Visit Coral Nursery in Hawaii

Although coral reefs cover only 0.2% of the ocean floor, they provide a habitat for more than a quarter of the world's marine species. Coral reefs also protect coastlines from storms and erosion. Pollution, overfishing, terrestrial sediment runoff, agricultural nutrient runoff, and water acidification are slowly killing corals. However, it is global warming that is driving the most violent attack. When coral is soaked in very hot water, it expels its symbiotic algae in a self-defense reaction that scientists are still trying to explain. The “bleached” colony survives immediately, but, deprived of its main food supply, is greatly weakened.

The week after passing Science QuebecThe nursery crew had to go out to sea, near Honolulu Harbor, to plant some of the cultured corals. The group will dive to the bottom of the sea and attach concrete structures with epoxy. If all goes well, within a few years, these new colonies will have completely covered the pyramid and their rounded shapes will do the trick. To date, the team has installed 150 coral modules at sea, with more than 90% successful implementations.

“One of the biggest challenges we face is expansion. Our nursery alone will not be able to restore all of Hawaii’s corals,” admits Christina Jain. Fortunately, other organizations in the archipelago are starting to get involved. Coral restoration is also taking off globally. And last October , a network of 45 countries, including Canada, launched the Coral Reef Breakthrough Initiative, an initiative that aims to raise billions of dollars to secure the future of coral reefs, including implementing restoration projects on 30% of the world’s degraded coral reefs, and thus is in line with… The goal of the Kunming-Montreal Convention for all natural environments.

Isabelle Côté, a professor of marine ecology at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, welcomes the scientific work being done at nurseries like the one in Hawaii, but issues a warning: She believes these initiatives will save coral reefs when the waters continue to warm. It is magical thinking. “We can't win this race against extinction,” she says desperately. At most, restoration can repair reefs damaged by a boat anchor. “There is only one thing that can save coral reefs on a large scale: for water temperatures to stop rising and even start to cool down a bit.”