A year-long project to transplant Elkhorn corals at Bonaire’s Oil Slick Leap dive site has been completed.
An initial coral nursery of 750 Elkhorn corals was grown, and once the corals had reached a sufficient size, they were transplanted to the rest of the reef. Starting in October 2018, over 763 corals have been transplanted back out onto the Oil Slick Leap dive site.
In the course of the planting, different strains were mixed to ensure that the population has sufficient genetic diversity.
The entire project was supported by the “BEST 2.0 Programme,” which is backed by the European Commission. Over the next few years, the site will be monitored regularly to evaluate the success of the project, and the various techniques involved in the process.
You can find out more about the Reef Renewal Foundation Bonaire here.
