"Rebuilding degraded coral reefs started as a noble endeavor, but now some coral scientists are confronting a dark reality."
"FLORIDA KEYS — Until last summer, Pickles Reef was seen as a bright spot in the field of coral restoration. The Coral Restoration Foundation, one of the largest reef restoration organizations in the world, had spent the better part of two decades working to breathe new life into this degraded site, outplanting tens of thousands of small colonies of coral, mostly fast-growing elkhorn and staghorn.
Pickles looked relatively healthy, with coral outplants reaching maturity and even beginning to spawn. There was hope.
Then came July and August of 2023, when a relentless, record-shattering marine heat wave triggered widespread coral bleaching and put reefs throughout the Keys in a death grip. Bleaching is a phenomenon in which heat-stressed corals expel the symbiotic algae that they rely on for most of their food and turn ghost-white, often leading to widespread coral mortality. The heat in the Florida Keys was so extreme that in many cases, corals didn’t have time to bleach. Instead, they simply roasted to death."
Chris D'Angelo reports for HuffPost with photography by Jason Gulley September 2, 2024.
Advertisement 
