SARASOTA (WSNN) – Coral reefs are fighting for their lives and Mote Marine Lab plans to help.
On World Oceans Day, Mote announced a plan to further its coral reef research and restoration in the Florida Keys and in Sarasota.
As a global leader in marine research, Mote has outplanted more than 78,000 coral fragments on Florida’s Coral Reef, with a survival rate of more than 90%.
They plan to build a land-based coral nursery on Bud n’ Mary’s Marina in Islamorada in the Upper Keys.
Mote Marine Lab spokesperson, Stephannie Kettle, says it’s the first of its kind in Islamorada.
She says this project is to meet the demands of the declining reefs as the decades of pollution and increasing water temperatures are negatively affecting Florida corals.
So it’s a targeted effort to get disease-resistant, heat-tolerant corals out on the reef.
“This is going to have a land-based nursery with 12-different raceways to start, and that’s where we’ll be growing our little micro-fragments and fragments of both reef-building species of coral, those hard-rocky corals, and then also the branchy corals,” Kettle said.
Mote is also planning on building an international coral gene bank at its Aquaculture Research Park in Sarasota County.
Kettle says it’s like a modern-day Noah’s ark, ensuring they protect coral diversity from all over the world. So if there is a bleaching or disease event, they won’t lose species of coral.
Mote already has over 1,600 individual genotypes of corals from 17 different species of Florida coral in their care.
If people want to get involved in coral reef research and restoration, Kettle says you can purchase the “Protect Our Reefs” specialty license plate. It goes towards supporting reef restoration efforts
