Tens of thousands of baby corals, farmed or harvested from wild fish, have been transferred to the Great Barrier Reef.
It is the first time that scientists from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) have been able to see how efforts to restore the reef work on a larger scale.
“This year we have produced about 40,000 coral seeding kits, which is far more than has ever been done through research,” said AIMS acting director Pirjo Haikola.
A coral seeding device protects a baby coral when it falls on the Great Barrier Reef. (Credit: Australian Institute of Marine Science / Marie Roman)
AIMS helps train tourism operators, cultural owners and coral aquarists to restore reefs.
Dr Haikola said: “We are working with these people to have the capacity, the people, and the resources to develop in the years to come.
The three-year pilot, which began last year, is helping to test research and innovation from its Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program.
The restoration program was established in 2020 as a partnership involving AIMS, CSIRO, the Great Barrier Reef Foundation and four Queensland universities.
The pilot focused on the Great Barrier Reef in the north and south, the Keppel Islands on the southern Capricorn Coast, and the reefs of Cairns and Port Douglas in Far North Queensland.
‘Starting small’
Coral traders Bundaberg Monsoon Aquatics grew the coral at its Cairns facility before returning it to the Great Barrier Reef in January.
Daniel Kimberley says the goal is for corals with the right genes to emerge and pass them on. (ABC Wide Bay: Nikki Sorbello)
Director Daniel Kimberley says the work with AIMS is part of a larger project to provide coral reefs that can better withstand climate change.
“Corals that can go back and grow and reproduce and transfer the right genes, the good genes to other parts of the reef,” he said.
A tub of coral seeding equipment ready to be shipped to the Great Barrier Reef. (Credit: Australian Institute of Marine Science / Marie Roman)
Mr Kimberley said it would not be possible to restore the reef through aquaculture, just to grow corals outside the sea.
“Because at the end of the day, Mother Nature is the best coral farm we have,” he said.
“What we can do is speed up the evolution and give it a little boost, a little boost.”
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The second part of the program involves collecting and releasing wild slicks, where they are collected and planted in ponds floating on the rock and sitting on planting equipment.
Fishing charter business Cairns Reef Fishing has set up floating pools with nets on the bottom for days.
“After that, we go out with the scientists again on the night of spawning, and we look for the coral slicks that have naturally emerged from the reef during the three-night period and we collect the spawn,” the company’s general manager Corey Brown said.
Floating pools have coral spawn slicks to catch corals on spawning equipment. (Credit: Great Barrier Reef Foundation)
About 40,000 baby corals were transplanted to the Great Barrier Reef using coral seeding equipment. (Credit: Australian Institute of Marine Science / Marie Roman)
Planting materials are dumped into the sea to settle at the bottom of the Great Barrier Reef.
In the rock industry, traditional owners are eager to lead
Mr. Brown said he believes efforts to restore reefs will eventually be handed over to industry.
“Even where we’re discussing how we might have to have a marine biologist on staff,” he said.
Scientists place ponds in the ocean to collect coral spawn slicks. (Credit: Great Barrier Reef Foundation)
The Woppaburra are the traditional owners of Keppel Bay Island National Park, and rangers such as Ameron Cleland have been taught how to use coral seeding equipment.
He said it is a matter for the owners of the land to return to the land to take care of it as they have done for thousands of years.
“It not only incorporates our cultural knowledge, but with the help of AIMS it gives us scientific insight on how to take care of the land,”
Mr. Cleland said.
“It’s about preserving culture and nature.”
Hundreds of coral seeding kits with live baby corals, ready to drop on the Great Barrier Reef. (Credit: Australian Institute of Marine Science / Marie Roman)
Dr Haikola said the team is still assessing how the flow went during the summer.
“We will monitor how the corals we sent are doing,” he said.
“We’re still working on what the incremental resources are, how we’re going to move forward, how much we can achieve this coming year.”
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