The Florida Aquarium and Biscayne National Park are celebrating their partnership and success of the out-planting of mountainous star coral in the park.
The coral had its origins in the park, where it spawned in 2019 before being moved to the aquarium for rearing. Then in April 2021, 143 juvenile corals were brought back to the park and placed in the nursery run by the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School for Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS).
The coral species had suffered devastating losses during the outbreak of Coral Tissue Loss Disease and has been a prime target for conservation and transplantation efforts.
According to the Florida Aquarium’s Coral Conservation Program Manager & Senior Scientist Keri O’Neil:
“This unique partnership maximizes animal husbandry and field conservation techniques to increase coral genetic diversity and advance the protection and restoration of threatened species in the park. With the help of key coral conservation partners from the University of Miami Rosenstiel School for Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS), these juvenile corals have now been returned to the waters of their origin in Biscayne National Park.”
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