It’s not just fish that spawn…our precious coral do as well! Yes, at the Roatan Marine Park, we’re having lots of fun supporting coral reproduction. It began last year with developing a predictive calendar for coral spawning in Honduras - which we’re currently validating for its accuracy.
In tandem with that, we are partnering with three dive shops to perform two fertilizations on grooved brain and elkhorn corals. What’s fascinating about spawning is that it is a synchronized event, which means all colonies release their gametes at the same time. In Half Moon Bay, we’ve set up a CRIB (Coral Rearing In-situ Basin) which helps coral embryos to grow into baby corals and settle in a safe environment. Once they have a firm structure we transplant them to the reefs, where we then monitor their health and growth.
Here’s to lots of baby corals growing into mature adults!
Did the content of this article inspire you?
Yes
No
After reading this article, what are your typical feelings about the content?
Feeling very informed
Feeling informed
Feeling not very informed