Coral Reef Restoration Is Underway … But It’s Not A Permanent Solution

The deterioration of coral reefs has threatened various forms of sea life in recent years, prompting experts to come up with new ideas to restore these biological underwater habitats.

Innovative solutions

One of the most promising responses to “coral bleaching,” which results in reefs losing not only their color but many of the key nutrients that many marine animals need to survive, involves establishing artificial skeletons onto which new coral can gain a foothold and grow.

That’s what a company called Coral Maker produces, and its chief executive recalled the moment she knew she needed to find a way to contribute directly to this cause.

Coral scientist Taryn Foster explained: “In the space of a few weeks during one of the bleaching events, we saw around 90% coral mortality. And I was reconsidering whether or not I wanted to continue to write scientific research papers or whether I wanted to get more involved in practical, more solutions-based work.”

There are other proposals aimed at expediting coral restoration around the world — but even the best methods are only as good as the environment in which the coral is grown.

Devastating impacts

Although bleached corals can theoretically recover, it is only possible if the warm waters that caused the bleaching are able to cool back down. And current trends aren’t encouraging.

• Last year, many regions of the ocean topped 100 degrees
• Coral bleaching typically begins at temperatures of around 87 degrees
• Up to 99% of the world’s corals could be impacted by 2030

Researcher Saskia Jurriaans of the Australian Institute of Marine Science said “there is a potential to increase the heat tolerance of corals to improve survival in hotter seas,” but it’s unclear whether such methods will be viable before it’s too late to replace those current in danger.

Chris Agee February 1st, 2024

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