Uploaded July 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Imagine trying to start a family, but your partner lives two reefs away and the current’s against you.
With warming temperatures, disease, and disappearing corals, spawning's a mess.
Once upon a time, mass coral spawning events lit up the reefs—eggs and sperm everywhere, fertilization success booming. But now? With climate change, disease outbreaks, and fewer adult corals, natural reproduction is becoming nearly impossible on some reefs.
Corals are becoming too spread out, making it harder for gametes to find each other. This poses a big problem for maintaining coral populations whose reproductive strategy is producing millions upon millions of larvae in order to overcome the low probability that these babies make it to adulthood.
So scientists are giving coral reproduction a boost—collecting spawn, mixing it in the lab, and raising coral babies under ideal conditions to help restore reefs.
Keep up with The Nature Conservancy's latest efforts to protect nature and preserve life:
Facebook - nature.org/facebook
Instagram - nature.org/instagram
LinkedIn - nature.org/linkedin
Text NATURE to 97779 to join The Nature Conservancy on text.
To sign-up for nature e-news visit: preserve.nature.org/page/82226/data/1
Imagine trying to start a family, but your partner lives two reefs away and the current’s against you.
With warming temperatures, disease, and disappearing corals, spawning's a mess.
Once upon a time, mass coral spawning events lit up the reefs—eggs and sperm everywhere, fertilization success booming. But now? With climate change, disease outbreaks, and fewer adult corals, natural reproduction is becoming nearly impossible on some reefs.
Corals are becoming too spread out, making it harder for gametes to find each other. This poses a big problem for maintaining coral populations whose reproductive strategy is producing millions upon millions of larvae in order to overcome the low probability that these babies make it to adulthood.
So scientists are giving coral reproduction a boost—collecting spawn, mixing it in the lab, and raising coral babies under ideal conditions to help restore reefs.
Keep up with The Nature Conservancy's latest efforts to protect nature and preserve life:
Facebook - nature.org/facebook
Instagram - nature.org/instagram
LinkedIn - nature.org/linkedin
Text NATURE to 97779 to join The Nature Conservancy on text.
To sign-up for nature e-news visit: preserve.nature.org/page/82226/data/1
