About a quarter of all marine animals live in and around coral reefs, even though they cover only about 0.2% of the ocean floor. But rising ocean temperatures are destabilizing coral reef ecosystems. When the water gets too warm, corals release their own colorful microalgae, which turns the corals white, a phenomenon known as coral bleaching.
According to a report by GCRMN extensiona network to monitor the world’s coral reefs, 14% of coral reefs disappeared between 2009 and 2018.
Now researchers at the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program are hoping a new method will be used to restore bleached coral reefs. Early attempts have been made to freeze and store coral larvae, he writes Reuters.
– If we can secure the biological diversity of corals, then we have the tools to truly restore coral reefs in the future. This technology is revolutionary, says Mary Hagedorn, one of the researchers who tested the method.
The technique of freezing the larvae at minus 196 degrees was developed at the University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering. The current method of freezing requires advanced technology, which uses, among others, lasers. But now a new substance has been developed that is cheaper and preserves the coral better.
The first successful tests were carried out on corals on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, which have undergone four mass bleaching events in the past seven years. Now they hope they can scale up efforts to preserve coral reefs.
“This new technology allows us to do this at a scale that can actually help marine ecosystems and recovery,” says Jonathan Daly of Taronga Conservation Society Australia, which is part of the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program.
