Florida Coral Nursery Spawns For The First Time Since 2023, Contributing To Reef Resilience

Florida Coral Nursery Spawns For The First Time Since 2023, Contributing To Reef Resilience

Florida Coral Nursery Spawns For The First Time Since 2023, Contributing To Reef Resilience Screengrab via Shayle Matsuda, a scientist aboard Shedd Aquarium’s research vessel – supplied to Miami Herald Beneath the waves of Key Largo, staghorn coral have spawned in mass since a 2023 bleaching event that left marine biologists worried over the reefs’ future. The once-a-year phenomenon can happen only on a select few days, and lasts only a few minutes. It’s difficult to predict, and relies on a delicate, aphrodisiacal mixture of temperature, tide, and Lunar phase. But to the relief of the members of the Coral Restoration Foundation working on their staghorn coral nursery, the coral came through, with female members filling the water with eggs, and males with sperm, until the whole of the nursery appeared like a snow globe. “If we see viable eggs, then it means that all of the other basic life needs of the coral must be being met, Alex Neufeld, Science Program Manager at the Coral Restoration …