Red Sea corals threatened by mystery sea urchin deaths

The Red Sea's spectacular coral reefs face a new threat, the mass death of sea urchins caused by a mystery disease.  The sea urchins feed on algae which suffocate corals and the mass death of them could destroy the entire coral reef ecosystem.

 The beginning of the year was a mass mortality event of two sea urchin species along the coastline of Israel in Eilat. And why marine biologists are worried is actually that these two species are one of the most important grazers, meaning that they are feeding on algae.

The algae are always competing for space and for sunlight with corals. Overgrowing algae is killing a healthy coral reef. So, their growth needs to be controlled and this is the ecological function of the sea urchins. The marine biologists and experts are working to understand the cause of the death of sea urchins.