As the planned coral “baby boom” in Florida will help to strengthen its coastal reef system

1:02 The place for diving in the State Park of Coral Reefs named after John Kennecampa is shown in Ki-Largo, Florida. Stock image/Getty Images

Researchers have organized a “baby boom” of corals, which will help to strengthen the reef systems off the coast of Florida, which were severely affected by the record warming of the ocean.

Florida’s Florida Department has financed the cultivation of 5,000 young corals over the next two years, as well as the production of hundreds of thousands of coral larvae, which will be placed on the reefs as part of an initiative to restore and restore coral reefs (FCR3), ABC News Carey O’Nil, director of the coral preservation program in the Florida aquarium, said ABC News.

The unprecedented sea heat in 2023 caused a fading that seriously damaged many Florida reefs. The study of reef systems, conducted a year, revealed “gloomy” results, especially for the deer coral, which is endangered, from which, according to Climate.gov, less than 22%survived. According to O’Neil, about 90% of Elkhorn, an important main species for the construction of reef structures, was also lost in 2023.

“The summer of 2023 was particularly devastating for corals in Florida, in particular for Elkhorn corals and Staghorn, which were previously very common near our coasts,” O’Nele said.

This image published by the Florida aquarium shows Coral Boulder Breene. Florida aquarium.

Surprisingly, the reefs made of brain corals, which were bred in the Florida aquarium and planted on the coasts, were “well enough” during the discoloration of 2023, said O’Neil.

“We still do not know exactly why it is so,” she said. “Maybe it’s because they are young and perhaps just stronger, or because they were not in the ocean for as long as other corals.”

The initiative to restore and restore Florida coral reefs aims to restore 25% of Florida lost corals. One of the main areas is the breeding of coral species, more resistant to future hot waves, said O’Neil.

The practice of selective breeding of corals involves methods that have been used with terrestrial species and agriculture for hundreds of years, said O’nil.

“Can we display corals that can withstand higher temperatures? We are just beginning to investigate this issue, ”she said.

This image published by the Florida aquarium shows symmetrical brain coral. Florida aquarium

Surface coral parents were rescued from reefs to protect them from the effects of rocky coral loss – a “very deadly” disease, which was first discovered off the coast of Florida in 2014, and since then it has quickly spread throughout the Caribbean.

The Florida aquarium has 100 adult corals, which were rescued from illness and then during the 1923 marine heat. According to O’Nila, they are kept in tanks that mimic natural seasonal signals that signal corals that it is time to multiply.

The laboratory creates tiny coral larvae and places them on a small tile or a piece of stone, allowing them to grow into new corals.

According to O’Nila, the corals that have grown, then transferred off the coast of Southeast Florida and the KISP archipelago and planted on a reef with the help of epoxy resin or cement. They hope that they will live and grow, as well as stimulate new growth and development of marine ecosystems for thousands of years.

Beautiful flowering underwater reef off the coast of Ki-Largo, Florida. Stock image/Getty Images

There are so few corals left in Florida that the distance between potential parents is too large for their self -reproduction, O’Nil said.

“It is here that we enter the game and focus on their cultivation in our laboratory and the removal of thousands of toddlers every year,” she said.

According to O’Nila, a new coral will become a “rescue circle” for Florida’s reef system. Young corals will be transferred to partners to support the efforts to restore corals in the Florida-Kis National Maritime Reserve and the Coral Water Reserve Christine Jacobs in southeast Florida.

Climate change and ocean temperature continue to threaten corals around the world.

The place for diving in the State Park “Coral Reef” named after John Kennekampa is shown in Ki-Largo, Florida. Stock image/Getty Images

Approximately 44% of the world species that form reefs are endangered by climate change, according to the Red List of Endangered species for 2024.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced this year that about 84% of the world reefs were injured in the period from January 2023 to April 2025.

Soures: abcnews.go.com