Human Pathogen Killing Corals in the Florida Keys

[avb3]

Quoting from the lead in paragraph of the article:

"A research team from Rollins College in Florida and the University of Georgia has identified human sewage as the source of the coral-killing pathogen that causes white pox disease of Caribbean elkhorn coral. Once the most common coral in the Caribbean, elkhorn coral was listed for protection under the United States Endangered Species Act in 2006, largely due to white pox disease."

[Blue Crab]

As a diver and dive instructor in the keys in the 70s and 80s, we always thought the human impact was gradually more noticeable. The tropical fish collectors were bleaching coral and who knows what else. Anchoring in the coral was still common before the mooring balls in Pennekamp Park. But the spit hit the fan in our collectively anecdotal experience with the expansion of the Ocean Reef Club in Key Largo. My guess is that OR had the latest in treatment plants at the time but perhaps that was the proverbial straw. The wisdom in your signature may be the bottom line: the tragedy of the commons. The "wisdom" in my signature is similar.

[MarkJ]

Good to have the whole story:

"But the good news is that we can solve this problem with advanced wastewater treatment facilities," like one recently completed in Key West. "This problem is not like hurricanes, which we can't control. We can do something about this one," he said. The entire Florida Keys is in the process of upgrading local wastewater treatment plants,

[Unicorn Dreams]

Thanks for the rest of the story MarkJ

Good thing the Keys aren't in the Caribbean..

[capngeo]

"But the good news is that we can solve this problem with advanced wastewater treatment facilities," like one recently completed in Key West.

Which is closing in on TWENTY TWO years old now! C’mon it was built in 1989! Deep well injection started in 2001.... THERE has been ZERO sewage discharge since then! So stop blaming the City when we all know it is the boatersManatees!

[avb3]

Originally Posted by capngeo

Which is closing in on TWENTY TWO years old now! C’mon it was built in 1989! Deep well injection started in 2001.... THERE has been ZERO sewage discharge since then! So stop blaming the City when we all know it is the boatersManatees!

That was not obvious from the article, but perhaps the next line in the paragraph you quote is just as or even more relevant:

"The entire Florida Keys is in the process of upgrading local wastewater treatment plants, and these measures will eliminate this source of the bacterium"

As you have some local knowledge, can you comment on that? Inferring from the article it would appear there are still prolbems with sewage discharge.

[capngeo]

All of the “big” cities now have advanced waste water. Some of the smaller islands are still using “cesspits” at each house.

I’m no scientist, but I would not be surprised if the source was from the mainland via the ‘Glades and Okeechobee!

[sdowney717]

Actually the manatees have been infected with e coli from the waste years ago as they graze on the plants and sediments they pick up this bacteria.

Then they poop it all over the place, it is and will be self perpetuating regardless of whether we stop dumping raw sewage in the water..
Manatee culling the herds might help the coral recover, but the environmental folks would never agree, We cant even shoot wolves and they are making big comebacks all over.

they will never admit to this, people are just never understanding the whole ecosystem, instead they focus in on little pieces of a very large puzzle and dont 'see the forest from the trees'

PROOF that e coli infects plants and soil, just look at the food poisoning, and places where they fertilized with human waste, then shipped produce all over the world and people got sick.
And those migrant farm workers who dont wash their hands, loaded with e coli and it is all over the fruits and food they touch,
e coli can establish anywhere all over the planet and be hosted in all sorts of plants and animals.

[sdowney717]

e coli lives in the soil, the plants are feeding the e coli and then the bacteria contaminates the plants.
very well adapted pathogen and that is why you should wash fruits and vegetables.

Purdue Newsroom - E. coli thrives near plant roots, can contaminate young produce crops

"E. coli is actually quite active in the rhizosphere. They're eating something there - probably plant exudates," said Ron Turco, a professor of agronomy and co-author of the study published in the November issue of the Journal of Food Protection.
Turco said the E. coli didn't survive on the plants' surfaces more than 40 days after seeds were planted. Harvesting produce at least 40 days after planting should reduce the possibility of contamination, but he warned that E. coli could still come from other sources.
"In actual field application, you pick up other things that are all around," Turco said. "You don't just get the plants that are 40 days old. An animal getting loose in a field could also contaminate plants."
Mussie Habteselassie, Turco's former postdoctoral researcher and now an assistant professor of soil microbiology at the University of Georgia's Griffin campus, said harvesting practices in manure-treated fields can be critical for produce crops.
"If you harvest young and old plants together or mix them after harvesting, there is risk of contamination of the older plants," Habteselassie said. "If plants are uprooted during harvest, there is also a possibility of contamination from E. coli living in the rhizosphere."

[sdowney717]

Now here is an interesting article about sea water coming from the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, Florida.
Kevin Dee Howell | newsheimers home

the water that comes from the tanks is raw sewage and ocean water and is pumped right into the surf where people go in the water.. This sewage is just the tank overflow and all the pooping animals are contaminating the water

And it is seawater when it’s pumped into the tanks at one of America’s premiere rehab facilities for threatened and endangered sea turtles: the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, Florida. It circulates through the system as sick and injured turtles recuperate. Then the clear, cold water and the unfiltered excrement from well over a dozen very large animals drains down several hundred feet of plastic pipe, discharging into the surf line at a rate of 150 gallons a minute. It still looks like seawater, but now it’s carrying pathogens nobody wants to be around.

“That,” notes Tichenor, “is the definition of what sewage effluent is.”

Tourists stroll through it every day on romantic walks along the beach. Children splash and play in it, attracted by the pipeline.

A Florida Department of Environmental Protection biologist went wading there, too, but not by choice. Terry Davis was dispatched to take water samples from the discharge pipe, as part of the state’s investigation of the Marinelife Center’s drainage system... and why the facility was never forced to get a wastewater permit, which would carry strict limits on water quality.

So Davis took off his shoes, rolled up his pant legs, put a small cup in the stream rushing from the pipe and took a sample of the water. He also sampled the intake line from the ocean. Then he sent both specimens back to a state contract lab to check for fecal coliform bacteria. Specifically, E. coli.

E COLI from turtles not people so dont tell me people are only ones putting out large amounts of E COLI into the sea. Marine animals are infected with E COLI.

“For a one-time sample, the maximum is 800,” explains Davis. Seawater at the Marinelife Center’s intake contained no measurable E. coli. But the sample reading from the discharge point on the beach was an eye-popping 5,000. That’s more than six times the single-sample maximum. It’s twelve and a half times the level the state Department of Health classifies as “poor” quality water, and “poor” is the worst official designation.

[boatman61]

Just about everything we come in contact with is potentially infected with E-coli...
Thats not the problem... the problem lies with the over steralised homes/life style etc folks live in these days... it destroys your immune system.
A built up resistance is the best way to beat these things not over precription of antibiotics and other similar drugs... they're like us... they too build up a resistance..
Consumption of these bacteria is essential to building a resistance so think twice next time you drop your peanut and jello on the floor... eat it... don't bin it.

PS; Following this advice could promote an early demise... your probably to sterile to survive...

Hmmmm... or should it be 'Legal Disclaimer'.... Oh Sod it... whichevers best...

[VirtualVagabond]

I'm going to stop eating altogether... It's just become way too dangerous

[Nauticatarcher]

E Coli doesnt survive in Seawater only in Brackish water

[zeehag]

also comes from doggies as bad as from humans.
when did you see no dog dirt on a beach....i last saw NO dog dirt on a beach 30 yrs ago. ask scripps institute if you think i am off track. they told me the dog poo is worse than the human as it is totally untreated. exact same bacteria. same exact effect.
so keep blaming manatees and cute lil puppies--is alll from there.
e coli and staph, mrsa, both survive in salt water--is measured in san diego bay periodically.

[capngeo]

Originally Posted by sdowney717

Now here is an interesting article about sea water coming from the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, Florida.
Kevin Dee Howell | newsheimers home

the water that comes from the tanks is raw sewage and ocean water and is pumped right into the surf where people go in the water.. This sewage is just the tank overflow and all the pooping animals are contaminating the water

E COLI from turtles not people so dont tell me people are only ones putting out large amounts of E COLI into the sea. Marine animals are infected with E COLI.

So I say lets just put the sick turtles back in the water so they can crap there.... and die. The level of some people’s stupidity just floors me!