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A New Kind Of Coral Nursery

October 22, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Coral reefs around the world are struggling from warming waters and increasing ocean acidification driven by excess carbon dioxide.  Many of the world’s greatest reefs – such as Australia’s Great Barrier Reef – have seen steep declines over the past decade.

But apart from the global environmental threat, reefs also are often damaged by various marine accidents such as ships grounding on them.   Such events can severely damage a reef and scatter countless small coral fragments onto the seafloor.  These small pieces of coral are not actually dead; they can continue on with their lives if they are relocated to a suitable environment such as a coral nursery.

Coral nurseries are generally small installations that allow coral fragments – typically pieces about 4 inches in length – to recover from their reef breaking up and to grow until they are large enough for conservation managers to replant them into reefs that need them.  This strategy works well in places where corals grow relatively quickly – such as Florida and the Caribbean – but not as well in places where coral grows more slowly, such as Hawaii.

Recently, coral experts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration working with mechanical engineering students at the University of Hawaii have developed a new type of coral nursery that can save fully formed coral colonies as opposed to small coral fragments.

The nurseries are large, carefully designed structures that can be loaded up with corals that have become detached from their reefs.  Some of these new structures were installed in the waters of Oahu in the summer of 2018 and were populated with corals.  The relocated corals, which would have otherwise died, are now recovering nicely in their new coral daycare centers and will soon be replanted back into the reef.

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NOAA Develops A New Type of Coral Nursery

Photo, posted July 29, 2010, courtesy of Kyle Taylor via Flickr.

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Coral Nurseries

July 9, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/EW-07-09-18-Coral-Nurseries.mp3

In the past, coral conservationists focused their efforts on protecting reefs from direct environmental threats such as land-based pollution and damaging fishing practices.   These efforts continue, but as coral reefs face increasingly dire threats, conservationists are turning toward more proactive approaches.

[Read more…] about Coral Nurseries

The Great Barrier Reef

April 27, 2017 By EarthWise

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/EW-04-27-17-The-Great-Barrier-Reef.mp3

According to a new paper published in the journal Nature, global warming has damaged huge sections of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.  The authors of the paper warn that the resilience of the reef – which is the world’s largest living structure – is waning rapidly.

[Read more…] about The Great Barrier Reef

Arctic Ecosystems

February 11, 2016 By WAMC WEB

https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/EW-02-11-16-Brighter-Oceans.mp3

Most of us are aware that shrinking ice cover is bad news for Arctic wildlife, with animals like polar bears and seals losing important breeding, nursery, and feeding grounds. What has received less attention is the impact ice loss has on life in Arctic waters. [Read more…] about Arctic Ecosystems

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