The first-ever coral IVF babies on the Great Barrier Reef produced the next generation.
This happened as part of the mass coral spawning event of 2021 and became the first breeding population of the Reef through the innovative process which is pioneered by a coral specialist from the Southern Cross University.
The team of researchers located 22 big coral colonies born through the first Coral IVF trial which happened on Heron Island in 2016.
They have survived a bleaching event and grew fully. They were filled up with eggs and sperm and they were ready for spawning after the recent full moon.
Plenty of the other, smaller colonies, aren’t large enough for reproduction; however, this year, they’ll be ready for breading.
Reestablishing Corals on Damaged Reefs
According to Peter Harrison, head researcher and pioneer in coral IVF from the Southern Cross University, coral IVF is the first project of its type that reestablishes corals on damaged reefs through the collection of millions of coral eggs and sperm in the spawning season and growing them into baby corals and then releasing them into the degraded Reef areas.
Harrison further explains that the goal of this process is the production of new breeding coral populations in parts of the Reef that no longer have sufficient live corals due to the negative effects of climate change.
It’s an amazing result that these colonies set during the pilot study grew over a period of five years and started reproducing sexually.
The larvae from these spawning corals have been dispersed in the lagoon of Heron Island and will help restore other reef patches. Harrison notes that he and the rest of the team are enthusiastic and continue the research of other techniques on Lizard Island.
The Results Are Promising & Give the Needed Hope for The Restoration of the Coral Reef
Further efforts are being done as a collaboration between The Reef Restoration and Adaption Program in collaboration with CSIRO, QUT, and support from the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences. Harrison explains that this will help them optimize the method and scale it up.
Anna Marsden, the managing director of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, says that they’re very excited to see the growth of these microscopic larvae to the size of dinner plates. They’ve survived a bleaching event, yet are now reproducing on their own and help produce larvae for restoration of the reef.
The Reef is an irreplaceable ecosystem that is home to thousands of different and unique marine species; however, it’s threatened by climate change. Emissions have to be decreased and new and effective methods must be designed to help the Reef recover and adapt to the warmer climate that’s already happening.
Ms. Marsden says that saving The Reef is a major and challenging task; however, the proof that this innovative and cutting-edge science works is giving them the needed hope.
The RRAP is the biggest in the world and most ambitious effort for the development, testing, and deployment of protection, restoration, and adaptation methods to make sure that The Great Barrier Reef and the coral reefs globally can resist, adapt to, and heal from the negative impact of climate change.
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