Jacksonville, Fla. – Florida's underwater gardens of living corals are dying and a solution to the problem may be found in the world's deepest coral nursery.
Reefs are the oldest living things growing in Florida but warming water temperatures and even bathers sunscreens are wiping out sections along the Florida reef track.
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Deep water corals have been less affected by those disturbances and marine scientists are teaming up with NASA astronauts to cultivate corals deep below the surface which will be used to repopulate shallow reefs.
Growing corals have been accomplished in tanks and in shallow water but establishing a nursery deep underwater is difficult because of the limits due to diver decompression sickness.
At an underwater lab called Aquarius Reef Base in the Florida Keys Marine Sanctuary, astronauts use their underwater training experience to help scientists work 90 feet deep. People can live and work underwater for days and weeks at a time in the lab.
Florida International University researchers erect treelike structures made of PVC pipes. The structures stick up from the ocean floor with plastic cards that hang from fiberglass branches. These trees have growing coral on the cards.
The deep water species could have a higher survival rate when transplanted to the shallower harsher locations.
Branching corals have a higher mortality rate when the water temperature rises compared to mounding shaped varieties.
Corals typically obtain the majority of their food from the leftover scraps of carbon produced from algae hosted by the coral. Warmer water results in coral bleaching and can ultimately lead to death if continued for a prolonged period of time.
Ocean temperatures already increased on average by nearly 1°F since preindustrial times and coral bleaching events are expected to increase in frequency and intensity over the coming decades