Algal bloom is smothering Florida coral

Brian Lapointe of the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution in Ft. Pierce, Fla., examines a piece of Caulerpa verticillata about 1 mile off the southern coast of Florida. Ordinarily, this seaweed inhabits meter-deep coastal waters and grows in small, isolated patches. Over the past 3 years, however, the inch-high alga has begun smothering coral and other sea life as it blankets the seabed at depths up to 30 m in a swath some 6 miles long and a half mile wide.