A first-of-its-kind comparison of 18th-century British nautical charts with modern coral reef databases suggests that reefs were far more widespread throughout the Florida Keys several centuries ago, particularly along coastlines and in Florida Bay.
By comparing the maps with modern coral cover information from several databases, researchers arrived at a bleak conclusion: roughly half of the seafloor occupied by corals in the vicinity of the Florida Keys in the late 18th century no longer is.
LINK (via: Gizmodo)
