June 2012    Download the Entire Issue (PDF)

Vol. 27, No. 6   What's this?

This Time, It’s Not the Lionfish’s Fault

from the June, 2012 issue of Undercurrent  

Subscriber Content Preview
Only active subscribers can view the whole article

From Sombrero Reef in the Florida Keys to the waters of West Palm Beach, red barrel sponges are disintegrating at worrisome rates. The culprit is unknown, and Florida's scientists are trying to figure out how widespread the disease outbreak is.

Ed Tichenor of Palm Beach County Reef Rescue first observed sponges disintegrating at the end of April. By the first week of May, he confirmed they were dying from Breakers Reef in Palm Beach south to at least Delray Beach. Similar observations have been made in Broward, Key Biscayne and the Florida Keys. Rob Ruzicka, program manager at the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, told the Broward-Palm Beach New Times, "As far as we can tell, this is the largest event we've seen so far, at least in Florida."...