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WPLG News (08/13/09) Scientists are hoping to reproduce threatened coral,
and reintroduce it into the ocean
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"It's obvious when they release the eggs. They're in masses," said scientist Alison Moulding. "It actually only occurs on one night of the year right after the full moon in August."
Moulding is referring to what she calls one of nature's most delicate performances, coral spawning.
"Many, many things have to be in the right place at the right time," Moulding told Local 10's Jonathan Vigliotti.
Female coral release their eggs in the water for male sperm to fertilize. The resulting larvae go on to create the exoskeletons for which they are known.
These coral reefs provide shelter and food to one third of the world's marine life. Moulding said over the years coral life has become threatened.
"They are faced with several dangers. Climate change, water pollution, storms and anchorings," she said.
Scientists predict one quarter of the world's reefs have already been damaged beyond repair.
Last Saturday, Moulding and a team of scientists at the National Coral Reef Institute ventured into the water to observe the annual coral spawning and collect samples. It's part of a 3-year-old project to rebuild South Florida's coral reefs.
"What we do is go out this one night a year and try to collect eggs and fertilize them in the lab," Moulding said.
Moulding's lab acts as a kind of fertility clinic. In one room, researchers fertilize coral eggs with sperm. In an outside tank, the larva grows.
"After they are fertilized in the lab we settle them on to limestone plates and this is what you get, small colonies of coral," Moulding said.
The team will replant the coral into damaged coral beds once they get large enough. It's unclear how this lab grown coral will respond to ocean conditions, but if the project proves successful, this form of coral restoration could play a major role in fighting further destruction.
"With just a few samples we can produce countless specimens of coral," Moulding said.
While some species of coral mate several times a year, 90 percent of Florida's coral only reproduce once.
Moulding's coral could be reintroduced into the wild by 2010.
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