ballast water hypothesis?

Austin

Austin Bowden-Kerby, PhD

Corals for Conservation

https://www.corals4conservation.org (https://www.corals4conservation.org/) (https://www.corals4conservation.org/)

https://youtu.be/FIAkO-hN1SM

https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/emergency-response-to-massive-coral-bleaching/ (https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/emergency-response-to-massive-coral-bleaching/)

On Tue, Aug 2, 2022 at 4:37 AM Steve Mussman via Coral-List <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov (mailto:coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov) (mailto:coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov)> wrote:

I don’t believe anyone is claiming to have definitive proof that the pathogen associated with SCTLD is being spread directly by ballast water, although there appears to be solid justification for further research into that particular hypothesis and it is most certainly not based on political correctness. John Bruno recently made a compelling argument (as many others have) that climate change, although not suspected of being the primary cause of coral diseases, is also involved. “Higher than normal temperatures are thought to increase the occurrence and severity of disease outbreaks through several mechanisms, including increased pathogen virulence and weakened host immune systems owing to physiological stresses.” In his paper “The Coral Disease Triangle”, John makes note of the fact that it is still the subject of speculation that the unknown pathogenic bacterium associated with white-band disease may have been introduced into affected regions “perhaps via the Panama Canal or in ballast water carried by cargo ships”. Although a water-borne pathogen could be spread by currents alone, ballast water from ships might explain how it has spread to geographically and oceanographically isolated reefs.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274312564_The_coral_disease_triangle

Regards,

Steve

On 7/30/22, 3:46 PM, Eugene Shinn via Coral-List <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov (mailto:coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov) (mailto:coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov)> wrote:

I scanned the interesting research paper that blames coral disease is

spread by ships ballast water. It is a reasonable hypothesis. However, I

agree with Alina Szmant. I too have not seen the proof. She pointed out

that the paper was not peer reviewed. The first thing I noticed in the

papers title were the words, “simulated ballast water.” If I were a

shipping company owner and that study was being used as proof my ballast

water was the major spreader and cause of coral reef demise I would

surely have my high paid lawyers go on the attack. They could quickly

point out that the study of simulated ballast water does not prove my

ballast water causes disease. That otherwise excellent study made me

wonder why did the authors not sample water from actual ship ballast

tanks? Why use simulated ballast water? At the same time I have to agree

there is no evidence that real ballast water is not a carrier of coral

disease. Ballast water may actually be spreading coral toxins from reef

to reef. However, the real question is If there are disease organisms in

ballast water, where did they come from in the first place. Clearly once

these agents are in the water column they can easily be moved along with

water currents. They do need ballast water for transport. The major

current flow directions in the Caribbean are well known and the

strongest of these currents flow past the Belize and Florida Keys reefs.

As many list readers know I have been advocating since the 1980s that

disease agents in the Caribbean were originally brought to the western

Atlantic/Caribbean in dust clouds transported by the Tradewinds. Dust

particles carrying disease causing agents are constantly dropping out as

the dust clouds move along. Many even cross over into the Pacific. Once

corals and other organisms including /Diadema/ and Seafan diseases

become established they are easily transmitted down current to affect

other marine organisms. I have often suggested the demise of the

staghorn fields at San Salvador in 1983, was a starting point for such

transport.

Back when my USGS dust study team was active in the late 1990s they

cultured and identified around 200 microbes and fungi that were being

transmitted in African dust clouds. At the time we knew asthma was by

rampant in children on those windward islands in the Bahamas. Even

Puerto Rico is well known for its respiratory diseases. In those days it

baffled me why so many competent scientists rejected the dust

hypothesis. Later as I matured I realized it was all about politics and

funding. I suppose blaming coral diseases on ballast water these days is

politically correct. Gene

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