New treatment attacks coral disease

Mote Marina is making waves when it comes to protecting sea life.

The Laboratory is teaming up with the National Park Service and pharmaceutical scientists to develop a treatment for a lethal disease attacking corals.

Corals are fascinating, colorful creatures that from reefs, providing food and habitats to the world’s fish and other sea life.

While divers worldwide enjoy their beauty, there are also benefits for all of us.

“That coral reef offshore of Florida actually breaks up wave energy, and helps to reduce erosion when big storms and hurricanes roll through,” said Erinn Muller, Mote Coral Health and Disease Research program manager. “We can find chemicals that are created by organisms that are only found in coral reef environments to fight things like cancer or drug-resistant bacteria.”

But, corals, like people, can get diseases, too, said Muller.

“Black band disease is an infectious disease caused by a bunch of different types of bacteria all working together,” Muller said.

A dark band progresses across healthy coral, eats its tissues and leaves behind bare skeleton. The disease is present globally, but most prevalent in Florida and the Caribbean.

Shallow waters, which allow the sunlight to penetrate the reef, and high temperatures both help fuel BBD or black band disease.

“Getting the medicine to actually stick to the coral was probably our greatest challenge,” Muller said.

Now Muller and pharmaceutical maker Ocean Alchemists have found a way to treat BBD, using a newly created ointment called Coral Cure.

“Corals create mucus, and are really slimy. And their medicine actually attaches to the coral mucus so that it stays in place for as long as it’s needed for about a week. And then it delivers that medicine to the corals over time,” Muller said.

The ointment was applied directly to the coral and by attaching a rope to the leading edge of the BBD lesion. Within three to five months, when scientists took another look, they say Coral Cure eliminated the BBD in 100% of the corals treated, helping to preserve our underwater beauty.

A total of 13 different possible treatments were tested. Coral Cure had the best results. The research done by MOTE and Ocean Alchemists took place in St. Croix at Buck Island Reef National Monument.