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Click the + or - buttons to adjust the water temperature and pollution levels.

Click on the green "Start Storm" button to create a storm that will go by.

See what happens to the coral reef depending on the various conditions you choose!

Coral bleaching? What's that?!

A reef is a big group of rocks on the ocean floor, but did you know that a coral reef is actually alive and covered with very small animals called corals? These animals glue their tiny skeletons to rocks, so they end up staying in the same place their entire lives!

Coral reefs are very sensitive to light and temperature. If the water they live in gets too hot, they might not survive. They also don't like it when the ocean has too much pollution. Sometimes, storms can even upset coral depending on how often they happen and how severe they are. If coral reefs are under too much stress, like in these conditions, they can eject the algae living on them and turn completely white. This is known as coral bleaching. This does not necessarily mean the coral is dead - corals can survive bleaching! They do become more vulnerable to death however, especially if the stress continues for a long period of time.

NASA recently developed some very sensitive instruments to study coral reefs from an airplane flying above the ocean. The COral Reef Airborne Laboratory (CORAL) uses an instrument called the Portable Remote Imaging Spectrometer (PRISM) to see the condition of reefs. Scientists will now be able to monitor these reefs and their health. They will be able to measure the amounts of coral, algae, and sand on the ocean floor!

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Learn what factors lead to coral bleaching.

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social media to spread coral reef awareness

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social media to spread coral reef awareness

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The continued decline of the world's coral reefs has motivated Juliana Grilo to do all that she can to curb their extinction. In February, she was selected by Diego Lirman's research lab for a fellowship provided by Canon U.S.A., Inc., to help advance the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science's coral reef research and restoration.

"I applied because of my interest in documentary photography," said Grilo, a senior from Naples, Florida, majoring in marine affairs. "After volunteering in Diego Lirman's research lab, I wanted to do all that I could to reach more people, spread the message, and teach more people about coral conservation."

Since a teen, Grilo has had an affinity for the ocean. She spent most weekends snorkeling along the Southwest Florida beaches near her home. As she grew up, she never thought she would be doing such satisfying work.

"The more that I've learned about reef restoration and the more I go out on expeditions, the more I understand how important this work is and the more I support it," she said. "Coral reefs are one of the most important ecosystems, maybe the most important, ecosystem in the ocean."

Before her time on campus during the spring 2020 semester came to a screeching halt, because of COVID-19 safety precautions, Grilo's collaboration project was underway. In early March, she went on her first expedition for the Canon coral collaboration.

"I got to document the expedition using a Canon-donated camera," said Grilo. "I then used those photos and videos to share the work that we're doing in the Rescue a Reef program, online. I've done social media campaigns and figured out what are more effective communication methods in order to make our mission more visible."

The program, Rescue a Reef, is a public-facing initiative from Lirman's lab, which is designed to support coral reef research and restoration through education, outreach, and citizen science. Dalton Hesley, a senior research associate, manages the program and has enjoyed having Grilo in the lab.

"She's doing an excellent job pivoting and realizing that her project is taking a different shape because of the social distancing," said Hesley, who recently earned his Master of Professional Science from the Rosenstiel School. "It's been a fun learning lesson and we really appreciate having her on board."

In his tenure with the program, Hesley has worked with many students who are mainly focused on getting offshore experience-from diving to hands-on experience with the reefs-which is important and obviously appreciated, he said. But, according to Hesley, it has been unique having Grilo around, because she wants to make sure that the work being done with Rescue a Reef is creating change and impacting the community.

"She is a strong believer in the importance of both research and conserving and restoring our coral reefs and is trying to communicate that importance through social action," Hesley pointed out.

Grilo said that throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, she has felt supported by Canon U.S.A. and is flexible with having to modify aspects of the project because of the pandemic. Hesley said that he does hope to be able to circle back to some of the initial parts of Grilo's project; but until then, the amazing photos and videos she captured from her first expedition have been an integral part of the recent growth in social media engagement, along with Canon sharing Grilo's stories on their social media platforms.

"My overall goal is to inspire other people who have a passion to save the ocean," Grilo said. "I hope that the work I am doing through my social media campaigns and data-driven research can excite others to make the changes in their everyday lives."

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Student uses skills, social media to spread coral reef awareness

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The continued decline of the world's coral reefs has motivated Juliana Grilo to do all that she can to curb their extinction. In February, she was selected by Diego Lirman's research lab for a fellowship provided by Canon U.S.A., Inc., to help advance the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science's coral reef research and restoration.

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Take The #ReefFriendly Sunscreen Pledge | All Good Products

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Join the campaign to promote reef-friendly products! We've outlined criteria so you can make the best choice for the health of our oceans, health of coral reefs & health of your skin.

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Netflix

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NOAA

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national oceanic and atmospheric administration

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When corals are stressed by changes in conditions such as temperature, light, or nutrients, they expel the symbiotic algae living in their tissues, causing them to turn completely white.

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The Slow Regrowth of Vulnerable Coral Reefs is Solvable

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The Slow Regrowth of Vulnerable Coral Reefs is Solvable

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Solvable | 2020

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Saving coral reefs will take a lot of teamwork and collaboration across scientists, industries and individuals. One important tool is micro-fragmentation and re-skinning. Sarah Hamlyn is a scientist at the Mote Marine Labs' Elizabeth Moore International Center for Coral Reefs Research and Restoration. She helps maintain 21 species of stony and branching coral and works to regrow damaged coral reefs off the Florida coast 40 to 50 times faster than they can regrow in the wild.

Here are a few additional resources related to this episode:
FishWatch.gov Slow Release Fertilizers Mote's Elizabeth Moore International Center for Coral Reef Research and Restoration
Solvable is produced by Camille Baptista, Jocelyn Frank, Catherine Girardeau and Mia Lobel. Special thanks to Heather Fain, Eric Sandler, Carly Migliori and Khadijah Holland.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Solvable - The Slow Regrowth of Vulnerable Coral Reefs is Solvable

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Saving coral reefs will take a lot of teamwork and collaboration across scientists, industries and individuals. One important tool is micro-fragmentation and re-skinning. Sarah Hamlyn is a scientist at the Mote Marine Labs' Elizabeth Moore International Center for Coral Reefs Research and Restoration.

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Add Your Voice For Nature | Earth Hour 2020

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This Earth Hour 2020, add your pledge for nature to let world leaders know that the planet matters to you and that you demand urgent political action.

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David Attenbourough | Atlantic Productions

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David Attenborough's Great Barrier Reef - An Interactive Journey

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David Attenborough and Atlantic Productions have teamed up with scientists and academic institutions from around the world to create David Attenborough's Great Barrier Reef: An Interactive Journey -a new kind of interactive website will allow viewers in real time to join David Attenborough on a journey across the Great Barrier Reef.

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NOAA

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"Deep Seads" Episode #06 - Underwater Murals Artificial Reefs

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Built on a collection of 40,000+ popular, high-quality books from 250+ of the world's best publishers, Epic safely fuels curiosity and reading confidence for kids 12 and under.

Get Started

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online access fun thousands children great kids ebooks books

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Discover new children's books on Epic. With thousands of books and audiobooks there is no limit to what children can learn and explore.

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To keep students and teachers updated on our latest activities, and as a supplemental channel for information about coral reef conservation, The Reef Project utilizes three different social media platforms - Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Our Facebook page features photos and videos about coral reefs and coral reef conservation that is of interest to students and teachers.

Our Instagram account is a place where students can learn more about coral reef conservation in a more visual medium. This is where we post photos and snippets of information from our infographic posters.

Lastly, our Twitter account is a place where we can keep people updated on the latest coral reef conservation news and research.

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To keep students and teachers updated on our latest activities, and as a supplemental channel for information about coral reef conservation, The Reef Project utilizes three different social media platforms - Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Our Facebook page features photos and videos about coral reefs and coral reef conservation that is of interest to students and teachers.

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The Coral Reef Beaded Bracelet represents your commitment to the clean ocean movement and coral conservation. Every bracelet purchased funds the removal of one pound of trash from the ocean and coastlines.

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Aramco*  | 2013
*A Saudi Oil Company

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NOAA

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US Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

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Corals are Already a Gift. Don’t Give Them as Presents.

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This podcast is about saving the coral reef.

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The Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL) is an environmental NGO that is on a mission to save the world's coral reefs. We work collaboratively with communities to reduce direct threats to reefs in ways that provide lasting benefits to people and wildlife. In parallel, CORAL is actively expanding the scientific understanding of how corals adapt to climate change and applying this information to give reefs the best chance to thrive for generations to come. This combined expertise uniquely positions us to achieve our mission by rallying the conservation community around scalable and effective solutions for coral reefs.

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The Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL) is an environmental NGO that is on a mission to save the world's coral reefs. We work collaboratively with communities to reduce direct threats to reefs in ways that provide lasting benefits to people and wildlife. In parallel, CORAL is actively expanding the scientif

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Allen Coral Atlas partners, scientists and researchers share images and insights from reefs they've mapped around the globe. Take a virtual dive on Vulcan.com( ).

Photo: 2019 (C) Kat Markey

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Allen Coral Atlas partners, scientists and researchers share images and insights from reefs they've mapped around the globe. Take a virtual dive on Vulcan.com (). Photo: 2019 (C) Kat Markey

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TIME

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Aquatic ecosystems, particularly coral reefs, remain quantitatively misrepresented by low-resolution remote sensing as a result of refractive distortion from ocean waves, optical attenuation, and remoteness. Machine learning classification of coral reefs using NASA FluidCam mm-scale 3D data show that present satellite and airborne remote sensing techniques poorly characterize coral reef percent living cover, morphology type, and species breakdown at the mm, cm, and meter scales. Indeed, current global assessments of coral reef cover and morphology classification based on km-scale satellite data alone can suffer from segmentation errors greater than 40%, capable of change detection only on yearly temporal scales and decameter spatial scales, significantly hindering our understanding of patterns and processes in marine biodiversity at a time when these ecosystems are experiencing unprecedented anthropogenic pressures, ocean acidification, and sea surface temperature rise.

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Aquatic ecosystems, particularly coral reefs, remain quantitatively misrepresented by low-resolution remote sensing as a result of refractive distortion from ocean waves, optical attenuation, and remoteness. Machine learning classification of coral reefs using NASA FluidCam mm-scale 3D data show that present satellite and airborne remote sensing techniques poorly characterize coral reef percent living cover, morphology type, and species breakdown at the mm, cm, and meter scales.

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PIYOGA | Boutique Lounge & Yoga Apparel & Jewelry Handmade in Bali

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PIYOGA is a sustainable brand Founded by a San Diego Woman who quit her job to travel the world. We proudly donate 10% of net profits to Sea Turtle Conservation Efforts. All orders are shipped FREE from San Diego, California within 24 hours with any purchase over $40. Namaste. ॐ

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The Perfect Coral Reef - David Attenborough's Great Barrier Reef: An Interactive Journey

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NOAA launches Mission: Iconic Reefs to save Florida Keys coral reefs

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NOAA launches Mission: Iconic Reefs to save Florida Keys coral reefs

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Elizabeth Weinberg | 2019 | NOAA

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By Elizabeth Weinberg

1. Home

2. News

3. Iconic Reefs

December 2019
The coral reefs at the foot of Florida are legendary, making up a barrier reef that spans more than 255 continuous miles. The reefs are home to lobster, sea turtles, fish, and more, and they have protected the coastline from storm surge for thousands of years. But these coral reefs, like coral reefs across the globe, are in serious trouble.

In recent decades, the coral reefs within Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary have been damaged by hurricanes, bleaching, disease, and heavy human use. The sanctuary and its partners are working diligently to protect the reefs, but our efforts have not been able to keep up with the decline. Now, NOAA and our partners are launching Restoring Seven Iconic Reefs: A Mission to Recover the Coral Reefs of the Florida Keys, one of the largest investments in reef restoration anywhere in the world. By restoring corals at seven iconic reef sites in Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, we can change the trajectory of an entire ecosystem and help save one of the world's most unique areas for future generations.

More than 6,000 species of plants and animals call the Keys home, and many are found on the coral reefs. Recreationally and commercially important fish species shelter and feed on the reefs, as do spiny lobster, sea turtles, and more.

In addition to supporting diverse animal and plant life, the coral reefs of the Keys are important for the survival of human communities throughout this island chain. Structurally, the corals create a barrier between the islands and the open ocean, dissipating wave energy and diminishing the impacts of storms and high tides. And they also form the basis of the Florida Keys economy: 5 million people visit each year - most of whom participate in ocean recreation and enjoy the reefs - contributing $2.4 billion in sales annually. Here, more than one out of every two jobs is connected to the marine ecosystem

But in the last 40 years, healthy coral cover in the Florida Keys reefs has declined more than 90 percent. This decline can't be blamed on a single cause, but rather a web of interconnected problems. Misplaced boat anchors and ship groundings crush healthy reefs. Pollution makes it difficult for corals to survive, while overfishing damages the fish populations that are necessary to maintain reef health. Storms like 2017's Hurricane Irma can rip corals from their foundations and smother those that remain with sediment. In recent years, afflictions like stony coral tissue loss disease have killed off huge percentages of once-healthy coral. And if all this wasn't enough, the coral reefs of the Florida Keys also must contend with climate change: elevated ocean temperatures cause bleaching in corals, which can compromise their health or even kill them.

Without our help, the corals will no longer be able to provide the structure, habitat, and beauty for which the Florida Keys are known. The ecosystem will change - indeed, it is already changing - to algae-dominated habitat. In addition to no longer providing storm protection, the fallen reefs will force a shift in the economy of the Florida Keys, fundamentally changing the local culture.

"The once iconic coral reefs of the Florida Keys have suffered dramatic declines over the last 40 years and now straddle a tipping point," says Dr. Neil Jacobs, acting NOAA administrator. "Quick and decisive action has the very real potential to turn this decline around before it's too late."

"Losing the reef is not an option, but that's what could happen without action," says Tom Moore, leader of NOAA's Coral Reef Restoration Team. This April, NOAA gathered a group of more than 25 researchers, restoration practitioners, and members of state and federal agencies. Together, these experts created a first-of-its-kind restoration strategy that will focus on seven distinct coral reefs within the Keys.

The sites - Carysfort Reef, Horseshoe Reef, Cheeca Rocks, Sombrero Reef, Newfound Harbor, Looe Key Reef, and Eastern Dry Rocks - span the full geographic range of the region, a variety of habitats, and a diversity of human uses. Most crucially, these sites all either have a history of restoration success, or have characteristics that suggest restoration is likely to succeed.

Mission: Iconic Reefs targets seven reefs throughout Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Image: NOAA

Access regulations to these areas will not change, and the public will still be able to visit these reefs. However, during active restoration, we may temporarily reduce access to allow for the work to be completed efficiently and safely.

This NOAA-led effort is supported by partners at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commision, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Coral Restoration Foundation, Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium, Florida Aquarium, The Nature Conservancy, Reef Renewal, and the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation.

How the restoration works

Corals grow slowly, and this coral restoration project will take time. Mission: Iconic Reefs uses several phases to ensure that multiple coral species and other important reef species can be restored over time.

First, we will remove nuisance and invasive species like algae and Palythoa, an invertebrate that grows in thick mats. These species compete with corals for space on the reef and prevent coral larvae from settling and growing. Removing them will let the growing corals avoid expending energy competing for reef space.

Then, Phase 1 of the plan begins. Over the first seven to 10 years of this effort, we and our partners will outplant a variety of coral species. Elkhorn corals will be outplanted first: these corals grow relatively quickly and are not susceptible to stony coral tissue loss disease. As soon as they are planted, the elkhorn corals will create habitat for other animals, and within three to five years, they will reach reproductive maturity and be able to help grow the reef.

As the elkhorn corals take hold, other species will be outplanted, including star, brain, pillar, and staghorn corals. We intend to supplement the reefs with sea urchins and Caribbean king crab, which eat algae that can overgrow coral reefs. Over this first phase, we aim to increase the coral cover across these seven sites from two percent (the current assessed coral cover based on 2019 observations of Iconic Reef sites) to 15 percent depending on the particular habitat zone. Coral cover is a measure of the proportion of reef surface covered by live stony coral, the primary contributors to coral reef ecosystem health. A healthy coral reef may have between 25 and 40 percent coral cover, with stony corals mixed in with sponges, soft corals, algae, and other organisms.

Phase 2 of the plan builds on this restoration. Over approximately 12 years, restoration volunteers and staff will continue to outplant elkhorn, star, brain, pillar, and staghorn corals. They will also outplant other small stony corals like finger and brain coral, helping to add diversity, function, and resiliency to the reef. By the end of this phase, we aim to increase coral cover to an average of 25 percent.

Throughout the entire restoration effort, a workforce of professional and volunteer divers will serve as "gardeners" on these reefs. They will remove marine debris, nuisance species, and species that might compete for space, and also reattach any corals that have been damaged or disconnected.

"Ten years ago, this project would be just a wild dream," says Ken Nedimyer, Reef Renewal founder. But now, "we're at a place in time where we have the technology to undertake a project of this size and we have a window of opportunity to do so. Not only can we think about doing it, but the need to do it is overwhelming."

Mission: Iconic Reefs, unparalleled in scope and scale, will require nearly 500,000 stony coral colonies. That number of corals is a huge lift, but by working together, multiple partners are up to the task.

Some partners, including Reef Renewal, Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium, and Coral Restoration Foundation, will raise the quick-growing, Phase 1 corals in nurseries in the ocean. Mote and The Florida Aquarium will augment these farms with corals grown in laboratories: these will be slower-growing corals, corals screened for resilience, and corals bred to increase genetic diversity.

"We have been working on scaling up our restoration efforts," says Scott Winters, CEO of Coral Restoration Foundation. "But if we want to save the Florida Reef Tract, we can be more effective if we work together. We have an opportunity to combine our expertise to have a hugely significant impact on the future of our coral reefs."

"We are excited that Mote's science-based coral restoration initiative will be a major component in the plan," echoes Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium President and CEO Dr. Michael P. Crosby. "This is an unprecedented effort to respond to an unprecedented environmental emergency. Together with our partners, I am convinced we will be able to save Florida's coral reefs."

The Nature Conservancy, SECORE, University of Florida, University of Miami, and Nova Southeastern University will also lend scientific expertise. NOAA's Restoration Center and the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program have awarded $5.3 million in grants for restoration over the next three years. Subsequently, the plan will be funded through many public and private funding streams, coordinated by the new Florida Keys Restoration Council.

"The reefs are home to this community. They are part of our way of life," says Sarah Fangman, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary superintendent. "We want to give people the chance to be part of healing the Keys, and we need the community's support to make this vision a reality."

Volunteers can assist with invasive species removal and long-term nursery and reef maintenance. Blue Star operators will be key to the continued recovery of the Florida Keys reef tract, as they are committed to responsible tourism, diving, and fishing. Mission: Iconic Reefs will also foster a new economic sector for the Florida Keys region centered around this innovative effort.

"We hope the Mission: Iconic Reefs effort can be beneficial not just in the Florida Keys," adds Fangman, "but also in other reefs around the world. We hope we can give back and pay it forward." Coral reefs all over the world are stressed by human use, climate change, and other global stressors. Mission: Iconic Reefs serves as a model for all these coral communities. By working together and supporting these iconic reefs, we can all create a lasting legacy and a physical and financial safety net for the Florida Keys, and help support coral restoration efforts worldwide.
Elizabeth Weinberg is the digital outreach coordinator and writer for NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries.

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The coral reefs at the foot of Florida are legendary, making up a barrier reef that spans more than 255 continuous miles. The reefs are home to lobster, sea turtles, fish, and more, and they have protected the coastline from storm surge for thousands of years.

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The Nature Conservancy

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Expand Transcript Collapse Transcript

Stacy Raine [SR]: This is Destination Nature, a podcast by The Nature Conservancy that takes you into the field to hear the boots-on-the-ground stories behind conservation projects from all around the globe. I'm Stacy Raine. Today we're visiting the Caribbean to take a look at our work restoring coral reefs.

Joe Pollock [JP]: Getting gear set up so putting the BCD on that's what helps us get control how high in the water we stay then putting on the regulators these are what let us breath under water essentially and yeah just strapping them on to the dive tanks so this has our compressed air to make sure that we can act like fishes and breath underwater.

SR: Marine Scientist Joe Pollock and a whole team of divers are just off the coast of Bayahibe in the sparkling turquoise waters of the Caribbean Sea. It's a sunny tourist destination that was once a simple fishing village in the southeast of the Dominican Republic.

They finish suiting up in their dive gear and put regulators in their mouths. Then, they each take a long stride off the diving boat and hit the water. In three more boats spread out over a couple of kilometers, other teams of divers do the same.

JP: Alright, we'll see you guys down below

SR: As Joe's team descends, they pass an old shipwreck and they see thousands of fish, swimming in and around it. It's stunning, but this dive isn't about seeing a shipwreck or even the wildlife that love to haunt it. Today, they are heading more than 30 feet below to the ocean floor to restore a struggling coral reef. On this big blue planet of ours, coral reefs are one of the most important hidden keys to making our oceans healthier. But Joe is worried, because in the last 30 years, more than half the coral reefs in the Caribbean have died off.

JP: There's been dramatic declines in coral cover in the Caribbean and, uh, particularly in some of these locations where these reef restoration efforts are focused.

It's a balance and it's a battle for space down there. What we've had in the last several decades in the Caribbean is what you would call a phase shift. Where we've gone from corals being the dominant organism and being able to maintain that dominance, to now we're in a place in many locations in the Caribbean, where we're in an algal dominated state. So, the algae have taken over, they've taken over huge swaths of the sea floor, and once they come in and once they've established themselves, it's really hard for the corals to come back and regain that space. It's a tough place down there for corals.

SR: Coral reef everywhere are in trouble but people like Joe Pollock are working hard to figure out how to help them. Most of the divers here today are volunteers that have come from all over the Dominican Republic, but for Joe, restoring coral reefs is a job. As a scientist at TNC, Joe spends a lot of time studying coral reefs and thinking about how TNC can protect the reefs in the Caribbean.

These four teams of divers are doing this work as part of Coral Mania an event by TNC partner Fundemar, an organization that focuses on marine conservation in the Dominican Republic. During the three days of Coral Mania, the divers will painstakingly plant more than a thousand coral fragments onto these reefs and they'll do it using materials you'd find at your local hardware store: nails and zip ties. Over time, those fragments will grow, reproduce, and help bring the reefs back to health.

JP: When you're down there, it's, it's a pretty amazing sight. You're looking around and you're just seeing dozens of other people and their dive buddies just working incredibly hard. You see them, their head down, their mask down, just hammering away. They're trying to get as much work done as they possibly can, given that they're basically on a timer, which is how much air they have in their tanks. So, they're just furiously working.

SR: Joe is telling me about the reef restoration process, a process that TNC has helped pioneer-how they spend days doing this work and what it's like to be down there. It's tough work, it's beautiful work, and on Day 1, it's actually loud work too. The first day of restoration, they're cleaning off algae and driving nails into the reef, and if you're curious what it sounds like:

JP: the hammering sounds like hammering

When you're down there and you know what the sound of the hammering is though, it sounds like it's the sound of corals getting ready to be planted. So, it's not like when your neighbors having their house worked on, you're like, oh, wish someone would stop that racket. You're like, let's get more of that racket. That's exactly what we came here to do.

Rita Sellares [RS]: You can hear a lot of clack, clack, clack, clack the first day because everybody's with the hammer.

SR: And that's Rita Sellares. She's the executive Director of Fundemar. TNC has a long relationship with Rita and Fundemar, beginning years ago with an effort to survey the reefs and understand whether they were healthy enough to provide habitat for the sea life that depended on them.

Healthy coral reefs are some of the most beautiful and interesting habitats on earth-vibrant and colorful sights to behold, packed with all sorts of marine life-fish, of course, but also snails, octopi, turtles, lobsters, sharks, and so much more. Corals look like a strange combination of plant, flower, and rock and it seems like they can't possibly be a living thing, connected on a grand scale. Yet, the reef is very much alive. Corals are actually giant colonies of animals.

JP: The amazing part is that these immense structures are formed by millions, hundreds of millions, maybe billions of tiny coral polyps, some of which are almost microscopic.

They're invertebrates, which means they don't have a backbone, and they're also really closely related to jellyfish. In fact, one way to think about a coral is almost like an upside-down jellyfish in a skeleton cup. So, they have these tentacles that they can use to capture food but in fact that's not their main source of food. Corals get most of their energy from the algae that lives as a part of the coral animal.

SR: Joe is talking about a different type of algae than the algae that's competing with corals for space on the sea floor. He is referring here to the single-celled algae that corals pull in from the water to live inside them, creating a symbiotic relationship, and giving corals their color.

JP: Those algae basically work like little solar cells, collecting the sun's energy, turning them into sugar, and then in turn, sharing that sugar with the coral animal. And in return, the coral animal gives those small microscopic algae a safe place to live where they don't have to worry about getting eaten or washed away in, in the current.

SR: These tiny coral animals build skyscrapers of skeleton over thousands of years, inching their way higher and higher, and then they sit atop that mountain of skeleton they've left below. The colony of coral animals together makes up the amazing shapes you find on coral reefs. Some look like branches, some look like antlers, some even look like a human brain. It's these shapes that provide food and shelter for an amazing diversity of marine life.

And although they only make up just point one percent of the world's surface-so just one tenth of one percent-their impact is enormous.

JP: A really staggering twenty-five percent of all marine fishes spend at least one point of their life cycle on coral reefs. So, they really are those nurseries that are helping to bolster populations of fishes that you never even would think of as necessarily being tropical coral reef fishes.

SR: With so much going on and so many species relying on the reefs, you can imagine how critical they are to the health of our oceans. But you know what? Our species relies on reefs too. It's calculated that around a hundred million people depend on the reefs directly for their livelihoods or even for their food, especially people who live in remote island communities. Coral reefs, though, provide us with so much more than food. For one, they are extremely effective at breaking waves, which not only protects places, like homes and businesses, but more importantly protects people.

JP: Coral reefs can break up wave energy. In fact, they're known to reduce wave energy by ninety seven percent, which is really important for coastal communities.

They also provide a lot of benefits in terms of world economies. So, a lot of economies in the tropical regions, particularly in the Caribbean, have coral reef ecosystems as one of the major draws for tourists to come. They want to see that clean blue water. They want to dig their toes into that white sand.

In fact, that white sand is produced by little pieces of coral that have been bitten off by parrot fish and pooped out. So that's kind of an interesting thing to think about the next time you're on a reef or on a beach. But, um, those beautiful white sands, they're produced by coral reefs.

SR: In addition to making these beautiful beaches, parrot fish also act like little lawnmowers and keep the problematic algae in check.

Joe also pointed out that biodiversity on coral reefs provides a source for medicine. New medicines treating illnesses like Alzheimer's, viruses, and bacterial infections are coming out of the reef ecosystem. But this isn't new. For decades, life-saving medicines derived from coral reefs have been used to treat certain types of cancer.

These reefs-they're important. But here's the thing: there are a lot of threats to coral reefs. Joe calls it "death by a thousand cuts."

The biggest threat ... is climate change:

JP: So, climate change means that we're having warmer oceans, corals really are a symbiosis between the coral animal and the algae. And that's a delicate symbiosis. They need to live in a very narrow range of temperatures. And if that temperature gets too hot that mutually beneficial relationship breaks down.

That means that the algae are expelled, that's why we see these white corals that we call bleached.

SR: When the algae leave the coral animal, the coral no longer has its main source of food. If the temperature of the water doesn't come down, giving the coral and algae a chance to reestablish their symbiotic relationship, the coral will die.

Joe tells me that there is also a lot happening locally-right at or near the reefs, that greatly impact their health. Things like overfishing:

JP: So particularly taking out herbivorous fish or fish that eat algae like parrot fish, uh, that can be very deleterious to the reef because you're upsetting that balance, that competition for space between the coral and the large fleshy algae, they cannot take over out compete the coral.

SR: And also, coastal runoff-dirt and other contaminants washing from places like cities and farms and into the water, making the water not only dirty but also cloudy, blocking the light that corals need to survive. And shockingly, sewage is a problem-in many cases it is dumped, raw and untreated, right into the ocean.

Even beachgoers can cause harm, because many sunscreens are dangerous for corals. And, if snorkelers and divers aren't careful where they put their fins, they can damage the reef.

JP: So, you've got all these different things happening at the same time and the more of them, more of the stressors that we can remove, the better probability we have of coral reefs being able to thrive.

SR: With so many threats to corals, how do we help them?

JP: You need to know where the reefs are. You need to know how they're doing, and you need to know how their status is changing over time. That helps you be sure that you can protect the most important coral reefs, that you can restore the most important coral reefs. And that you can really show that those interventions that you're doing, whether the restoration protection or both are really having a net positive impact.

We also work to empower local partners to do effective marine protection or what we call marine spatial planning. So, in the Dominican Republic, for example, a TNC with a huge array of partners have helped it to get established an eight thousand square kilometer southeast Marine Park. So that's huge. That helps to remove the drivers of degradation so, you can control things like overfishing. Ideally you can control things like, uh, nutrients coming into the sea. So, you're able to remove those local stressors to then help the reefs, uh, sort of repair themselves and you can give them an additional bit of help by doing that active restoration.

SR: And the biggest key to success is building resilient coral colonies.

JP: Diversity is the key to adaptation and the key to resilience in biological systems. So, what we aim to do is maximize genetic diversity. So, when we're doing coral restoration, we make sure that we're not just working with one coral species. We work with a diversity of coral species that are all going to have different tolerances, different niches, different life history strategies, different abilities to adapt and tolerate different environmental conditions.

SR: So how do you build these diverse and resilient coral colonies? One way is with little coral nurseries. Fundemar began creating these nurseries, propagating new corals that could eventually serve as transplants.

Coral nurseries have become a common practice these days and they too are really beautiful in their own way. Imagine an area just off the coast, where the water is so clear that if you were to stick your mask in and look down, you could see straight to the bottom. Now imagine concrete blocks anchoring wide ladders of rope to the ocean floor. The rope ladders are held up by giant buoys, and on each wide rung little corals are wedged in, held in place by the rope's tension. These tiny coral fragments are enjoying the sunlight streaming through the water and they are growing really fast.

They grow so fast, in fact, that Rita had a new problem. She had a lot of corals that needed to be transplanted to reefs, and not enough people to do the work.

RS: Um, so there was a moment that it was too big for us to be able to transplant at the same time that we were, uh, like the corals were growing too fast and our team, it was too small to be able to transplant all the tissue. So that's when Coral Mania started.

SR: And they've been doing Coral Mania every year since it began four years ago. Rita decided that if she could train local people who had an interest in the reef-people from local dive shops, from the university, local fishermen, even people from the ministry of the environment-she could help them better understand corals. And she saw this idea working.

RS: They started to realize that the corals where animals, because they started to see the polyps, the tentacles.

Then suddenly it's not a like just a reef that they didn't know what it was. So only they start to see animals and colors and, and, and a special unique thing in each coral that they were seeing.

So, there was a lot of awareness and you could see the change. So, it's it's different. A fisherman that works with us telling all the fisherman the importance of coral reef and, and the other fisherman seeing this passion in these, these fishermen.

SR: Each year, Rita has helped more and more people get trained and Coral Mania has been exponentially more successful. TNC got involved, too, bolstering efforts by helping organize the event, providing logistical support and promoting Coral Mania.

RS: We started the first year just transplanting to two hundred fragments with the same people because it, it was difficult for them. Now this year we were able to transplant more than a thousand.

SR: By bringing in more people, not only can more work be done, but the impact could reach further than the shores off Bayahibe.

JP: By bringing these 50 people from all around the country, from all these different sectors together, uh, letting them learn these techniques, letting them participate and see and be part of how this can be done, they can bring that back to their communities. So, the positive work that we're doing doesn't just end with Coral Mania. It doesn't just end with corals that, that, that have been planted. But this event can serve as a real catalyst to spark change and to spark new restoration efforts all throughout the country.

Our big driver is doing this in a scalable way. So, we're developing these methodologies and developing this techniques that work not just in the Dominican Republic, not just in the Caribbean, but in coral reef systems right around the world. Uh, that's the scale of the problem. And that's the scale oat which we need to be thinking and acting.

SR: There are a lot of reef systems out there, and a lot of them are in danger. The Nature Conservancy believes this model can serve reefs.

JP: We want to create use cases, best practice manuals and others so that these kinds of successful programs can be replicated in other places around the Caribbean and globally.

SR: Back on the ocean floor, the divers are working in synchrony. They don't look around much because time is limited and there's a lot to do.

RS: Because once you are focused, you're going to have a manatee or a dolphin just over your head and you're just so focused hammering or just putting your coral that you don't see a thing.

SR: They don't see this wildlife seeing them, but there is actually plenty to hear around them.

JP: Reefs are very loud environments. You've got opposing shrimps, you've got all the people down there. The sound carries pretty well through the water. You're hearing them nailing away, you're hearing all of their bubbles float up to the top.

SR: The divers clean out the algae and drive nails into the dead coral on the first dive. On the second dive, they zip tie the coral fragments, no bigger than your thumb, onto the reef. The final day, they survey the work and make sure everything is just right. They clean up Then they ascend.

JP: And then when you're going back up at the end of the dive, when everybody's done, you look around and it's just such a change.

RS: It's really, it's a really nice feeling. Yeah, it's a really nice feeling seeing all these people just involve in coral conservation and trying to do their best and, and then once, once you see the results and you see all the, all the fragments that we have into the water. So it's, it's really, really nice.

JP: It's a dramatic, dramatic change to see a patch of reef that's gone from fairly barren to now. You just see these little bushes popped up everywhere. Um, these little, the bushes being the corals right. And it's, it's pretty heartwarming to see, uh, just that visual of a demonstration of what likeminded people working together towards the same goal can accomplish in, you know, really the course of a dive. It's it's it's really it's fun to be a part of a, it's exciting to see.

SR: Three days, a thousand corals, a lot of hard work by a lot of dedicated people to bring these reefs back to health, so they can continue to protect and sustain life both underwater and on land. And they've created more ideas that can be shared around the world to help protect reefs everywhere for nature and people.

Thanks to Dr. Joe Pollock and Rita Sellares for being on this show.

Destination Nature was produced by Katie Bacon, Amy Hepler Welch, and me, Stacy Raine, with help from Beth Fiencke, Ben Knisely, and Kristin Mullen. Special thanks to Bradley Morgan Dale for the music, Dr. Ashlee Lillis for some of the sounds, and the Dallas Audio Post for their editing work on this show.

But most importantly, we are so grateful to our supporters who made this work, and this story about the work, possible.

Next time on Destination Nature: Journey with us to the Santa Ana mountains to explore why a population of mountain lions is facing extinction, and what we are doing to save them before it's too late. Stay Tuned.

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Destination Nature Episode 1: Restoring the Reef

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Expand Transcript Collapse Transcript Stacy Raine [SR]: This is Destination Nature, a podcast by The Nature Conservancy that takes you into the field to hear the boots-on-the-ground stories behind conservation projects from all around the globe. I'm Stacy Raine. Today we're visiting the Caribbean to take a look at our work restoring coral reefs.

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The Global Coral Reef Alliance is a small, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to scientific research and sustainable management of the most valuable and threatened of all ecosystems-coral reefs.

GCRA is a worldwide coalition of volunteer scientists, divers, environmentalists and other individuals and organizations, committed to coral reef preservation. We primarily focus on coral reef restoration, and cutting-edge research on impacts of coral bleaching, global warming, marine diseases, global sea level rise, and pollution on corals.

GCRA scientists work with community groups, environmental organizations, foundations, governments or private firms to build, restore and maintain coral reefs, nurseries and marine sanctuaries.

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The Global Coral Reef Alliance is a small, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to scientific research and sustainable management of the most valuable and threatened of all ecosystems-coral reefs. GCRA is a worldwide coalition of volunteer scientists, divers, environmentalists and other individuals and organizations, committed to coral reef preservation.

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Interactive Exploration of Coral Bleaching: HHMI BioInteractive

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Interactive Exploration of Coral Bleaching on this device before. If you are returning to continue the interactive exploration, select "Resume." If this is your first time using the interactive exploration, or want to start a completely new session, select "Start Over."

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How Scientists Are Restoring The Great Barrier Reef | 

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How Scientists Are Restoring The Great Barrier Reef | 

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Travel + Leisure

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How Scientists Are Restoring The Great Barrier Reef | Travel + Leisure

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Drawing the Sea Near: Satoumi and Coral Reef Conservation in Okinawa

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Drawing the Sea Near: Satoumi and Coral Reef Conservation in Okinawa

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C. Anne Claus | 2020
Amazon

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This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under grant No. 0003650. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

IMAX® and IMAX® experience are registered trademarks of Imax Corporation
"Great Adventure Films" is a registered trademark of MacGillivray Freeman Films, Inc.

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This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under grant No. 0003650. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

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REEF supports mission-related marketing partnerships that help build awareness and raise funds for our work to engage and inspire. These partnerships give the companies' customers the opportunity to show their support of REEF and contribute to our global conservation and education efforts.

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David Attenborough's Great Barrier Reef: An Interactive Journey

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How Does Climate Change Affect Coral Reefs?

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How Does Climate Change Affect Coral Reefs?

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NOAA

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US Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

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How does climate change affect coral reefs?

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Natural disasters such as hurricanes, tropical storms, tsunamis, and landslides have the potential to be the source of a tremendous amount of marine debris. High winds, heavy rain, storm surge, and flooding associated with these disasters can pull large structures, household products, and outdoor items into surrounding waters.

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Coral Community

Several species of reef fish nestle in a cauliflower coral in American Samoa. If local threats are reduced, coral reefs have a greater chance of surviving a larger climate event, such as bleaching.

Listen to our latest podcast
Download this podcast.
Transcript

Host: It's time for a NOAA Ocean Science Moment! I'm Kate Nielsen and in today's science moment we'll talk about coral reef health, specifically how reefs respond to stressful events like coral bleaching. Listen in as we revisit an earlier interview with Britt Parker from NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program.

HOST: Britt, to start off, can you share with us some of the threats our coral reefs are facing today?

BRITT PARKER: Sure. We think about threats kind of both locally as well as globally. So some of the local threats we're really concerned with are things like unsustainable fishing practices or land-based sources of pollution, this could be both things like fertilizers and excess nutrients as well as sedimentation, so run-off from the land. We're also very concerned with the global threats related to carbon dioxide in the atmosphere including global climate change and the warming of both the atmosphere and the oceans and ocean acidification which is a related problem. And so all of these things, both on their own as well as taken together, can have great impact on the health of coral reef ecosystems around the world.

HOST: Great, thank you. In the introduction, I mentioned how we're going to talk a little bit today about how reefs respond to stressful events, like coral bleaching. Just to get everybody on the same page, can you tell us what happens to a coral when it bleaches?

BRITT PARKER: Certainly. So one of the main impacts of climate change again that increasing atmospheric and ocean temperatures is something we call coral bleaching. Coral reefs as an organism actually have these tiny algae called zooxanthellae which live within their tissue. And when a coral is exposed to temperatures above the normal warmest temperatures its use to, especially when conditions are really hot and still and lots of high intensity light, the coral will actually eject those algae. And the problem with that is that those algae are actually the source for much of the food and nutrients that the coral requires to survive. So, in this case, the stressful event that we're talking about, this coral bleaching, if the coral are in these conditions where they are bleached and these last a long time, then the coral can actually starve and die.

Host: Britt, is it possible for a coral reef to recover from a stressful event maybe coral bleaching like we talked about or another one of the threats you mentioned from your first response?

BRITT PARKER: Absolutely. It is possible for a coral to recover, and in fact it's also possible in some cases for them to resist the event and not bleach or not bleach as badly. So, when I think about this, I like to think about our health as human beings. When we are under really stressful conditions-we haven't gotten enough sleep, we're not eating well, we're not exercising, work's tough, there's a lot going on with family-and we're exposed to a cold virus or something similar, we can get pretty sick from that, be kind of down and out for a number of days. But if conditions are really good for us and we're not really stressed, we may actually not get the virus once we're exposed or we may only have a small cold that only lasts for a couple days.

And so, coral reefs are very similar in that, if conditions are right, they have good water quality, we've taken care of those land-based sources of pollution and sedimentation, if they have the right types of fish on the reef (and we can go into that a bit later), but we've controlled some of the unsustainable fishing practices, even though a coral is exposed to higher than normal temperatures and might bleach, once those thermal stress subsides and water temperatures go back to normal, it actually can recover. And it has the best chance of recovery when all other conditions are optimal for reefs.

Host: We hope you've enjoyed this NOAA Ocean Science Moment! If you liked this podcast and want to hear more, search for The NOAA Ocean Podcast in your podcast catcher of choice or visit oceanservice.noaa.gov.

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national oceanic and atmospheric administration

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Listen to our latest podcast Download this podcast. Host: It's time for a NOAA Ocean Science Moment! I'm Kate Nielsen and in today's science moment we'll talk about coral reef health, specifically how reefs respond to stressful events like coral bleaching. Listen in as we revisit an earlier interview with Britt Parker from NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program.

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Climate change is having an immediate impact on the Great Barrier Reef and the ecosystems it supports. Learn more about the its effects, here.

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Adam Gamble + Mark Jasper | 2020 | Amazon

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Our Planet: How to Save Our Coastal Seas

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Charley Harper's What's in the Coral Reef?

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Charley Harper's What's in the Coral Reef?

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Zoe Burke | 2014
Amazon

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Coral Gardening | South Pacific | BBC Earth

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Interactive Reef

How to Use the Interactive Reef

As you move your mouse to hover over the painting, ten of the species will 'light up' as you pass the mouse over them. By clicking on these species, a feature page is brought up. The page includes a photograph of that species, a fact about it, its role in a reef ecosystem, and a threat to the species. To view information on another species, simply click on the red 'X' at the top of the feature page to return to the main image.

About this Resource

In celebration of the International Year of the Reef 2008 (IYOR 2008), the Coral Reef Conservation Program created this interactive product to engage visitors at the Ocean Today Kiosk in the Sant Ocean Hall at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington DC. The original touch screen version was also available on Ocean Today Kiosks that are located at other zoos, museums, and aquariums around the US. The Interactive Reef was available on the kiosks for three months in Spring of 2008.

The main image of this product is 'Year of the Reef,' Wyland©2008, which was created to commemorate IYOR 2008. The image of the painting is used for this project with the artist's permission.

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national oceanic and atmospheric administration

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How to Use the Interactive Reef As you move your mouse to hover over the painting, ten of the species will 'light up' as you pass the mouse over them. By clicking on these species, a feature page is brought up.