1 00:00:01,800 --> 00:00:03,233 Coral reefs. 2 00:00:03,233 --> 00:00:08,033 In a vast blue wilderness, they are the cities of the sea. 3 00:00:10,433 --> 00:00:15,433 These rich, biodiverse ecosystems are hot spots for marine life and warriors at protecting 4 00:00:17,800 --> 00:00:21,466 shorelines from storms. 5 00:00:21,466 --> 00:00:23,500 They cover 1% of the ocean floor, 6 00:00:23,500 --> 00:00:28,500 but they're actually home or hosts to about 25% of marine species. 7 00:00:30,500 --> 00:00:33,600 Coral reefs are also the economic driver behind many economies around the world. 8 00:00:35,066 --> 00:00:38,633 They provide a critical food source for millions of people. 9 00:00:38,633 --> 00:00:43,600 The Florida Reef Tract provides over 70,000 local jobs and is estimated to be worth over 10 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:48,100 six billion dollars to our state economy. 11 00:00:48,100 --> 00:00:52,033 They say there's only one Everglades, but there's also only one Florida Reef Tract and 12 00:00:52,933 --> 00:00:54,966 it's a really special place. 13 00:00:54,966 --> 00:00:59,900 Like most coral reefs around the world, the Florida Reef Tract has declined over the past 14 00:01:00,566 --> 00:01:02,566 few decades. 15 00:01:02,566 --> 00:01:07,366 Fishing pressures, pollution, development, and climate change have all left their mark. 16 00:01:10,566 --> 00:01:15,566 Now, a new disease may be the last nail in the coffin. 17 00:01:17,533 --> 00:01:21,166 They're stressed and they get diseased, they're more susceptible to it. 18 00:01:21,166 --> 00:01:26,166 This disease is unprecedented in its scale, its size and its effect on coral reefs in 19 00:01:28,066 --> 00:01:30,066 the Florida Reef Tract. 20 00:01:30,066 --> 00:01:33,966 We're kind of up against these ticking time bombs of losing corals every day, 21 00:01:33,966 --> 00:01:36,666 and trying to implement the best strategies that we have, 22 00:01:36,666 --> 00:01:41,366 while simultaneously trying to develop new ideas. 23 00:01:41,366 --> 00:01:43,733 What is this disease? 24 00:01:43,733 --> 00:01:48,700 What are scientists doing to prevent the spread - and will it be enough? 25 00:02:11,766 --> 00:02:16,766 Major funding for this program was provided by the Batchelor Foundation, encouraging people 26 00:02:18,100 --> 00:02:22,600 to preserve and protect America's underwater resources. 27 00:02:25,166 --> 00:02:28,633 And by The William J. & Tina Rosenberg Foundation, The Do Unto Others Trust, and by the following. 28 00:02:39,966 --> 00:02:44,966 It all began in Southeast Florida... 29 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:53,966 In 2013, researchers here at Nova Southeastern were conducting monitoring of the reef systems 30 00:02:56,066 --> 00:03:01,033 and they noticed a white disease pop up in some of the corals. 31 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:05,600 And it was just one site in Broward County, one site in Dade County. 32 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:10,600 Unlike other diseases that may concentrate in small areas and often disappear with the 33 00:03:11,766 --> 00:03:14,500 change of seasons, this one continued. 34 00:03:14,500 --> 00:03:19,500 It reached the northern extent of the Florida Reef Tract in 2016 in Martin County and it 35 00:03:21,700 --> 00:03:26,700 first appeared in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary in 2016. 36 00:03:28,633 --> 00:03:31,300 And we believe because of its rapid movement that it was following the water currents and 37 00:03:31,300 --> 00:03:33,766 is a waterborne disease. 38 00:03:33,766 --> 00:03:38,766 By early 2019, the disease had reached Key West. 39 00:03:40,666 --> 00:03:43,066 Corals can show signs that they're sick a couple of different ways. 40 00:03:43,066 --> 00:03:47,466 They can be pale and bleached, which suggests that they're stressed and they're losing their 41 00:03:47,466 --> 00:03:50,200 symbiotic algae that live inside the tissue. 42 00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:55,200 The coral can still be alive and recover from the bleaching if the stress that caused it 43 00:03:56,766 --> 00:03:58,900 is removed. 44 00:03:58,900 --> 00:04:03,566 Or they can lose their tissue over time, and this disease can show both of those signs, 45 00:04:05,966 --> 00:04:09,033 but predominantly it's the sloughing off of tissue of the coral animal leaving just exposed 46 00:04:09,733 --> 00:04:12,200 white skeleton. 47 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:17,200 Experts named it "Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease" because of how it manifests in 48 00:04:17,933 --> 00:04:20,733 hard coral species. 49 00:04:20,733 --> 00:04:25,733 Reef building corals are what are called stony corals mainly because they produce a limestone 50 00:04:26,333 --> 00:04:28,400 skeleton. 51 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:31,800 We have about 45 hard coral species on the Florida Reef Tract and we estimate at least 52 00:04:33,100 --> 00:04:36,600 half of those are susceptible to this disease. 53 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:40,066 It actually affects more species than any other coral disease that's been reported to 54 00:04:40,066 --> 00:04:43,833 date within the Florida Keys Reef Tract. 55 00:04:43,833 --> 00:04:47,700 Scientists say once the disease emerges in a new area, 56 00:04:49,133 --> 00:04:52,700 it affects anywhere from 50 to 100% of the stony corals there. 57 00:04:54,633 --> 00:04:58,533 After a coral is infected, it will likely die within one to six months. 58 00:05:03,133 --> 00:05:08,133 Experts of varying backgrounds are collaborating to study this unprecedented disease. 59 00:05:10,100 --> 00:05:13,633 One of them is Dr. Brian Walker, who has spent most of his career mapping the seafloor and 60 00:05:15,566 --> 00:05:19,800 describing reef habitats off southeast Florida, prior to the disease outbreak. 61 00:05:21,766 --> 00:05:25,233 When I first started doing my mapping work, there wasn't a lot of knowledge about the 62 00:05:25,233 --> 00:05:30,233 extent of the reef system and how far north it went and habitat types. 63 00:05:32,166 --> 00:05:36,600 While studying the underwater topography, Brian discovered nearly 300 giant boulder 64 00:05:38,566 --> 00:05:42,600 corals that are over six feet in diameter, estimated to be up to 300 years old. 65 00:05:46,033 --> 00:05:49,966 About half of them are dead and we don't know when they died. 66 00:05:49,966 --> 00:05:54,966 Could have been previous stress events, could have been early in the century or just a few 67 00:05:55,566 --> 00:05:58,133 years ago. 68 00:05:58,133 --> 00:06:03,133 To avoid losing the remaining living boulder corals to Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease, 69 00:06:05,166 --> 00:06:09,233 Brian and his team switched their focus to monitoring and treating the infected corals. 70 00:06:11,233 --> 00:06:16,233 We've been using a specific epoxy that was tested through researchers in the past that 71 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:19,266 they found was effective. 72 00:06:19,266 --> 00:06:24,266 And that allows us to mix chlorine and the epoxy together underwater and then apply it. 73 00:06:26,900 --> 00:06:31,900 It will kill the tissue on immediate contact, so that we are removing that diseased tissue 74 00:06:34,433 --> 00:06:36,900 from the environment. 75 00:06:36,900 --> 00:06:41,900 As a backup we create this trench in the healthy-looking live tissue of the coral, that we fill with 76 00:06:44,166 --> 00:06:49,166 epoxy with chlorine as a break between the healthy live tissue and the diseased tissue. 77 00:06:51,266 --> 00:06:55,600 So, if that diseased tissue spreads beyond the margin treatment, it will hopefully only 78 00:06:55,600 --> 00:06:59,566 spread to that point, to that trench. 79 00:06:59,566 --> 00:07:04,566 Our treatments have been between 40 and 60 percent effective at stopping the disease 80 00:07:05,966 --> 00:07:09,100 progression across the coral once it's been infected. 81 00:07:09,100 --> 00:07:14,100 But we can't stop the coral from getting disease in another location and so it requires this 82 00:07:15,500 --> 00:07:19,066 constant effort and monitoring. 83 00:07:19,066 --> 00:07:24,066 While Brian and his team work towards protecting the large boulder corals in Broward County, 84 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:29,666 his colleague, Dr. Karen Neely, focuses on the affected species in the Florida Keys. 85 00:07:48,733 --> 00:07:53,733 Looe Key is one of the jewels of the Florida Reef Tract, it was protected even before the 86 00:07:55,133 --> 00:07:57,100 Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary came in. 87 00:07:57,100 --> 00:08:01,533 You have really high coral cover and really beautiful reef structure. 88 00:08:01,533 --> 00:08:06,533 It's really hard to watch that reef currently in decline and see all of the devastation 89 00:08:07,966 --> 00:08:10,966 that's happening because of this tissue loss disease. 90 00:08:10,966 --> 00:08:15,433 My main research goal right now is looking at intervention strategies. 91 00:08:15,433 --> 00:08:20,433 Is there anything we can do to treat affected corals or to protect unaffected corals that 92 00:08:22,366 --> 00:08:25,633 might give them a chance to survive through this disease event and still be there at the 93 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:29,900 end to help repopulate and restore the reefs in the future? 94 00:08:29,900 --> 00:08:34,500 A lot of the efforts that we have to address this disease are trial and error. 95 00:08:34,500 --> 00:08:37,833 We basically do things in a laboratory and see whether it works. 96 00:08:37,833 --> 00:08:42,833 And then we have to pilot in the field and look at first, whether it works and then second, 97 00:08:44,766 --> 00:08:48,466 what sort of implications that has for the corals we're trying to treat, as well as the 98 00:08:50,533 --> 00:08:54,000 other organisms on that reef system, before we make a decision to move forward with something 99 00:08:54,866 --> 00:08:57,400 that's done on a larger scale. 100 00:08:57,400 --> 00:09:00,966 What we're primarily working with now is antibiotic delivery. 101 00:09:00,966 --> 00:09:05,933 And what we're trying to do with that is maximize delivery to the coral, minimizing delivery 102 00:09:07,933 --> 00:09:11,633 to the water column and also creating basically a time release mechanism. 103 00:09:14,133 --> 00:09:16,800 Two of the methods that we are trying for antibiotic delivery right now are both pastes that we 104 00:09:18,933 --> 00:09:21,466 can smear onto the disease margin. 105 00:09:21,466 --> 00:09:26,466 One of these is basic shea butter and it's easy to get, it's relatively cheap, and it's 106 00:09:28,400 --> 00:09:32,366 something that we can use pretty easily in the field to deliver this drug to the coral. 107 00:09:34,366 --> 00:09:38,200 Another potential method that we've been working with comes from a company that is based out 108 00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:40,900 of Tampa. 109 00:09:40,900 --> 00:09:45,333 Actively treating the disease isn't the only way Karen is trying to help save Florida's 110 00:09:45,333 --> 00:09:50,333 iconic coral reefs. 111 00:09:52,366 --> 00:09:56,533 Together with Keys Marine Lab Deputy Director Dr. Cindy Lewis, Karen's been rescuing threatened 112 00:09:58,566 --> 00:10:03,566 pillar corals from the reef since 2016, before the Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease reached 113 00:10:05,100 --> 00:10:06,666 the area. 114 00:10:06,666 --> 00:10:09,733 Pillar coral is very near and dear to my heart. 115 00:10:09,733 --> 00:10:14,733 It's the only coral anywhere in the world that grows these big columns or cylinders 116 00:10:16,133 --> 00:10:19,400 that can be 10 feet tall and sometimes two feet in diameter. 117 00:10:19,400 --> 00:10:23,266 It's one of the few species that has its polyps out during the day. 118 00:10:23,266 --> 00:10:26,633 So, it looks very fuzzy and fluffy, not just at night. 119 00:10:26,633 --> 00:10:31,633 The pillar coral only occurs in the Caribbean and it's considered threatened because of 120 00:10:33,566 --> 00:10:36,833 its low abundance, its susceptibility to disease and its sensitivity to 121 00:10:37,866 --> 00:10:39,600 changing environmental stressors. 122 00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:44,300 And there are only about 160 genotypes that we identified on the reef. 123 00:10:45,800 --> 00:10:50,533 So, think of that like the last 160 or so people on this planet. 124 00:10:52,133 --> 00:10:56,266 And not only that, they only occurred at about 150 different sites. 125 00:10:56,266 --> 00:11:01,233 So, think of that as 160 people living in 150 different towns. 126 00:11:03,100 --> 00:11:07,000 So, they were spread out across the reef, very low genetic diversity, and because we 127 00:11:08,933 --> 00:11:12,466 were losing them from these bleaching events and subsequent disease, we realized that we 128 00:11:14,533 --> 00:11:18,333 needed to bring some of this genetic material in to these protected on-shore nurseries, like 129 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:24,533 we have here at Keys Marine Lab. 130 00:11:24,533 --> 00:11:29,533 Each pillar coral is assigned a unique number so experts have a record of where it was collected 131 00:11:30,700 --> 00:11:34,133 and what condition it was in at the time. 132 00:11:34,133 --> 00:11:39,133 Meanwhile, they continue to monitor the status of all the remaining pillar corals 133 00:11:39,733 --> 00:11:41,300 in the wild. 134 00:11:41,300 --> 00:11:45,500 We've lost, you know, well more than 50 percent of the genetics 135 00:11:45,500 --> 00:11:47,866 out on the reef, they're extinct now. 136 00:11:47,866 --> 00:11:52,533 And many of them are only held now in the onshore nurseries. 137 00:11:52,533 --> 00:11:57,500 Preserving each and every genotype is really important for preserving that genetic diversity 138 00:11:58,400 --> 00:12:01,333 that we can use in the future. 139 00:12:01,333 --> 00:12:06,333 To save the population, scientists are rearing pillar corals in captivity. 140 00:12:08,300 --> 00:12:13,300 In the summer of 2018, 69 different coral fragments of 27 different genotypes were being 141 00:12:15,700 --> 00:12:18,700 cared for at the Keys Marine Lab. 142 00:12:18,700 --> 00:12:23,700 They spawned in the tanks, males and females, that probably haven't seen each other in maybe 143 00:12:25,733 --> 00:12:29,633 centuries, and we have 30 brand new babies and that means 30 new genotypes in this population. 144 00:12:34,100 --> 00:12:39,100 The success of the Pillar Coral Rescue Project came at the ideal time. 145 00:12:41,533 --> 00:12:44,666 Now, the staff at the Keys Marine Lab is using techniques they perfected while working with 146 00:12:46,566 --> 00:12:50,366 the pillar corals, to house various other species that are also threatened 147 00:12:51,500 --> 00:12:53,800 by Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease. 148 00:12:53,800 --> 00:12:57,533 The eventual goal is to restore the species to the reef, 149 00:12:58,700 --> 00:13:01,700 once the disease outbreak has abated. 150 00:13:01,700 --> 00:13:06,700 While experts are actively working to treat and rescue corals, one big question remains. 151 00:13:09,466 --> 00:13:14,466 What is causing this disease? 152 00:13:19,933 --> 00:13:24,933 Everybody is concerned about is why are the corals diseased and what's causing it. 153 00:13:26,366 --> 00:13:30,133 Is it a pathogen or is it some environmental stressor? 154 00:13:32,133 --> 00:13:35,266 Researchers at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Fish and Wildlife 155 00:13:37,233 --> 00:13:40,466 Research Institute are taking a microscopic look at what may be occurring 156 00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:43,266 in the coral tissue. 157 00:13:43,266 --> 00:13:47,733 What we can do is look at how a diseased tissue looks and then compare that with what appears 158 00:13:50,133 --> 00:13:52,200 to be a normal tissue. 159 00:13:52,200 --> 00:13:56,900 The actual methods used are pretty much the same as if someone has a biopsy where a small 160 00:13:58,333 --> 00:14:01,233 piece of tissue is removed. 161 00:14:01,233 --> 00:14:06,233 To analyze a tissue sample, the hard coral skeleton is dissolved away, and the remaining 162 00:14:08,200 --> 00:14:12,500 tissue and associated surface organisms are preserved in a gelatinous substance that holds 163 00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:15,333 them in place. 164 00:14:15,333 --> 00:14:20,200 There's just a lot of different organisms that could be there and we wouldn't really 165 00:14:20,200 --> 00:14:22,200 necessarily know. 166 00:14:22,200 --> 00:14:26,566 It's like looking at a zoo of stuff and you just have no idea what, if any, are actually 167 00:14:28,200 --> 00:14:30,366 involved in the disease. 168 00:14:30,366 --> 00:14:35,366 Next, the block of tissue is finely sliced, and different chemicals are used to stain 169 00:14:37,400 --> 00:14:41,800 varying slices of the sample - each chemical highlighting different features in the tissue, 170 00:14:43,266 --> 00:14:47,066 such as the nucleus of the cell, mucus, or bacteria. 171 00:14:47,066 --> 00:14:52,066 We're looking possibly at trying to find any pathogens that we might be able to see microscopically. 172 00:14:55,200 --> 00:15:00,000 And also understanding how the normal tissue has changed. 173 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:05,000 Where you see these like white patchy areas, this is the disease itself, the lesion. 174 00:15:07,100 --> 00:15:12,100 And you can see where it's really white space, it's like the tissue is gone. 175 00:15:14,066 --> 00:15:17,700 Scientists have found that the disease appears to be occurring in the deeper layer - what's 176 00:15:17,700 --> 00:15:22,700 called the gastrodermis - of several different species affected by Stony Coral Tissue Loss 177 00:15:23,333 --> 00:15:25,400 Disease. 178 00:15:25,400 --> 00:15:30,000 They're kind of structurally different, but nonetheless, the, the way the lesions look 179 00:15:30,866 --> 00:15:32,866 internally is very similar. 180 00:15:32,866 --> 00:15:37,500 And we've seen that in five different species, so it seems to be a commonality that 181 00:15:39,566 --> 00:15:44,566 may help us understand how the disease is manifesting. 182 00:15:46,466 --> 00:15:50,366 We've seen what look like these crystalline inclusion bodies that are diamond shape or 183 00:15:51,700 --> 00:15:55,800 rhomboid in the tissue, sometimes near the lesion area. 184 00:15:55,800 --> 00:15:59,166 And we have no sense yet of what they are, 185 00:15:59,166 --> 00:16:02,833 but they may be important or they may not be. 186 00:16:04,800 --> 00:16:07,900 So, we'll certainly be pursuing looking at those to see if we can find out what they are. 187 00:16:11,366 --> 00:16:16,366 To help identify the microbes found in the coral tissues, Jan is collaborating with multiple 188 00:16:18,300 --> 00:16:22,533 organizations, including Mote Marine Laboratory's Coral Health and Disease Program 189 00:16:23,266 --> 00:16:26,033 led by Dr. Erinn Muller. 190 00:16:26,033 --> 00:16:31,033 With the Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease, we still don't know what the primary pathogen 191 00:16:33,066 --> 00:16:36,366 is, but we do believe that it is a microbe and a lot of the evidence is suggesting that 192 00:16:38,300 --> 00:16:42,766 it's a bacteria, primarily because when you apply antibiotics to a diseased coral, that 193 00:16:42,766 --> 00:16:45,200 progression seems to stop. 194 00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:50,200 We want to understand how does it transmit from a diseased coral to a healthy coral. 195 00:16:52,700 --> 00:16:55,900 And hopefully be able to identify the pathogen that could be responsible for that transmission 196 00:16:56,633 --> 00:16:58,833 that's occurring. 197 00:16:58,833 --> 00:17:01,900 So, what we do is we go collect diseased corals from the reef and bring them back to an isolated 198 00:17:02,466 --> 00:17:04,533 lab. 199 00:17:04,533 --> 00:17:08,466 We'll have a diseased coral within a tank and then we'll have different micro-fragments 200 00:17:10,500 --> 00:17:14,166 touching the diseased coral to see if over time, within a few days usually, that disease 201 00:17:15,366 --> 00:17:17,933 could transmit to the micro-fragments. 202 00:17:17,933 --> 00:17:22,166 If all the tissue just kind of sloughs off of the skeleton of the micro-fragment 203 00:17:22,166 --> 00:17:25,333 it would suggest that the disease had indeed transmitted. 204 00:17:25,333 --> 00:17:30,333 If that coral stays beautifully colored, appears to not have suffered any tissue loss, then 205 00:17:32,233 --> 00:17:35,033 it would suggest that it was resistant to that transmission of the disease. 206 00:17:35,033 --> 00:17:40,033 So once a coral gets sick from the disease transmission, the progress continues until 207 00:17:40,900 --> 00:17:42,866 the entire coral is dead. 208 00:17:42,866 --> 00:17:47,433 There's been some evidence in the field that the disease may slow down at times. 209 00:17:47,433 --> 00:17:52,433 But, for the majority, it appears that once a coral gets sick, the entire colony is going 210 00:17:53,033 --> 00:17:55,666 to be lost. 211 00:17:55,666 --> 00:18:00,700 Erinn takes samples of the coral micro-fragments throughout the transmission experiment to 212 00:18:02,733 --> 00:18:05,900 figure out how their microbes change through time as the corals fight the disease or become 213 00:18:07,066 --> 00:18:09,033 sick. 214 00:18:09,033 --> 00:18:13,166 To get the information from the corals, we basically scrape off some of the tissue and 215 00:18:15,600 --> 00:18:19,433 put that tissue into a preserving agent that allows us to then extract the DNA out of that 216 00:18:21,233 --> 00:18:23,166 sample. 217 00:18:23,166 --> 00:18:27,233 It contains DNA from everything that was in your sample, the coral, the bacteria, the 218 00:18:28,700 --> 00:18:31,433 algae, the viruses, the fungi. 219 00:18:31,433 --> 00:18:35,766 But, for our focus right now we're really interested in the bacterial community. 220 00:18:35,766 --> 00:18:40,766 We're still trying to figure out what's good bacteria for coral and what's the bad bacteria 221 00:18:41,366 --> 00:18:43,300 for coral. 222 00:18:43,300 --> 00:18:47,233 And so, by us taking samples and analyzing and characterizing the bacterial community, 223 00:18:49,266 --> 00:18:52,800 we can compare what's present within diseased corals with what's present within healthy 224 00:18:52,800 --> 00:18:57,800 corals and hopefully identify some of those potential pathogenic bacteria that are there 225 00:18:58,966 --> 00:19:02,833 and maybe even causing the tissue loss disease. 226 00:19:02,833 --> 00:19:07,833 Our preliminary results are really encouraging, and we have definitely seen a different signature 227 00:19:09,833 --> 00:19:14,200 of bacteria within diseased corals when we compare them to healthy corals that are in 228 00:19:14,200 --> 00:19:16,600 the same reef locations. 229 00:19:16,600 --> 00:19:21,600 We have a couple different bacteria species that seem to definitely have a role within 230 00:19:23,566 --> 00:19:27,633 this disease outbreak. But whether or not they're the pathogen, we need to fulfill follow 231 00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:33,966 up studies to really see if it's a cause and effect, or an association, or even potentially 232 00:19:35,933 --> 00:19:40,766 just a secondary infection that's not the primary pathogen of the disease. 233 00:19:42,700 --> 00:19:46,766 Erinn's transmission studies are also helping to identify genotypes of corals that appear 234 00:19:47,633 --> 00:19:50,433 to be resistant to the disease. 235 00:19:50,433 --> 00:19:55,400 This information is valuable to Mote Marine Laboratory and other organizations that are 236 00:19:55,400 --> 00:19:58,866 restoring corals on the reef. 237 00:19:58,866 --> 00:20:01,766 Now this is the perfect chip right here. 238 00:20:01,766 --> 00:20:06,700 One person involved in restoration efforts is Ken Nedimyer. 239 00:20:06,700 --> 00:20:11,700 He began growing corals in the wild in 2002 and later founded the Coral Restoration Foundation. 240 00:20:14,566 --> 00:20:19,566 Years ago, I set out to show people that we could grow and raise corals offshore and regrow 241 00:20:20,766 --> 00:20:22,266 them and plant them on the coral reefs. 242 00:20:22,266 --> 00:20:27,166 We went from one coral to tens of thousands of corals. 243 00:20:27,166 --> 00:20:32,166 Corals are unique in their ability to reproduce sexually by spawning and asexually through 244 00:20:33,566 --> 00:20:35,800 fragmentation. 245 00:20:35,800 --> 00:20:40,766 The Coral Restoration Foundation uses the fragmentation process by trimming a piece 246 00:20:41,666 --> 00:20:44,233 of coral into smaller fragments. 247 00:20:44,233 --> 00:20:47,933 We then glue that little piece of coral onto a card that we've previously printed that 248 00:20:47,933 --> 00:20:52,900 had the genus and species, and the particular genotype or number that we'd assign to it. 249 00:20:54,900 --> 00:20:59,466 Each card is placed on a Coral Restoration Tree to grow in their offshore nurseries. 250 00:21:01,466 --> 00:21:06,133 Once they reach a certain size, corals of identical genotypes are outplanted in clusters 251 00:21:08,033 --> 00:21:11,966 onto the reef, where they will eventually fuse together to create new colonies. 252 00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:18,033 So, one single colony that's you know the size of half a basketball could start to sexually 253 00:21:18,766 --> 00:21:20,700 reproduce in two years. 254 00:21:20,700 --> 00:21:25,133 That same colony would take fifteen years to grow from a baby. 255 00:21:25,133 --> 00:21:26,666 We're trying to step up the whole process. 256 00:21:26,666 --> 00:21:29,766 You know, the goal is to get these things breeding again. 257 00:21:29,766 --> 00:21:34,266 The cornerstone of our restoration program is preserving, and maintaining and outplanting 258 00:21:34,266 --> 00:21:39,266 genetic diversity, with the idea being that we want to mimic as much natural diversity 259 00:21:40,433 --> 00:21:42,600 that was on the reef 40 years ago. 260 00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:46,866 One genotype might be resistant to coral bleaching, to high heat temperatures, one genotype might 261 00:21:46,866 --> 00:21:49,000 be more resistant to disease. 262 00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:53,000 So, we want to make sure that we're sort of trying to hit every single possibility that 263 00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:57,966 the climate could throw at us, in hoping that once these outplanting populations sexually 264 00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:03,300 reproduce and spawn, that they will form new genotypes and those new genotypes will be 265 00:22:04,833 --> 00:22:08,500 more resilient, more resistant to future changes in the climate. 266 00:22:10,966 --> 00:22:14,233 As of early 2019, the Coral Restoration Foundation's offshore nursery contained five species affected 267 00:22:17,133 --> 00:22:22,133 by Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease, including 72 genotypes of threatened boulder coral, 268 00:22:24,833 --> 00:22:29,666 as well as a few genotypes of threatened pillar coral. 269 00:22:29,666 --> 00:22:32,700 Without our intervention, without our active practice, 270 00:22:32,700 --> 00:22:35,066 these corals won't come back on their own. 271 00:22:35,066 --> 00:22:40,066 So, our goal is to rebuild these populations, start to put out corals in the abundance and 272 00:22:41,466 --> 00:22:44,033 diversity that they were historically known to have. 273 00:22:44,033 --> 00:22:48,566 And by doing that we hope that we can start to connect populations that are too separate 274 00:22:48,566 --> 00:22:52,666 right now, to spawn and recruit on their own. 275 00:22:52,666 --> 00:22:57,633 Over the years, I've been fortunate to witness the field of restoration grow, there's more 276 00:22:59,733 --> 00:23:03,066 practices emerging and this community is really starting to expand and come together. 277 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:09,133 This is part of a solution, it's not the only part of a solution, but we've been a part 278 00:23:09,133 --> 00:23:14,133 of changing the way people feel about coral reefs and about the future. 279 00:23:14,866 --> 00:23:18,400 We've given them hope. 280 00:23:21,566 --> 00:23:23,666 This disease has been devastating. 281 00:23:23,666 --> 00:23:28,533 When you dive these reefs on a week to week, month to month basis, you have some favorite 282 00:23:30,033 --> 00:23:31,533 corals. 283 00:23:31,533 --> 00:23:34,966 It may sound silly, but we have Archie and we have Big Daddy. 284 00:23:34,966 --> 00:23:39,966 And I've got the Baby Elephant which was a beautiful, huge brain coral. 285 00:23:41,333 --> 00:23:44,733 And when I see these things now, I literally cry. 286 00:23:45,900 --> 00:23:48,733 This is a hard issue to raise awareness on. 287 00:23:48,733 --> 00:23:53,733 There's so much going on in the world and in people's lives and this one is really hard 288 00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:56,233 to see. 289 00:23:56,233 --> 00:23:58,933 You not only have to be out there diving or snorkeling, but you also have to understand 290 00:23:58,933 --> 00:24:03,900 what a coral is and what a dead coral looks like and what the implications of losing these 291 00:24:04,633 --> 00:24:08,133 coral colonies are. 292 00:24:08,133 --> 00:24:13,133 The Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease has had a devastating impact on Florida's fragile 293 00:24:13,733 --> 00:24:17,633 reef ecosystem. 294 00:24:17,633 --> 00:24:20,900 But all hope is not lost. 295 00:24:20,900 --> 00:24:25,900 Dedicated scientists are working hard to find the cause of the disease, treat the ill and 296 00:24:27,833 --> 00:24:32,633 restore these cities of the sea to their former glory. 297 00:24:32,633 --> 00:24:37,300 I believe it's really important that people understand that it doesn't mean the end of 298 00:24:37,300 --> 00:24:39,333 the Florida Keys reef system. 299 00:24:39,333 --> 00:24:44,300 Corals are really, really unique, resilient animals that I believe can rebound and as 300 00:24:46,266 --> 00:24:49,433 long as humans do a better job of trying to take care of our oceans, I think that can 301 00:24:49,433 --> 00:24:54,166 really make a difference in helping us address this coral disease outbreak. 302 00:24:54,166 --> 00:24:59,166 There's never been as much effort put into place to understand a coral disease, to try 303 00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:06,600 and stop a disease from spreading, to try and save the corals that are out there, and 304 00:25:08,033 --> 00:25:12,333 hopefully put new ones back out onto the reef environment. 305 00:25:12,333 --> 00:25:17,333 The collaborative effort, the amount of dedication that scientists and the community have really 306 00:25:19,833 --> 00:25:22,966 put into trying to understand what's going on and trying to fight this outbreak is unprecedented 307 00:25:25,466 --> 00:25:30,466 and I'm glad that I'm a part of it and hopefully we'll be making a big difference that is going 308 00:25:32,433 --> 00:25:35,666 to set a precedent for other outbreaks related to coral reefs around the world. 309 00:26:12,266 --> 00:26:17,266 Major funding for this program was provided by the Batchelor Foundation, encouraging people 310 00:26:18,600 --> 00:26:23,033 to preserve and protect America's underwater resources. 311 00:26:24,466 --> 00:26:29,133 And by The William J. & Tina Rosenberg Foundation, 312 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:33,233 The Do Unto Others Trust, 313 00:26:33,233 --> 00:26:36,100 and by the following.