Coral Babies Graduate To The Ocean
Baby coral lie in neat rows on the nursery
floor at the bottom of the ocean.
he term “water garden” took
on a whole new significance in
October when volunteer divers tested their green thumbs
by working side by side with
marine scientists to aid in planting coral
for reef restoration. The trips on land and
offshore, at Key Largo’s Coral Restoration
Foundation’s underwater nursery, included
educational lectures and dive programs to
restore the endangered staghorn and elkhorn corals. At the nursery, corals are started from tiny clippings. When they reach a
certain size, they’re transferred to the reef
and grow several inches tall with multiple
branches. In five years they’re strong, independent structures serving as habitat to a
variety of tropical fish.
Led by Ken Nedimyer, president of
the foundation, the October participants
learned coral restoration and propagation
by going on working dives, including a trip
to the coral nursery to clean and prepare
corals for planting, as well as an orienta-
tion dive at one of the restoration sites.
“This is something the average diver can
get their hands on and do,” Nedimyer said.
“It shows positive results in real time.”
In August 2009, the first cultured cor-
als were discovered spawning after only
two years — the first time that had been
observed in the wild. “Participants in the
coral nursery workshops get to see what
can happen in a year and in five years,”
Nedimyer said. “The goal is to get the coral
to reproduce successfully so those that
have spawned here can settle 10 miles or
50 miles away. What we’re trying to do is
put the girls and the boys back in the same
room so that they’ll make babies.”
Nonetheless, it remains against federal
law to disturb, or even touch, living or dead
coral, so the Coral Restoration Foundation
program offers boaters who are also quali-
fied divers a unique opportunity.
— Ann Dermody
T
PHO TO BY BOB CARE/ FLORIDA KEYS NE WS BUREAU
