Mysterious diseases strike Coral reefs in the Caribbean Sea in a "bleaching" crisis

According to the "Central News Agency", the red, yellow and purple corals of the Central American coral reefs in the Caribbean region were originally extremely beautiful, but now some of them have become sickly white. Currently, researchers are working hard to understand and combat the mysterious diseases that kill local corals.

Infographic: Coral reefs. Image source: Visual China

In just over a year, it has been reported that in just over a year, it has been attacked by the lesser-known "stony coral tissue loss disease" (SCTLD), and 30% of the corals in the Caribbean region of Mexico have been lost. The disease is known to cause coral calcification and death.

Experts warn that the disease could kill most of the Coral Reefs in Central America. This vast group of curved coral reefs spans more than 1,000 kilometres and is shared by countries such as Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras.

SCTLD has left the region in a bind, with the disease threatening to destroy the tourism industry on which people in the atoll region depend for their livelihoods. The Central American Reef is the second largest coral reef in the world after Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

In fact, scientists say, too much tourism is very likely to fuel the problem.

SCTLD has been infecting corals off the coast of Florida, USA, since 2014 and was first detected in the Caribbean region of Mexico in July 2018, near the northern end of the reef group.

According to the environmental group Healthy Coral Reefs, Healthy People, SCTLD later spread 400 kilometers south to Belis, causing more coral damage than the region has done in the past 40 years.

Soto, coordinator of Healthy Reefs, Healthy People in Mexico, said SCTLD could kill coral tissue that would take decades to grow in just a few weeks.

"If this rate continues, this ecosystem will collapse in the next 5 to 10 years," Soto said. ”