Black band disease has affected nearly half of the coral reef sites off Kauai, said Hawaii's Department of Land and Natural Resources. Researchers have previously found the disease around the tropics on global basis, but this is certainly the first time when the outbreak has occurred in Hawaii, said researcher Christina Runyon.

No island other than Kauai has been found to be affected by the disease. According to Runyon, warming temperature is mostly responsible for the disease. Researchers have somehow managed to reduce coral tissue death by some extent with the help of an experimental treatment. The experiment was intended to use a putty-like substance over the coral lesions to control the disease.

"This was a disease first identified on Kauai back in 2004 by researchers at HIMB, Hawaii Institute for Marine Biology. It was then seen in higher levels in 2012, what we would consider to be an outbreak of the disease, so it was higher from what we seen before", said Anne Rosinski, DAR marine resource specialist.

Researchers previously determined that the disease affected three species of Montipora, or rice, corals. The connection between the disease and environmental factors is being investigated by a management response team, established by the DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources and various partners.

Ocean users are being urged by experts to report new coral disease outbreaks to The Eyes of the Reef Network in order to help find the cause of the disease and devise effective treatments.

Over the past year, 47 coral reef sites have been surveyed by researcher Chris Runyon and her team. Their stint has helped them find the disease in 23, or 48%, of them.

The work helped them find an association with the disease and water temperature. Black band disease causes the lesions that become more active in the summers.