Offshore Coral Husbandry for Research and Conservation Action
Two coral racks located in 9-m depth, holding 20 corals each. This close-up photo shows the wire and bar used to make the racks, and some of the corals we are studying. BREAM researcher Jessie Hallett is deploying juvenile corals epoxyed to small tiles on this coral rack. Once the corals are held on the racks for a short period to recover, they will be used in an experiment on a nearby reef. BREAM has built and deployed mesh racks for holding reef corals, out at our research area in the North Lagoon. We are using these racks for two reasons: (1) to carry out experiments on coral growth under different environmental and experimental conditions, and (2) to use as "holding pens" for corals in need of relocation after ship groundings, shoreline development or other human activities. Corals grow better when water flow is un-impeded, and corals placed on the racks 2 months ago seem very healthy thus far.