Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) first appears as white patches over the coral, attacking their living tissue, leaving behind, its white remains. These patches represents that the coral polyp has died. Unlike other coral disease such as coral bleaching, if the disease is left untreated, the coral cannot recover. Photo: WLRN

Minister for Natural Resources, Labour and Immigration, Honourable Vincent O. Wheatley (R9) said there needs to be a collaborative effort to combat Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) in the Virgin Islands. Photo: VINO/File

A brain coral affected by Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD). Photo: VI EPSCoR

Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease, or SCTLD, was first spotted in Florida in 2014 and it is now spreading incredibly quickly towards the greater Caribbean. Source: P.R. Kramer, L. Roth and J. Lang/AGRRA 2019 (Data source: AGRRA)

‘Big Momma’, at more than 330 years old was the largest known colony of Mountainous Star coral (Orbicella faveolata) in Southeast Florida. It died in a matter of three to four months after contracting Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD). Photo: Florida Department of Environmental Protection

The outbreak of the disease, according to Hon Wheatley, was first observed along the Florida Reef Tract in 2014 and using the prevailing currents, the extent of the outbreak rapidly spread across reef to reef along the Florida Keys, Mexico, Belize and within the Caribbean in places such as Jamaica, Saint Maarten, the Dominican Republic, Turks and Caicos Islands, the neighbouring US Virgin Islands.

Disease identified @ popular VI dive sites

He said SCTLD was first discovered in the Virgin Islands on May 17, 2020.

“Reports revealed that the disease spread faster within the US Virgin Islands than it did in the Florida region, wiping out over 19 square miles of reef after it was first discovered on Flat Cay St Thomas, September 2019 and the density of the damage has grown significantly.

“After learning that the disease spread to several locations North of St John, field investigations revealed that it has spread to our popular dive sites such as Angel Reef, Ring Dove, the Indians and at the Wreck of the Rhone, the only marine park in the Territory,” Hon Wheatley stated during the Ninth Sitting of the Second Session of the Fourth House of Assembly (HoA) at the Save the Seed Energy Centre in Duff's Bottom, Tortola, on Thursday, June 11, 2020.

Threat to reefs & livelihood

Ho Wheatley noted that SCTLD is a threat to the marine lives that depend heavily on reefs, adding that the marine environment not only depends on healthy reefs but the VI people also depend on it.

“Our reefs are vital to our livelihood as it relates to tourism directly and indirectly, fisheries, coastal protection, and species diversity across the Territory as a whole. As such, we need to control and mitigate the spread of this unpredictable disease before our vibrant picturesque reefs turn into a desert wasteland of white rubble.”

It was stated by the Minister that SCTLD is bacterial but it is not harmful to humans; however, human activities such as scuba diving and the exchange of ballast waters from infected areas to unaffected areas can contribute to its spread if proper caution isn’t adhered to.

Treatment & other response

He said after discovering the outbreak was bacterial, treatments were developed to help corals recover. The treatment, Hon Wheatley explained, uses a small-scale ointment application of antibiotics, which is applied directly onto the lesion lines of the disease. Once treatments are applied, the antibiotics will begin to degrade a rate of approximately 2% per day.

“Mister Speaker, as the Ministry responsible for the Environment, we take this situation very seriously and although the Environment Unit has faced numerous challenges including not having their own vessel, as it was destroyed in 2017 by Hurricanes Irma and Maria, and which has prohibited staff from conducting coral monitoring and the possibility of coral outbreaks on a regular basis, we hope to form a multi-sectoral collaboration to address the situation. Our Officers have proposed the coordination of a Strike Team between the Ministry of Natural Resources Labour and Immigration, the National Parks Trust and the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.”

Hon Wheatley also said his Ministry has locally trained personnel with experience in identifying the disease and can train others in doing so. “We know it will be a costly ongoing venture but it is one we cannot allow to go untouched. Tourism is of vital importance to our country Mister Speaker but so is our dependence on the ocean for food and protection. We must work with great haste to recover our coral reefs.”

Enormous task

The Natural Resources Minister said tackling SCTLD is an enormous task and emphasised that the Government cannot do it alone.

“However, we are the leading agent in this initiative. Therefore, we encourage dive operators and local NGO’s to assist by volunteering their time in helping document the disease when they are diving.”

He said the creation of a citizen science programme will be proposed so that when persons are diving and encounter an infected coral, persons will notice there’s an ID tag, along with instructions and an ID number. This, Hon Wheatley said, will inform them to take a photo of the coral, along with the ID tag and email it to a central point.

“By doing this, our local response team would be able to quickly identify if the coral is responded to the treatment, if retreatment is needed, and if the disease has spread to other locations.”

The Virgin Islands (VI) has over 84,000 sq kilometres of ocean space and approximately, 78,000 acres of reef, Hon Wheatley said.