Sand Key - Page 5
From the pillar coral we head eastward toward buoy #10, to our oldest photo monitoring site that was established on July 29, 1993. It has been almost eight years since we began monitoring these corals and by comparing images taken in 1993 to images we take today, dramatic changes are evident.


Sand Key, July 29, 1993 image 2
The most noticeable change is that the large sea fan has almost disappeared, only it's skeleton remains. The Siderastrea siderea, subject 1 (SKB10ZS1), in the middle of the picture, appears to be holding it's own. A new sea fan has begun to grow on top of subject one. Unfortunately, it looks like it has an Aspergillus infection.



Sand Key, June 18, 2001 image 29

Another big change is the loss of the living coral on Subject 2 Diploria stigosa. In 1993 there is a small area of coral loss and by 2001 there is very little living coral remaining. This is an important observation because it illustrates that the fine black line around an area of coral loss, as seen in 1993, was actively killing coral. This thin black line is present on many corals and has not been considered as an active disease.


SKB10ZS2 July 29, 1993 image 4


SKB10ZS2 June 18, 2001 image 30
   

Sand Key next page
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

 

  

Rock Key
 Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

 

  
   

Return to Reef Relief Main Page


Send Reef Relief Email