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Photos: Strange disease threatens Caribbean coral reef

It is highly possible that too much tourism is in fact fueling the problem

Last updated: November 13, 2019 | 16:46

AFP

2 MIN READ

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The vibrant colours of the Mesoamerican Reef are turning sickly white

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Experts are scrambling to understand the mysterious disease killing the Caribbean's corals

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In a little over a year, the Mexican Caribbean has lost more than 30 per cent of its corals to an illness called sctld or stony coral tissue loss disease

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SCTLD has put the region in a bind: it could potentially devastate the vital tourism industry around the reef

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The disease causes corals to calcify and die

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SCTLD takes just weeks to kill off coral tissue that took decades to grow

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Experts warn the disease could kill a large part of the Mesoamerican Reef

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One prime suspect is poor water quality, caused by sewage and a recent surge of decomposing sargassum seaweed

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It is highly possible that too much tourism is in fact fueling the problem

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Scientists say SCTLD is even more dangerous than coral bleaching, another damaging condition that has affected reefs around the world.

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