Urchins are dying off across the Caribbean. Scientists now know why
A type of single-celled microorganism associated with coral diseases is to blame
In the Caribbean, dying sea urchins (one shown at right in 2022) were found to be loaded with a type of microorganism called a scuticociliate, which was absent from healthy urchins (one at left).
I. Hewson/Cornell Univ.