ST. THOMAS, V.I. — January 2, 2013 — A team of scientists at the University of the Virgin Islands is getting attention for their research on the coral disease known as the "white plague."
On the surface, the white plague disease looks similar to bleached coral, but it is far worse.
When colorful, living, coral polyps become stressed by high water temperatures, they expel the symbiotic algae that live within them and provide needed food to the coral. Because the algae is the source of the coral's color, when it leaves, the coral becomes stark white or "bleached."
While coral can survive the bleaching, it becomes vulnerable to disease and predators.
In the summer of 2005, high water temperatures led to a massive coral die-off both in the Virgin Islands and around the world. The territory lost 60 percent of its coral colonies to bleaching and disease.
The disease scientists have found most prevalent after the 2005 bleaching event is a disease called white plague. At the time, very little was known about the disease, including what causes it.
A team led by Marilyn Brandt of UVI's Center for Marine and Environmental Studies, has identified viruses as potential coral pathogens.
"The research suggests that white plague disease is associated with and may be caused by viruses," Brandt said. "This is the first study of its kind that has identified viruses as a potential coral pathogen."
The research also showed the disease was triggered when sand and sediment – stirred up by Hurricane Earl in August 2010 – made contact with living coral tissue.
Read the full story from Virgin Islands Daily News