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The dredging of Miami's port to accommodate big ships has caused widespread damage to a portion of the area's fragile coral reef, according to a new report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The report, based on a December survey undertaken by scientists for the agency's National Marine Fisheries Service, found that as much as 81 percent of the reef near the dredging site was buried in sediment, and an Army Corps of Engineers contractor report from August shows up to 93 percent partial coral death because of sediment, despite a plan by the Corps to minimize the damage.
The damage is particularly alarming because the world is rapidly losing its reefs, partly because of
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global warming, experts say.
South Florida has the only coral reef in the continental United States and 80 to 90 percent of it has died or been badly harmed over the years, officials say.
The causes include ocean temperatures that have dipped too low or risen too high, acidification, sewage and pollution. Several cycles of white plague disease, including one in 2014 that coincided with the dredge, have also badly hurt South Florida's reef. White plague, a virus that bleaches and kills coral, has been destroying reefs around the world.
For more of the The New York Times story: www.nytimes.com
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