Human Feces May Kill Coral

South Florida dumps a lot of sewage into the ocean. ("Hey, that's what it's for!") It's been known for some time that it was hurting the reefs, which in turn was harming the state's tourism and fishing industries. Oh, and the entire ecosystem of that part of the Atlantic, but who cares about that?

Anyway, it now appears that one of the causes of the decline of the reefs is actually an infectious agent from animal feces. Serratia marcescens is commonly found in the guts of animals, including, of course, humans. I'd assume we don't have any problem with it, but it causes disease in coral and in fish.