Aquarium delivers lab-grown corals to ocean in the Florida Keys
For the first time ever the Florida Aquarium in Tampa has successfully delivered coral grown in a laboratory to the Florida Keys.
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For decades, because of disease outbreaks corals in the Florida Keys have been destroyed.
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After being transported to an ocean-based nursery in the Florida Keys, scientists will continually monitor and further restore the reefs. Scientists are now studying the remaining population and declaring the species “functionally extinct.”
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This means that the coral would not grow naturally without the scientist’s intervention. The coral arrived at the as part of a first-of-its-kind rescue project enacted due to widespread disease.
The Florida Coral Rescue Project, led by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and NOAA Fisheries, has rescued over 2,300 corals across the United States.
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“This kind of collaborative work is critical if we are to be successful in repopulating Florida’s Coral Reef with the species that once thrived here,” said Phanor Montoya Maya, Restoration Program Manager.
Click here for more : www.flaquarium.org
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