First test of new floating rearing pools
The updated design is optimized for increased resilience to strong currents and waves, and increases the number of seeding units researchers can provide the corals to live on. Nearly 200 000 coral embryos were transferred to the pools on Sunday and Monday night. SECORE scientists will be monitoring their settlement and survival over the next few weeks prior to their eventual outplanting onto the reef.
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Photos: top) The first prototype of our new floating rearing pools with boxes full of substrates for coral larvae settlement. (Aric Bickel); bottom) Set-up of the new pool: Its parts are easily combined. At the end the pool is anchored to the ocean floor with bricks and covered for sun protection. (Aric Bickel)
The pool development is part of our continued emphasis on upscaling and reducing the cost of coral reef restoration. Utilizing this concept has the potential to be significantly less expensive than land-based operations, and allows restoration to take place where that type of infrastructure would be impossible.
SECORE’s coral reef restoration work on Curaçao is done in collaboration with CARMABI Marine Research Station and the Curaçao Sea Aquarium. The project is part of the Global Coral Restoration Project, initiated by SECORE International, the California Academy of Sciences and The Nature Conservancy. Our research work on Curaçao is also supported by Discovery Place, the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center, the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, the Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, TUI Cruises, the Green Foundation and the Clyde & Connie Woodburn Foundation.
