Cool Article

[Sump'N Fishy]

Just passing along an interesting article that shows some of the efforts that are going on to save reefs in the world -

Scientists Develop Quick-Growing Coral Method to Save Dying Reefs

An optimistic quote "Wild coral takes 25 to 75 years to reach sexual maturity, but the lab method reduces that timeframe to just three years."

 

[Hawkeye]

Thanks - the end goal message of saving the reefs is important. I'm just totally unimpressed with the delivery in this article.

"The new coral is left to fade in color for 30 days before being transplanted, because the bright colors of new coral may inspire fish to be too aggressive with it".

Ocean water absorbs light and the first to go is red so that after 5 feet - these "red" corals look totally blah. After that is orange and yellow. Anyone who has ever gone snorkeling or scuba dived can tell you there is a big difference in the color of a coral when in a fish tank vs the open ocean. Including this bizarre statement says to me the writer has dubious knowledge/fact checking. What is ironic is that the article you posted downplays the importance of ocean aquaculture of staghorn/elkhorn. Why would you want to downplay a coral species that used to cover 98% of the keys? Oh right...they want money.

pretty much everything else written can be condensed to:
"We invented fragging" (total bs)
"our new technique is worth something...send money says the two college grads working in washington dc" (no thanks)

Our club has supported in the past an aquaculture farm called the Coral Reef Foundation. They farm (drumroll....elkhorn and staghorn). A few years ago we had the founder come up and give a talk at one of our monthly meetings.
https://www.coralrestoration.org/.