Divers from Mote Marine Laboratory plant infant staghorn corals on a site near Carysfort Reef off Key Largo on Tuesday, Jan. 28. The divers were part of a group effort that also involved Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary scientists, Coral Restoration Foundation and Reef Renewal USA to mark the fifth anniversary of the sanctuary’s Mission: Iconic Reefs efforts to restore seven important reef tracts off the Keys.
Following setbacks involving coral deaths in 2023 due to a marine heat wave, the corals out-planted were developed using genets, or clone lines, of coral known to be resistant to heat stress, which should help them survive effects of climate change, scientists said.
Divers from Mote Marine Laboratory plant infant staghorn corals on a site near Carysfort Reef off Key Largo on Tuesday, Jan. 28. The divers were part of a group effort that also involved Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary scientists, Coral Restoration Foundation and Reef Renewal USA to mark the fifth anniversary of the sanctuary’s Mission: Iconic Reefs efforts to restore seven important reef tracts off the Keys.
MIKE ZIMMER/TDC
Following setbacks involving coral deaths in 2023 due to a marine heat wave, the corals out-planted were developed using genets, or clone lines, of coral known to be resistant to heat stress, which should help them survive effects of climate change, scientists said.
Florida Keys coral restoration groups and scientists from the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary planted a heat-resistant species of coral at Carysfort Reef on Tuesday, Jan. 28, commemorating the fifth anniversary of the sanctuary’s Mission: Iconic Reefs program.
The program was established with the goal of strengthening and restoring seven coral reef tracts in the Florida Keys. The undertaking encountered a major challenge due to a marine heat wave in the summer of 2023 that caused devastating mortality at many restoration groups’ in-water coral nurseries and areas of the Florida reef.
