Home / Environment / Coral Rescue: 61,000 Baby Corals Born!
Coral Rescue: 61,000 Baby Corals Born!
4 Sep
Summary
- 61,000 baby elkhorn corals were produced in a vital reef restoration effort.
- Scientists created 101 unique genetic combinations never bred before.
- This initiative is a multi-agency effort to rebuild Florida's damaged coral reefs.
Florida Aquarium scientists, in collaboration with a 12-agency effort, have achieved a significant milestone in coral reef restoration. During the first week of August, 61,000 baby elkhorn corals were produced, including entirely new genetic combinations. This groundbreaking work is part of a NOAA-funded initiative to combat warming seas and coral disease impacting Florida's Coral Reef.
Dive teams collected coral eggs and sperm from an ocean nursery in the Florida Keys. These gametes were then transported to a temporary lab for precise fertilization, resulting in 101 unique genetic crosses. Approximately 20,000 larvae are now being raised at The Florida Aquarium's conservation center in Apollo Beach, while the remainder were distributed to other research institutions.
The ultimate goal of this collaborative project is to rebuild Florida's Coral Reef. The juvenile corals raised will eventually be planted back onto the reefs, contributing to their recovery from repeated bleaching events and a devastating stony coral tissue loss disease.
