Plastic wastes are carriers of microbial infections to coral reefs, increasing the incidences 20 fold for the distribution of pathogens. Plastics make ideal vessels for colonizing microscopic organisms that can trigger disease if they come into contact with corals. Plastics are an integral vector for global group of coral diseases called white syndrome, eroding band disease and black band disease.
Evidence has been collective from over 100,000 reef-building corals from 150 reefs in Asia Pacific. A third were polluted with plastic waste with Indonesia being the most littered. The estimate is for 10 billion pieces of plastic trash in these waters! The diseases are compared to gangrene, where the coral tissue dies and the disease spreads to other parts of the coral organisms.
The Asia-Pacific area is host to 55% of the world’s magnificent, natural coral architecture. Coral reefs are incredibly rich habitats which when trashed no longer provide healthy and consistent food and shelter for sea creatures. The fisheries, tourism and coastal protection offered by coral reefs in Asia alone is valued at nearly $400 billion for nearly 300 million nearby residents.
Read more at:
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/coral-reefs-face-infection-risk-plastic/
