“Scientists at the University of California San Diego have developed a gel that may accelerate coral reef recovery. The substance attracts coral larvae to degraded reefs by mimicking the chemical cues of healthy reefs. In laboratory experiments, surfaces treated with the gel saw up to 20 times more coral settlement compared to untreated surfaces,” reports The Doomslayer.
The Straits Times adds:
In efforts to give life to degraded reefs, researchers from San Diego have created a gel that draws coral larvae to settle on dying or artificial reefs.
The gel emits a scent that corals associate with healthy reefs. Coral larvae are picky about where they attach to, and if they fail to settle, they will be eaten by predators or washed out to sea.
When researchers from the University of California (UC) San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography coated a man-made surface in the lab with the gel, it drew about 20 times more coral babies than an untreated surface.
The tank experiment involved one Hawaiian coral species – the stony Montipora capitata.
Reefs are habitats for 3,000 species of hard corals, thousands of types of reef fish, and thousands of species of sea sponges, as well as seahorses, clams, and rare and exotic creatures.
A study found that corals recover faster on artificial structures than on natural reefs.
A very healthy coral reef is nestled among offshore oil platforms. A multivitamin could save some coral reefs.
The world’s coral reefs are more plentiful than previously thought. “High-resolution satellite maps show that coral reefs cover an area of ocean larger than New Mexico,” reported Bloomberg News. That’s about twice the size of some prior estimates.
