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How to resurrect a coral reef

vox.com

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Re: How to resurrect a coral reef

#11

Post by spchampion2 »

ghostpepper wrote: post #10
spchampion2 wrote: post #5

I've had the good fortune to dive on Pickles Reef, as well as many other reefs on the Keys, so I've been able to see these coral restoration efforts first hand. I would always feel so happy whenever I came across these new groves of staghorn coral. They were small, but often healthy looking, and I just loved seeing them. That said, the scale of coral death far surpasses the scale for growth. For example, a government…

Are these reefs open to recreational divers? I would love if it was possible to support dive operations that are supporting these efforts and see some beautiful reefs at the same time.

Many are! The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary is divided into zones [1], with each zone limited to different types of activities like diving / snorkeling, fishing, and research.

There are many good dive operators in the Keys who take recreational divers out to the approved reefs. If you want to get up close to the reef restoration part, the Coral Restoration Foundation also has a dive program to take divers out to their coral nurseries [2].

1 - https://floridakeys.noaa.gov/zones/types.html

2 - https://www.coralrestoration.org/dive-programs

Re: How to resurrect a coral reef

#13

Post by Stevvo »

ghostpepper wrote: post #10
spchampion2 wrote: post #5

I've had the good fortune to dive on Pickles Reef, as well as many other reefs on the Keys, so I've been able to see these coral restoration efforts first hand. I would always feel so happy whenever I came across these new groves of staghorn coral. They were small, but often healthy looking, and I just loved seeing them. That said, the scale of coral death far surpasses the scale for growth. For example, a government…

Are these reefs open to recreational divers? I would love if it was possible to support dive operations that are supporting these efforts and see some beautiful reefs at the same time.

Coral restoration is not really fun work; a lot of mixing concrete.

Re: How to resurrect a coral reef

#14

Post by soperj »

runnerup wrote: post #8

Isn't increased acidity killing most coral species en masse? I'm glad that there are ways to regrow the "hardier" species of coral faster, at least.

I think it's mostly human pollution. Coral has thrived in higher C02 environments previously.
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