All was quiet on the Diadema disease front for the first 4 months of our time series. Then, unexpectedly, the disease appeared in early January 2026! Ian and Bella Ritchie (USF) traveled to work with collaborators at UVI to sample the disease – importantly, obtaining many new isolates of the parasite. We also performed time series sampling to contextualize the environmental conditions at the time. Marine diseases move fast – often killing off all hosts within a short span of time. Hence, we needed to travel at the last minute to capture it! We did learn of a large algal bloom happening at the site (the water was very goopy), so this gives us a clue as to a driver of the mass mortality.