Web Dive 2 Rock Key - Page 1

This is the second in a series of coral reef observations that we will be presenting on line shortly after each dive takes place. We are currently diving in the Key West area and will be returning to sites that have been part of the Reef Relief Photo Monitoring Survey for the past eight years.

For background information go to the Coral Stress section on this web site in order to get a better understanding of the events that have taken place on this reef over the past eight years.

History

Rock Key Reef is located approximately six miles south of Key West Florida. In 1993 Rit was home to some of the most beautiful Elkhorn coral in the Caribbean. An unprecedented chain of manmade and natural events have degraded this coral reef in less than a decade. In 1998 coral bleaching, massive algae blooms, snail predation and coral diseases struck this reef like a meteor shower.

05/14/97 White Pox image WP1

In May of 1997, during one of our routine photo monitoring dives, a new coral disease was first observed. Coral expert Dr. James Porter from the University of Georgia, was taken to the infected site where he named the new ailment White Pox. Since then Dr. Porter has devoted much of his time collaborating with other coral reef researchers, in an attempt to identify the pathogen that caused the outbreak. There are several other white coral diseases that infect elkhorn coral, however, none of them have the speckled characteristics of the White Pox disease.

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