July 8, 2020 — Researchers say a recently discovered species of seaweed is killing large patches of coral on once-pristine reefs in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and is rapidly spreading across one of the most remote and protected ocean environments on Earth.

A study from the University of Hawaii and others says the seaweed is spreading more rapidly than anything they’ve seen before in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, a nature reserve that stretches more than 1,300 miles north of the main Hawaiian Islands.

The study was published Tuesday in the journal PLOS ONE.

The algae easily breaks off and rolls across the ocean floor like tumbleweed, scientists say, covering nearby reefs in thick vegetation that out-competes coral for space, sunlight and nutrients.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Los Angeles Times