Corals for Climate: Restoring Resilient Reefs

At the Center for Marine Innovation, we have been working nonstop since hurricane Fiona to stabilize some of our structures that were dislodged from the nurseries due to strong currents. The two sites with the most damage were Aquarium and OP28, where 33 structures were rearranged and fragments of Acropora cervicornis were reattached or transferred to an outplant area. More than 16 hours were spent underwater doing this work.

Additionally, our fishermen have identified five sea turtle nests, and one of these already hatched with 153 hawksbill that were released at night. We are awaiting the hatching of 3 more nests; one was lost during Fiona due to sea level rise. Even though we have faced challenges due to this hurricane, our team continues to work to protect marine life on shore and underwater.

On July 2022 our Center of Marine Innovation finalized installations for our new lab for coral microfragmentation. This facility holds seven tanks with closed water circulation in order to have the best condition for coral growth. Water parameters are being monitored with the Apex system to ensure that everything is stable 24/7.

Recently, the marine operation team brought 40 coral colonies that were dislodged on the reef using them as coral of opportunity to be fragmented and outplanted in the near future. Corals in this facility go through a process of quarantine before being cut in case that there is any disease or coral predator present. After two weeks they are cut into microfragments with a diamond cutting machine and placed onto other tanks to be stabilized. At the same time, plots are being marked with buoys on the outplant sites for us to monitor overall coral growth and survival with 3D imagery.

We currently have 959 microfragments in the lab and 18 plots marked, to have these reefs ready for outplanting.