<
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/the-race-to-rescue-corals-from-a-blistering-marine-heat-wave>
"Armed with scrub brushes, young scuba divers took to the waters of Florida’s
Alligator Reef in late July to try to help corals struggling to survive 2023’s
extraordinary marine heat wave. They carefully scraped away harmful algae and
predators impinging on staghorn fragments, under the supervision and training
of interns from Islamorada Conservation and Restoration Education, or I.CARE.
Normally, I.CARE’s volunteer divers would be transplanting corals to waters off
the Florida Keys this time of year, as part of a national effort to restore the
Florida Reef. But this year, everything is going in reverse.
As water temperatures spiked in the Florida Keys, scientists from universities,
coral reef restoration groups and government agencies launched a heroic effort
to save the corals. Divers have been in the water every day, collecting
thousands of corals from ocean nurseries along the Florida Keys reef tract and
moving them to cooler water and into giant tanks on land.
Marine scientist Ken Nedimyer and his team at Reef Renewal USA began moving an
entire coral tree nursery from shallow waters off Tavernier to an area 60 feet
deep and 2 degrees Fahrenheit (1.1 Celsius) cooler. Even there, temperatures
were running about 85 to 86 F (30 C).
Their efforts are part of an emergency response on a scale never before seen in
Florida."
Via Frederick Wilson II.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
