2023-07-22 10:56:00
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Because the sea is far too warm, the famous coral reefs off the Keys are threatening to bleach out. Researchers want to prevent that.
Marine biologist Meagan Murray points to the thermometer. “More than 90 degrees Fahrenheit!” That’s regarding 32 degrees Celsius. And this despite the fact that the boat has been pounding the waves at full speed for half an hour. Out to sea, where the water shouldn’t be so warm anymore.
Meagan Murray is program manager at the non-governmental organization Reef Renewal. She has set herself the goal of preserving the coral reefs. “The high water temperature puts the corals under great stress. Algae live in the coral. If these are exposed to high temperatures for a long time, the algae leave the coral. This is still alive, but is no longer healthy, »explains Murray. Shortly therefollowing, the corals bleach – and die.
Legend: Marine biologist Meagan Murray at the helm for “Reef Renewal”. SRF
Meagan Murray is joined by fellow researcher Kevin Macaulay and the founder of Reef Renewal, Michael Echevarria. “Corals actually recover relatively quickly when water temperatures cool. But if it’s hot like this for so long, they die,” says Echevarria. He left his law practice to pursue coral reef conservation.
Almost completely faded
The three dive, they want to document the bleaching process of the coral. When they reappear, Kevin Macaulay is shocked: “Around 85 percent of the corals have already bleached out. It’s looking really bad down there.”
Unfortunately, there is now so little left that getting it is no longer enough.
“In all my previous activities, I have always tried to keep alive what was alive,” explains marine biologist Macaulay. “But unfortunately there is now so little left that it is no longer enough to keep it. We’ve passed that point.” With “Reef Renewal”, Macaulay is now trying to go a different way: “Today we have to try to restore as much as possible and then bring it back to the seabed.”
This is exactly why Michael Echevarria founded the organization. A few meters from the first anchor point, he and his crew have staked out a small area on the seabed. Here they operate a sort of rearing. Because corals grow quickly, Echevarria and his team see this rearing as a possible way to save the reefs from extinction.
Christmas trees and drying racks on the seabed?
Echevarria and marine biologists Macaulay and Murray do a second dive. Raised beds are anchored to the seabed and poles that look like a Christmas tree without needles or a drying rack. At another point, a long thread runs up to a buoy. Corals of all sizes lie and hang on these installations.
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Legend: Corals are said to grow on such threads until they are separated and planted. Michael Echevarria
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Legend: Certain constructions look like Christmas trees without needles. Michael Echevarria
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Caption: Marine biologists Macaulay and Murray inspect their rearing. Michael Echevarria
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Legend: Raised beds are also anchored to the seabed. Michael Echevarria
“A thread like this with a few corals attached will grow into a whole coral bush within a year,” explains Echevarria. Murray and Macaulay take a few larger pieces of coral from the raised beds on the sea floor. Echevarria carefully heaves her onto the boat. “They look healthy. This is sort of our broodstock. These grew out of smaller pieces like this. We now take them ashore, once more cut them up into smaller pieces, and then release them once more so that they can continue to grow.”
It’s a Sisyphean task. But Echevarria is convinced that this is the only way to save the coral reefs off the Florida Keys from extinction.
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