TNC is restoring corals at the Dry Tortugas National Park

The Nature Conservancy and our partners continue our effort to restore staghorn coral at Dry Tortugas National Park. Our scientists have been working on coral restoration for twelve years and the program has achieved great success, with more than 10,000 staghorn corals outplanted throughout Florida’s waters.
You can read more about this restoration effort here.

In collaboration with other partners, TNC is working on a multi species coral restoration study

Thanks to a grant from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, researchers are learning more about coral reefs and what’s needed to keep them a part of Florida’s coast. “Experimenting with new coral restoration techniques is vital to advancing the science and practice of reef restoration in Florida.” – Chris Bergh, South Florida Conservation Director
The full article is available here.

2015 Post-Bleaching Blog

The Florida Reef Resilience Program (FRRP), a collaborative effort to manage Florida’s coral reefs for climate change and other stressors, recently completed a survey of coral bleaching conditions across the Florida Reef Tract. Coral bleaching occurs when corals are stressed by changes in conditions such as temperature, light or nutrients.

Surveys completed last summer recorded severe bleaching from the Dry Tortugas to Broward County, the worst year since the surveys began in 2005. Partner scientists from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Mote Marine Laboratory, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Nova Southeastern University and Florida Department of Environmental Protection are now participating in additional surveys to determine the impacts on corals from this bleaching event. Results from these surveys will be available in August 2015.  Understanding the impacts of coral bleaching will help managers better protect coral reefs, which offer coastal protection, are centers of high biodiversity and provide essential habitat to a wide range of recreationally- and commercially-important species of fish and invertebrates.

Reef Talk – The Nature Conservancy joined Fabien Cousteau in a Google Hangout in June

The Nature Conservancy joined Fabien Cousteau, Oceanographic explorer, conservationist, documentary filmmaker, and the grandson of the famous ocean explorer, Jacques Cousteau  in a Google Hangout in June to discuss his Mission 31 ocean exploration project and answer questions about coral reefs and why they are so important to people and the health of our oceans.

Watch the Reef Talk here: Reef Talk