HONOLULU (KHON2) — The Department of Land and Natural Resources is sounding the alarm on a deadly new disease that is ravaging coral reefs in Florida and the Caribbean. In 2022, Dana Wusinich-Mendez of the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program presented evidence that this new disease is likely the “most lethal coral disease ever”.
“Insidious is the best way to describe Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease [SCTLD],” said DLNR’s Division of Aquatic Resources.
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According to DAR, SCTLD was first discovered off the coast of Florida in 2014. It has now been discovered that it is spreading along the entire coastline of Florida and has made the leap to impacting coral in 23 countries and territories in the Greater Caribbean Basin.
DAR said that the disease kills one to two inches of coral per day. This amount of devastation in such a short period of time makes it difficult for coral colonies to heal. Worse, the disease is impacting more than 30 different species of coral.
“The coral loss that Florida and the Caribbean are experiencing is devastating. We want to take every measure we can to prevent this coral disease from spreading to Hawai’i’s reefs,” said Brian Neilson, Administrator of the DLNR’s DAR.
Research is showing that the disease-carrying microbes of SCTLD can be carried in a vessel’s ballast water. DAR pointed out that “ballast water management systems that use ultraviolet light — the most commonly-used system to sterilize ballast water — are only 50% effective at killing the pathogen.”
The stamina of SCTLD is impressive. research has shown that the pathogens can live in sediments. This means that the disease can easily be transported to Hawai’i if vessels don’t fully remove sediments from anchors or other parts of the ship.
DLNR is asking the State to take decisive action to reduce the risk of SCTLD entering Hawai‘i waters.
DAR said they are “proposing that vessels that have been to a SCTLD-affected area within the last five ports, to not discharge ballast water within State Waters and to also send prior notification of arrival with information about the vessel’s biofouling prevention practices, so a risk assessment may be conducted.”
So, how does a devastating marine based disease make it to Hawai’i from the other side of the continent? Biofueling.
Biofueling, as explained by DAR, is when microbes, plants and animals become attached to the wet surfaces of a ship’s hull and other areas of the vessel. Organisms that thrive in biofouling communities could be carriers of SCTLD and can lead to the disease being transported via vessel to a new location.
“Ballast water is the seawater taken up by a vessel to regulate weight and balance and can be discharged in new ports,” explained DAR.
DAR also noted that there are a small number of vessels arriving in Hawai’i that would be impacted by these new requirements.
State and Federal regulations are already in place that must be followed by vessel operators.
“These additional measures, narrowly focused to further mitigate risk, will help vessel operators help us protect Hawai‘i. If a vessel is considered to be a potential spreader of SCTLD, based on risk assessments, it will be red-flagged for further monitoring and preventative actions,” said Nielson.