Q1_Winter_2017_AlertDiver

WINTER 2017

DIVE SLATE

RESTORATION REVOLUTION

In fact, that’s another key

requirement of the grant. To

qualify for NOAA funding, CRF

had to create a data-sharing plan

to ensure everyone has access to

the data their team gathers during

the project.

“CRF is going well above

and beyond here,” Moore said.

“They’re actually setting up these

experimental projects at all of

these sites, and they’re going to

be sharing that information with

the research community in a way

that says, ‘Come in and run your

own experiments here.’ It’s a great

model, and I think we’re going to

get a lot out of it.”

CORAL RESTORATION:

EVOLVED

CRF’s ongoing approach has been

one of constant experimentation,

with the hope that someday the

techniques its founder pioneered

in 2003 could spark efforts to

reinvigorate damaged reefs

worldwide. “In the past, it was all

trial and error,” Ripple said. “Now

restoration is evolving into this

massive, widespread thing across

lots of different groups in lots of

different countries.” CRF’s NOAA-

backed, 50,000-coral effort is the

latest big step in that direction.

Greg Torda, a coral researcher

at the Australian Research Council

(ARC) Centre of Excellence

for Coral Reef Studies at James

Cook University in Queensland,

Australia, points out that there’s

still a long way to go from a

numbers standpoint. He said

he recently surveyed a typical

reef around a small island in

Queensland for a study, and on

that one single reef he found

roughly 100,000 corals. “Multiply

that by 3,000 reefs on the Great

Barrier Reef, and you realize that

it’s a drop in the ocean,” he said.

Moore said that realization

is reflected in the urgency of

NOAA’s restoration work. “We’re

really pushing our partners to

make dramatic leaps forward,”

he said. “We’ve got to not just be

putting 50,000 corals out a year;

we’ve got to be putting a half-

million corals out a year.”

Money for coral restoration is

precious, Moore said, and finite

— so planting 10 times more

corals can’t hinge on getting 10

times more funding. That’s why

the agency places such heavy

emphasis on improving the per-

dollar efficiency of restoration

efforts, such as growing corals

faster, planting them more

efficiently and improving their

survival rate.

Ripple said CRF hopes the

data it gleans will help pinpoint

specific genetic traits that make

corals hardier and more resilient

in various conditions. So while

the restoration may be limited to

CRF’s backyard, the ARC’s Torda

acknowledged that the treasure

trove of information the project

will amass could have value that

reaches far beyond the Caribbean.

“I think that’s a pretty sweet

dataset to tap into,” he said. “It

would be very valuable indeed.”

BUYING TIME

One thing restoration can’t solve

is persistent problems that make

life hard for corals in the wild.

“Restoration is only meaningful

in places where you solve the

problem that actually caused

the mortality in the first place,”

Torda said.

Corals may have something

of a reputation for being fragile,

but they are naturally resilient

creatures. Subject them to any

one source of stress — high

temperatures, bad water quality,

Package

$1149

per person

only

valid from Dec 2016 – Dec 2017.

Blackout dates apply.

www.unexso.com

unexso @unexsobahamas

1-800-992-DIVE (3483)

Freeport, Grand Bahama

Direct Contact

6 Days / 7 Nights

Unlimited Boat Diving

7 Nights waterside

room at Pelican Bay

Hotel & Resort

All scheduled dives:

(2 tanks, 1 tank, Shark, Dolphin

and Night Dives)

Full gear included