Coral Disease

When people think of the corals dying, they usually jump straight to coral bleaching as the main culprit. However, corals, just like human can also succumb to disease. This course will dive into the very tricky world of coral disease. Students will learn how to properly identify coral disease, monitor the spread of disease between species, and report findings to Ocean Alliance Project's disease database and the Eyes on the Reef disease database. This course is a partial fulfillment of the Ecological Monitoring Program and the Advanced Ecological Monitoring Plan, and will give the students the tools necessary to conduct their own disease surveys across the globe. 

Prerequisites:

• Be certified under a globally recognized diving agency (PADI, SSI, NAUI etc.)

• Be at an advanced level of diving and demonstrate self-awareness underwater

• Achieve Ecological Monitoring Plan certification

• Achieve Coral Identification and Taxonomy certification

Knowledge Development

• Understand the difference between temperature related bleaching and coral disease

• Become well acquainted with all of the known coral diseases seen on Hawaiian coral reefs

• Learn the techniques for recording instances of disease across different coral species

• Attend the Coral Disease lecture

Performance Requirements:

• Conduct at least one coral disease survey along a permanent transect line

• record data in both the Ocean Alliance Project and Eyes on the Reef databases

• Pass the coral disease final exam >80%

Price:

$150/day

Approximate time for course completion: 1 day and 1 dive