Coral researchers are working night and day on the Great Barrier Reef to complete a radically new approach to mass coral re-seeding, rearing millions of hardy coral babies following the reef’s famous mass coral spawning event.
The ‘Coral IVF’ team led by Southern Cross University’s Professor Peter Harrison, with researchers Katie Chartrand (James Cook University) and Associate Professor David Suggett (University of Technology Sydney), captured millions of coral sperm and eggs during the ‘synchronised sex’ event and have successfully reared and ‘turbo charged’ the coral larvae with algae symbionts, ready to replenish heavily-degraded sections of reef.
Professor Harrison said the Larval Restoration Team had worked tirelessly at Reef Magic’s Marine World pontoon off Cairns since the mass spawning ‘underwater snowstorm’ began the night of November 17, following the November full moon. He says the team’s nocturnal project is paying off, now with millions of healthy coral larvae swimming around in six floating rearer pools ready to be dispersed and grow into new coral communities.
For the first time the team is trialling the newly designed ‘coral-nursery’ rearer pools, turbo-charging the baby coral’s chance of survival through co-culturing with algae, and tracking their progress using new ultra-sensitive optical sensors in real-time.
“We are using my newly-designed spawn catchers and nursery pool nets which have enabled us to catch more of the coral spawn slick and rear millions more larvae than ever before – and the results are looking very promising,” said Professor Harrison, who first discovered the mass coral spawning phenomenon with colleagues on the Great Barrier Reef 38 years ago.
This time, one of the ground-breaking advances from the team including Southern Cross Uni PhD researcher Nadine Boulotte is co-culturing the coral larvae with their algal partners (microscopic zooxanthellae) to turbo-charge their chance of survival, before being transplanted back onto the Great Barrier Reef.
“This innovative technique is like giving the baby corals a ‘battery pack’ by allowing the coral larvae to take up symbiotic algae, giving them the potential to acquire more energy, and therefore grow faster and survive better. If we succeed in increasing their survival rate it can make a big difference in being able to scale up future restoration processes,” Professor Harrison said.
Researcher Nadine Boulotte said “I’m excited to see the results from my laboratory experiments being trialled on the reef for the first time.”
JCU Senior Researcher Officer Katie Chartrand has been carefully growing the algal cultures in the lead up to the project and says the coral larvae are able to acquire symbiotic microalgae much earlier than they would in the wild.
“We have grown more than 10 billion cells of a more thermally-tolerant species of algae for our developing larvae to take up rather than the baby coral securing this symbiont well after settling. The next step will be to monitor how these energy-boosted larvae survive and grow in order to test if this technique improves coral recovery out on the reef,” Ms Chartrand said.
“Another critical component for our project to succeed is the partnerships with reef tour operators Aroona Boat Charters and Reef Magic, who have been providing key support for the research on Moore Reef.”
UTS Associate Professor David Suggett performed the initial algal culture process, and in another exciting first for the project team, was able to track the uptake of these algae symbionts by the coral larvae in near real time using new optical sensors.
“This is a world first – our new sensors are so sensitive they are able track uptake and photosynthetic activity as the algae initiate symbiosis with the larvae. These algae give the larvae a metabolic boost that normally they would not receive until metamorphosing on the reef into baby corals,” Associate Professor Suggett said.
Andy Ridley, CEO of conservation organisation Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef, said partnering with experienced Cairns tourism operators including Aroona Boat Charters and Reef Magic, was not only crucial to the project’s success, but a drawcard for reef tourists who see the project first-hand.
This project is a collaboration between the University researchers and key industry partners including Aroona Boat Charters and Reef Magic, and is funded by the Queensland and Australian Governments Coral Abundance Challenge.
The ‘conception’ of Coral IVF
It was when Professor Peter Harrison and colleagues first discovered mass coral spawning on the Great Barrier Reef 38 years ago that he first conceived the idea of using ‘Coral IVF’ to re-establish healthy breeding coral communities on damaged reefs devastated by coral bleaching.
The award-winning discovery of mass coral spawning radically changed scientific views about how corals on the Great Barrier Reef and around the world reproduce. The settling of coral larvae onto the reef is essential for restoring the next generation of coral communities.
Professor Harrison has been successfully trialling his unique restoration process at ever-increasing scales in the Philippines and on the Great Barrier Reef for the past seven years. He and his team capture spawn from corals that have survived bleaching devastation and keep them in ‘nursery enclosures’ so they don’t float away before they are capable of settling on the reef. The team then continues to monitor the reefs during subsequent months to track how well the coral babies survive and grow into new colonies that can become sexually mature and begin reproducing within three years.
While Professor Harrison’s Coral IVF process is a blueprint that could be scaled globally to help restore damaged and dying reefs, the team cautions that restoration alone cannot save these beautiful complex ecosystems that require urgent action on climate change to ensure their survival.
Learn and see more: Millions of coral babies ‘turbo-charged’ in floating nurseries to restore damaged parts of the Great Barrier Reef
The Latest Google Headlines on:
Coral reef restoration
[google_news title=”” keyword=”coral reef restoration” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
The Latest Bing News on:
Coral reef restoration
- The end of coral reefs as we know themon April 26, 2024 at 4:15 am
More than five years ago, the world’s top climate scientists made a frightening prediction: If the planet warms by 1.5 degrees Celsius, relative to preindustrial times, 70 to 90 percent of coral reefs ...
- Corals bred in a zoo have joined Europe’s largest reef. This is offering scientists hopeon April 26, 2024 at 12:53 am
A lab in a Dutch zoo has presented special corals that bred themselves and nestled them in Europe's largest coral reef.
- Saudi universrity annouces major coral restoration projecton April 25, 2024 at 12:14 pm
A Saudi university announced a reef restoration initiative on Thursday the Saudi Press Agency SPA reported The King Abdullah University of Science ...
- COASTLOVE, PLANT A MILLION CORALS TEAM UP TO PROTECT KEYS REEFS & SHORELINESon April 25, 2024 at 9:27 am
Two foundations teamed up on April 20 in the Lower Keys to highlight the importance of mangrove restoration for the Florida Keys’ marine environment. The groups, CoastLove and Plant A ...
- KAUST, NEOM Unveil World's Largest Coral Restoration Projecton April 25, 2024 at 9:11 am
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), in collaboration with NEOM, has started working on the first nursery of the KAUST Coral Restoration Initiative (KCRI), a statement from ...
- NEOM and KAUST unveil world’s largest coral restoration projecton April 25, 2024 at 8:20 am
NEOM and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) have started working on the world’s largest coral restoration project. The Saudi entities have launched the first nursery of the ...
- CHANGING PLANET: Coral Specialon April 23, 2024 at 9:47 am
Premieres Wednesday, April 24, 2024 at 8 p.m. on KPBS TV / PBS App + Encore Sunday, April 28 at 2 p.m. on KPBS TV and 8 p.m. on KPBS 2 and Thursday, May 2 at 7 p.m. on KPBS 2. In the third year of ...
- New study surfaces hope for coral reef recovery efforts: 'This is a really encouraging discovery'on April 22, 2024 at 3:30 am
"It's possible to restore even very damaged reefs back to healthy, functional systems within relatively short periods of time." New study surfaces hope for coral reef recovery efforts: 'This is a ...
- These coral reefs suffered major damage. Watch how restoration efforts helped bring them backon April 19, 2024 at 10:57 am
Coral reefs offer crucial habitat for marine creatures and protection for coastal communities, but face a long list of threats due to human activity. One restoration project in Indonesia demonstrates ...
- Earth’s Coral Reefs Face a New, Deadly Mass Bleaching. They Can Still Be Savedon April 17, 2024 at 1:30 pm
Ocean heat is killing corals at such high rates that scientists have declared Earth to be in its fourth global bleaching event—the second in a decade. The announcement comes from a partnership between ...
The Latest Google Headlines on:
Coral IVF
[google_news title=”” keyword=”Coral IVF” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
The Latest Bing News on:
Coral IVF
- Reuters Videoon April 26, 2024 at 5:00 pm
Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day. Reuters provides business, financial, ...
- Arctic seals and coral reefs: Every little bit helpson April 26, 2024 at 5:00 am
Almost all the world’s shallow-water coral reef systems are now suffering bleaching episodes that leave them severely damaged or just dead. It’s a direct result of global warming: the added heat ...
- Congratulations on becoming history's greatest embarrassmenton April 25, 2024 at 7:00 pm
The internet is turning 31 and, well, it didn't bring about global equality.
- 14 recent scientific breakthroughson April 24, 2024 at 8:40 am
T cells are integral in the immune system but can become "dysfunctional inside tumors." "The approval of Amtagvi represents the culmination of scientific and clinical research efforts leading to a ...
- CHANGING PLANET: Coral Specialon April 23, 2024 at 9:47 am
Premieres Wednesday, April 24, 2024 at 8 p.m. on KPBS TV / PBS App + Encore Sunday, April 28 at 2 p.m. on KPBS TV and 8 p.m. on KPBS 2 and Thursday, May 2 at 7 p.m. on KPBS 2. In the third year of ...
- From coral babies to a battery-powered grid, there are reasons for hopeon April 22, 2024 at 10:00 pm
Negative headlines tend to overshadow the good news, but we are making advances in the fight to save our planet from ourselves, writes one fourth-year student ...
- 5 times Rubina Dilaik shed light on unspoken facts about motherhood; a perfect guidebook for new momson April 22, 2024 at 7:31 am
Rubina Dilaik’s motherhood journey has been anything but ordinary. In her recent vlogs, she shed light on 5 crucial yet often overlooked aspects of being a new mom.
- Our Changing Planet, review: forget the Maldives – visit the West Country’s man-made reefs insteadon April 21, 2024 at 11:00 am
Restoring Our Reefs (BBC One) highlighted the damage that humans are doing to the environment. It showcased the brilliant efforts of scientists from around the world – many of them British – to ...
- Scientists’ experiment is ‘beacon of hope’ for coral reefs on brink of global collapseon April 20, 2024 at 11:52 am
Recordings of healthy fish are being transmitted to attract heat-tolerant larvae back to degraded reefs in the Maldives ...
- Research Shows Most Coral Reef Areas Suffered Bleaching in the Past Yearon April 19, 2024 at 7:58 am
The world’s coral reefs are experiencing a widespread bleaching event, marking a serious environmental crisis that has affected coral ecosystems in at least 53 countries and territories globally, as ...