Uploaded March 2022 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Want to see what it’s like to be a coral scientist? Join the FWC coral team as they outplant corals as part of the Coral Rescue Project!
In front of you, an FWC coral scientist carefully attaches corals to the reef. First, a two-part epoxy is mixed underwater. After ensuring a clean surface with a wire brush, a small ball of epoxy is used to attach the bottom of the coral to a tile that has already been attached to the seafloor. Behind you, another FWC coral scientist uses an underwater map to lay out the correct corals on each tile. Why is this important? This outplanting is an experiment looking at how scientists can best prevent fish predation on newly outplanted corals. It is important to know exactly which corals are where in our monitoring plots, so we can look at the effects of the different experimental treatments.
Florida’s Coral Reef is sick with stony coral tissue loss disease. Sine 2018 the Coral Rescue Project has worked to rescue corals off the reef, safekeep them in facilities around the country, and use them in captive breeding programs to produce offspring that will restore the reef when it becomes safe to do so. Scientists from FWC and the Florida Aquarium are now experimenting with outplanting the offspring of original rescued corals back onto the wild! Other studies show that the disease doesn’t seem to impact smaller corals like the ones that will be outplanted, but certain fish love to munch on the newly outplanted baby corals. FWC’s Coral Research Program is conducting an experiment to find out the best way to protect the corals from being eaten by fish. Will it be predator exclusion devices (that’s our fancy way of saying “ BBQ skewers arranged in a tent around the coral”) or allowing the corals to acclimate in an in-ocean “nursery” to acquire natural chemical cues or perhaps lose some of their baby fat first? Stay tuned as the data comes in!
FWC coral scientists have spent the past few months prepping for the experiment. After finding suitable areas on the reef, mapping out the sites, and epoxying ceramic tiles to the reef where the coral outplants will be attached, the experimental plots were ready for their corals. Earlier this month FWC and Florida Aquarium divers braved the 68-degree waters and outplanted 463 corals of two species – boulder brain coral and grooved brain coral - onto two study reefs in the Middle Keys. Corals will be routinely monitored to look at document survival and predation rates between acclimated and non-acclimated corals and corals with and without predator exclusion devices.
Experiments like this are the next phase of the Coral Rescue Project – Propagation and Restoration. In areas of Florida’s Coral Reef where the disease has abated, the time may be right to start restoration efforts. Only experiments like these will tell us for sure.
Want to see what it’s like to be a coral scientist? Join the FWC coral team as they outplant corals as part of the Coral Rescue Project!
In front of you, an FWC coral scientist carefully attaches corals to the reef. First, a two-part epoxy is mixed underwater. After ensuring a clean surface with a wire brush, a small ball of epoxy is used to attach the bottom of the coral to a tile that has already been attached to the seafloor. Behind you, another FWC coral scientist uses an underwater map to lay out the correct corals on each tile. Why is this important? This outplanting is an experiment looking at how scientists can best prevent fish predation on newly outplanted corals. It is important to know exactly which corals are where in our monitoring plots, so we can look at the effects of the different experimental treatments.
Florida’s Coral Reef is sick with stony coral tissue loss disease. Sine 2018 the Coral Rescue Project has worked to rescue corals off the reef, safekeep them in facilities around the country, and use them in captive breeding programs to produce offspring that will restore the reef when it becomes safe to do so. Scientists from FWC and the Florida Aquarium are now experimenting with outplanting the offspring of original rescued corals back onto the wild! Other studies show that the disease doesn’t seem to impact smaller corals like the ones that will be outplanted, but certain fish love to munch on the newly outplanted baby corals. FWC’s Coral Research Program is conducting an experiment to find out the best way to protect the corals from being eaten by fish. Will it be predator exclusion devices (that’s our fancy way of saying “ BBQ skewers arranged in a tent around the coral”) or allowing the corals to acclimate in an in-ocean “nursery” to acquire natural chemical cues or perhaps lose some of their baby fat first? Stay tuned as the data comes in!
FWC coral scientists have spent the past few months prepping for the experiment. After finding suitable areas on the reef, mapping out the sites, and epoxying ceramic tiles to the reef where the coral outplants will be attached, the experimental plots were ready for their corals. Earlier this month FWC and Florida Aquarium divers braved the 68-degree waters and outplanted 463 corals of two species – boulder brain coral and grooved brain coral - onto two study reefs in the Middle Keys. Corals will be routinely monitored to look at document survival and predation rates between acclimated and non-acclimated corals and corals with and without predator exclusion devices.
Experiments like this are the next phase of the Coral Rescue Project – Propagation and Restoration. In areas of Florida’s Coral Reef where the disease has abated, the time may be right to start restoration efforts. Only experiments like these will tell us for sure.
