Released by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission …

March Update

FWRI Partners in Coral Rescue Projects

Florida’s coral reefs are experiencing a multi-year outbreak of stony coral tissue loss disease. While disease outbreaks are not uncommon, this event is unique due to its large geographic range, duration, and the number of species affected.

As part of the team’s coral rescue efforts, FWC scientists are collecting flower, maze, and boulder corals, for research and preservation. These corals, plus others collected earlier in the year, are transported to Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota.

While the collected corals are in aquaria, some of them will be used in breeding and coral fragmentation programs to increase the genetic diversity and number of colonies available for transplanting back into the wild. An update from Mote reported the corals look good, with no signs of sickness. These corals will be kept at Mote until the disease passes and it’s safe to return them to the reef.

View our Coral Rescue Flickr album: http://bit.ly/2CA3F1D New on MyFWC.com/Research Red Tide Current Status Red Tide-Related Hotlines and Information Sources Annual Rescue Summaries (Manatees) Manatee Population Monitoring Manatee Synoptic Surveys 2019 Manatee Synoptic Survey  Report Fish and Wildlife Sightings with FWC’s New App 2019 Manatee Mortalities  Wildlife Health Externship and Volunteer Opportunities  Red Tide Volunteer Monitoring Program Florida Horseshoe Crab Watch-Linked with Limulus Stone Crab Catch Data Social Media Corner YouTube: Public sighting information helps FWC researchers target spawning beaches for the Florida Horseshoe Crab Watch Program, a citizen science initiative to collect scientifically accurate data throughout the state.     Flickr: On January 30, FWC biologists and partners responded to a deceased, 38 foot, male Gulf of Mexico Bryde’s whale that stranded the previous afternoon in Everglades National Park.      Facebook: FWC marine mammal biologists worked together with partners to disentangle a bottlenose dolphin calf in Englewood.