![]() ![]() ![]() Now, a growing number of organizations are racing to plant corals in damaged reefs, just as conservation groups plant trees in degraded forests. “I don’t think people realize how bad it is,” said Koch, who has seen centuries-old corals disintegrate in front of her eyes. Warming seas, diseases, and other threats have already wiped out more than half of the world’s corals, and more than 90 percent of those in Florida. It was a rare sign of hope for an ecosystem under siege.Ĭoral reefs cover less than 1 percent of the world’s oceans but are home to more than a quarter of all marine life, including the clownfish, seahorses, and other creatures that make these ecosystems special. Those corals survived Hurricane Irma, extreme heat, and a disease outbreak, and still grew large enough to reproduce, all in record time. But that night was also special for another reason: Many of the spawning corals were individuals that Mote researchers had planted on the reef five years earlier. It’s rare to see corals reproduce in the wild, and it was a first for Koch - spawning typically happens just once a year. ![]() Mountainous star coral spawning witnessed by Hanna Koch in 2020. “We created our own fireworks,” Koch told me when I visited her lab in Summerland Key, Florida, a year and a half later. She started dancing underwater with another researcher, stirring up bioluminescent critters that emitted bright flashes of blue light. Koch, a scientist at Florida’s Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium, was giddy with excitement. This is how many corals breed: Each sphere contains a mix of sperm and eggs, and if all goes to plan, the sperm from one individual will fertilize the eggs of another. It was around 11 pm on a warm night in August 2020, and the coral was spawning. Around her, other clumps of mountainous star coral began erupting, too, until the reef looked like a snow globe. Koch screamed, forcing bubbles out of her regulator, which rose above her blonde hair. Then it happened: Hundreds of tiny pink spheres burst from the coral. She had already spent hours underwater that night, breathing air from scuba tanks. Hanna Koch, a marine biologist, hovered inches above bumpy mounds of mountainous star coral. This story is part of Recode by Vox’s Tech Support series, which explores solutions for our warming world.ĬOOK ISLAND, Florida - The reef was dark. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |