2026 U.S. Caribbean Coral disturbance workshop

Last month I had the honor of attending the US Caribbean Coral Disturbance Workshop, invited for the second time in two years. This workshop is so valuable because it recognizes the ocean’s ability to act as one ocean, spread between islands. The localized ecosystems are different from one another, but similar species and ailments visit them equally. Jellyfish, for example, are animals at the mercy of the ocean currents, moving from island to island without a choice. Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease is a bacterial infection that impacts more than 20 species of hard corals. The bacteria first showed itself in Florida waters in 2014 and reached Vieques in 2020. How? By ocean currents. Although we as humans may fall under different jurisdictions, separated by islands, residing under different laws, the ocean does not. And the US Caribbean Coral Disturbance Workshop recognizes that. It brings scientists and conservationists from Florida, Puerto Rico, and the USVIs together to join different opinions and experiences under one roof for the benefit of the ocean. Who is doing what and how, and how has it worked? How can we learn from each other’s experiences? In the following paragraphs, I won’t sum up every topic discussed, but I’ll give you a few points to research on your own if you are curious.

Day one started with presentations about Puerto Rico’s Citizen Science program and Coral Reef Emergency Response Team, which our Crystal Clear team represents for Vieques. Presentations about assisted gene flow (AGF) taught about not only goals of enhancing genetic diversity and adaptation by introducing heat tolerant traits across latitudes of distance, but also how to do so. Coral bleaching monitoring protocols were discussed and AGF pros, cons, and challenges were thoroughly explored.

Day two brought up a topic discussed last year but in a new light – pulse coral removal with its surveillance by autonomous underwater vehicles in Puerto Rico, where species have been found off the main island, but not yet in Vieques and Culebra. The USVIs do not have this invasive species as of now, but are ready and discussing different options to combat it, including control methods being used in New Zealand that involve UV-C arrays mounted on ROVs. We took a visit to the University of the Virgin Islands this day to survey for any of the 3 species of pulse corals that have been found around Puerto Rico. Luckily we found none while enjoying sightings of turtles, stingrays, and even pillar corals (a species that is now functionally extinct!).

Our last, half-day, consisted of discussing coral reef disturbance response plans along with updates from different organizations. Roger Guzmán of ISER Caribe presented about improving coral outplant survivorship and ecosystem resilience, having already outplanted hundreds of thousands of corals on the main island of Puerto Rico in addition to raising and releasing urchins and crabs (important grazers of algae; a competitor of coral). Edwin Hernandez of Sociedad Ambiente Marino talked about the importance of locating thermal refuge habitats and how “productive waters [green] can be protective waters”. Samuel Suleiman presented about the Vieques coral farm that currently has 2,698 individuals thriving, “housed” on horizontal line nursery units.

There were other presentations as well, including my own that was focused on the power of partnerships. Detailing how partnerships that connect nonprofits to for-profits, as well as collaborations that connect government entities to for-profits, are very influential and essential. If you aren’t familiar, Crystal Clear is an example of both, including donations, fundraisers, nonprofit volunteering, and coral surveys; just to name a few of our partnerships and collaborations.

This year’s US Caribbean Coral Disturbance workshop was another success. This along with other trainings are great examples of how cross-territory collaborations are important to getting ahead of invasive species and looking for the best coral conservation methods. In 2019 to 2020 we saw a perfect example of this. Sea Grant Florida collaborated with Sea Grant Puerto Rico and Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales (DRNA) to host a Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) training in Puerto Rico. Florida had already been dealing with S.C.T.L.D. for 5 years at that point. That training is what allowed me to properly identify and report the disease in Vieques in 2020, leading to not only treatment of corals in Vieques done by DRNA officers, but also a permit for myself to properly treat infected corals without the presence of a DRNA officer. (A special thank-you to Nilda Jimenez who trained me.)