Coral Catastrophe: 97.8-100% of Key Species Wiped Out in Florida

In a grim development, researchers have declared the elkhorn and staghorn corals off Florida's southern coast as functionally extinct. These two species have been the most important reef builders in the region for the past 10,000 years, providing homes for a diverse array of marine life.

However, a historic marine heat wave that struck in 2023 has taken a catastrophic toll. Divers surveying over 52,000 coral colonies at nearly 400 sites found that between 97.8% and 100% of these crucial species have died off in the Florida Keys and near the Dry Tortugas islands.

Coral biologist Ross Cunning from the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago described the situation in stark terms, saying "The numbers of individuals of these species that remain are now so low that they cannot perform their ecological functions in any meaningful way. This is the functional extinction of two incredibly important ecosystem engineers for coral reefs in Florida."

The loss of these foundational species is a devastating blow to the region's marine ecosystems, which have relied on their elaborate, branching structures for millennia. Researchers warn that the disappearance of elkhorn and staghorn corals will have far-reaching consequences, as the reefs they supported slowly crumble and collapse.