London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

‘Strike Team’ Formed To Tackle Coral Disease In The Virgin Islands

‘Strike Team’ Formed To Tackle Coral Disease In The Virgin Islands

The Government of the Virgin Islands is working diligently on tackling the Stoney Coral Tissue Loss Disease in the Territory.
According to the Minister for Natural Resources, Labour and Immigration Honourable Vincent Wheatley, his ministry and the National Parks Trust (NPT) of the Virgin Islands are pleased to work closely with local dive operators and marine experts to tackle the coral disease.

Minister Wheatley explained that the Stoney Coral Tissue Loss Disease is a lethal coral disease that has the potential to kill half of the stony coral species in the British Virgin Islands.

Since its discovery in the Virgin Islands late 2019, the Government of the Virgin Islands through the ministry and the NPT has been leading the charge in treating the disease as part of a ‘Strike Team’. The ‘Strike Team’ was established by Honourable Wheatley to tackle what he terms “a coral crisis”. The team’s aim is to prevent the disease from spreading and to mitigate its effects on the Territory’s valuable coral reefs.

“Mitigating the spread of Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease is of utmost importance; if we do not safeguard our reefs then we will indeed have a coral crisis,” Honourable Wheatley said.

“This Government has significantly invested resources. Together as a people, we must do our part to ensure prosperity not only for ourselves, but for our people for generations to come,” he said.

Minister Wheatley stressed, “If we do not use every resource at our disposal to prevent this disease from spreading in our waters then we will lose one of our most important ecosystems and tourist attractions, which will be detrimental to our livelihoods and our way of life.”

He added that the Government of the Virgin Islands welcomes the ‘Strike Team’ collaboration led by officers within the ministry and NPT.

He said that this focus will enable local dive operators to monitor and treat the disease and also provide awareness education to the community as a whole.

The Minister shared that the Government of the Virgin Islands, the NPT and Governor’s Office are financing in part the response to the disease.

“This approach will greatly increase the Virgin Islands’ capacity to tackle the disease in our waters, as once treatment has been applied, the disease’s impact is mitigated,” Minister Wheatley further explained.

The programme feeds into the National Parks Trust’s overarching plan to gather more data on infected reefs in the Territory as well as wider regional transmission patterns.

National Parks Trust Director Dr. Cassander Titley-O’Neal said, “Coral reefs provide the Territory with various ecological services on which we depend on including, diving, snorkeling, beaches, coastal protection, safe waters, and seafood. The value of the Territory’s 267 km2 of coral reefs was evaluated at USD$194,691,000.00 in 2016 by an international body.

The funds granted by the Governor’s Office complement the contributions by Government and the Trust and will allow NPT and the Strike Team to do our part in conserving and protecting the BVI’s marine environment for locals and tourist alike.”

The Governor’s Office is supporting the effort by providing a $75,000 grant to the trust.

His Excellency the Governor Augustus Jaspert said, “I am very pleased to support this important initiative with UK funds. A cross-community approach is the only way to stop this disease from having disastrous effects on our coral and the industries that depend on it.

I was also pleased to see the UK Government commit new funds to support the Overseas Territories biodiversity in the most recent UK budget. I hope through collaboration and determination, we can make a difference.”

The Virgin Islands coral reefs are home to a wide variety of marine life and play an essential role in protecting against erosion and natural disasters. They also hold significant economic value and provide jobs and income for the tourism and fisheries industries.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Massive Strikes in France Pressure Macron and New PM on Austerity Proposals
Trump Seeks Supreme Court Permission to Remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook
Hillary Clinton’s Reckless Rhetoric Fuels Division After Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
NASDAQ Rises to Record as Intel Soars More Than 20%, Nvidia Gains 3%
Nvidia’s $5 Billion Bet on Intel Reshapes AI Hardware Landscape
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Trump’s Quip on Biden and Google Lawsuit Revives Debate Over Antitrust Legacy
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
×