Staghorn corals grown in a nursery and replanted at a reef restoration site off Key Biscayne have spawned for the first time, signaling hope that fragmenting corals and outplanting them to reefs is a viable approach to help rebuild Florida’s valuable marine ecosystems.
For the first time in Florida or Caribbean waters, restored massive corals were observed spawning—part of sexual reproduction that could result in the next generation of coral offspring—thanks to Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium’s innovative efforts to restore Florida’s Coral Reef. Over the past few nights, Mote coral scientists observed restored colonies of mountainous star […]
For the second year in a row, scientists at The Florida Aquarium in Apollo Beach have successfully spawned threatened Atlantic pillar coral (Dendrogyra cylindrus) though lab-induced techniques. The scientific marvel occurred this week in a research laboratory as a part of a scientific spawning project called Project Coral. The corals spawned at nearly exactly the same time […]
For the first time, massive corals restored to Florida’s Coral Reef are ready to become parents in the wild—a breakthrough in Mote Marine Laboratory’s scientific efforts to restore critically imperiled coral reefs, the “rainforests of the sea,” to self-sustaining life. This month, Mote’s coral reproduction scientist, Dr. Hanna Koch, identified gametes (eggs and sperm) inside […]
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) participated in the 2020 International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades (ICAST) virtual trade show. Recognizing the importance of environmental stewardship and awareness of Florida’s natural resources when fishing and recreating, DEP readily adapted its exhibition to a virtual interface. In addition to a virtual booth on statewide efforts to conserve and restore Florida’s Coral Reef, […]
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