Akumal, Q.R. — A new study released by the Centro Ecológico Akumal (CEA) says that approximately half of the coral reef specimens in Akumal are infected with white syndrome disease, which in the past year, has created a mortality rate equivalent to that of the past 10.
According to the study conducted by Baruch Figueroa Zavala of the CEA in collaboration with the Instituto Nacional de la Pesca, the Bleach Watch program has detected an acceleration of the deterioration of the coral reef due to the disease.
According to their results, the white syndrome “represents a critical threat to the reef ecosystem, probably largely triggered by the considerable amounts of decomposing organic material produced by Sargasso of 2017-2018”.
According to the study, the most susceptible species to the disease are Brain and Pillar Corals. “In addition to this, it was observed that in 2019, coral bleaching in Akumal turned out to be the most severe recorded in recent years, probably due to the great stress that corals already suffered due to the syndrome and marine pollution coupled with the increase in the seawater temperature in the summer months, which represents its main trigger in a historical context,” he adds.
