There are 1,050 baby corals that arrived Wednesday in the Florida Keys for their next step in a mission to restore the marine ecosystem.
The elkhorn corals are going to the Keys Marine Laboratory on Long Key in Layton, operated by the Florida Institute of Oceanography at the University of South Florida, where they will slowly acclimate to the temperature-controlled seawater system before being distributed to four different partners, the Florida Aquarium said.
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WATCH HERE"This critical species of coral – notoriously difficult to grow in aquariums – is a a building block for coral reefs and is vital in the fight to revitalize Caribbean ecosystems and provide shelter from natural storms," the aquarium says on its website.
These baby corals were born in 2022 and 2023 at the Aquarium, and came from rescued parent colonies originally from Florida’s Coral Reef.
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"Their parents were brought to safety to ensure their survival at The Florida Aquarium’s Coral Conservation and Research Center in Apollo Beach before the devastating 2023 mass bleaching event hit—the worst on record," according to the aquarium.
Now, three organizations, the Coral Restoration Foundation, Mote Marine Laboratory and Reef Renewal USA will get 300 coral babies each. The Sustainable Ocean and Reefs (SOAR) will get 100.
The corals will be planted on the reef or nurtured in ocean-based nurseries, the Florida Aquarium said, until they're ready to be planted at NOAA’s Mission: Iconic Reefs sites within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
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Mission: Iconic Reefs is one of the world's largest coral restoration efforts, targeting seven iconic reefs in the Florida Keys.
“The summer of 2023 was devastating to Florida’s elkhorn coral population,” Keri O’Neil, Director of the Aquarium’s Coral Conservation Program, said in a news release. “The coral juveniles we are transferring today are made up of many new mother and father combinations that we hope will be more resilient to future stressors. Without human intervention, these parent corals would not be able to breed due to the extent of the loss. They’re a sign that, even during a crisis, we can make progress. By working together, we’re protecting a reef that’s essential to our environment, our economy, and the thousands of species that call it home.”
