and organic compounds. In turn, zooxan- 

 thellae receive carbon dioxide from the 

 coral polyps. Additionally, certain species 

 of crustose coralline algae (CCA) are 

 needed on the surface to trigger coral larvae 

 settlement. These good algae were 

 overgrown by fleshy algae and turf with the 

 disappearance of the Diadema. 



Like most ecological restoration 

 efforts, implementation requires long-term 

 investments of time, talent, ingenuity, 

 patience — and financial support. 



Szmant has assembled an experienced 

 research team long on the first four 

 attributes. Co-investigators include 

 Margaret Miller, an ecologist with the 

 National Oceanographic and Atmospheric 

 Administration's Southeast Fisheries 

 Science Center, and Thomas Capo, a senior 

 research associate with the University of 

 Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and 

 Atmospheric Science. 



National Sea Grant is providing 

 financial support for the project — more 

 than $400,000 over a two-year period. 

 About $249,000 in matching funds comes 

 from UNC-W, the University of Miami, 

 The Nature Conservancy's Volunteer 

 Program, and the Institute for Marine 

 Science in Fort Lauderdale. 



Additional logistical support comes 

 from the Florida Keys National Marine 

 Sanctuary and UNC-W s NOAA-funded 

 National Undersea Research Center, with 

 field headquarters in the sanctuary. 



The ambitious project targets ship- 

 grounding sites on coral reefs in the Florida 

 Keys National Marine Sanctuary. When a 

 ship runs aground on a coral reef, it can 

 damage or destroy an area larger than a 

 football field. 



If successful, the techniques will be 

 applicable to the restoration of coral 

 populations in degraded reefs throughout 

 the region, if not the world. 



A new research frontier 



The timeline for culturing coral is 

 dictated by Mother Nature — in more ways 

 than one. During one week of a defined 



lunar cycle in August or September, star 

 corals release billions of gametes in a mass 

 spawn. 



"When all the polyps release their 

 gamete bundles, it looks like a snow 

 globe," Szmant says. "It's really quite an 

 incredible sight." 



Star corals release egg-sperm packets, 

 which float to the surface. After fertiliza- 

 tion, coral larvae drift, then sink to reseed 

 the reef. But mortality exceeds 95 percent, 

 Szmant explains. The researchers are 

 attempting to gather gametes from spawn 

 and nurture them for transplant onto 

 natural reef formations. 



Late last August, two teams as- 

 sembled — one in the Florida Keys 

 directed by Miller and the other in Puerto 

 Rico directed by Szmant. Their goal was to 

 capture the shower of gametes with fine 

 mesh nets and immediately culture the 

 larvae in field chambers resembling 

 floating ponds. 



"For the batch from the Florida Keys, 

 the idea was to attempt to seed them 

 directly onto reef substrates, and then try to 

 evaluate their success," Miller recalls. 



Unfortunately, when the larvae were 

 about 36 hours old, Hurricane Debbie was 

 bearing down on the region. The Puerto 

 Rico team was first to evacuate. 



"It was a major setback when we 

 were forced to shut down and evacuate the 

 Keys," Miller says. She managed to scoop 

 up a small amount of larvae to use in lab 

 studies, but was not successful in getting 

 them to "settle" on an artificial substrate. 



For now, lab experiments continue 

 using small numbers of star coral larvae 

 collected from different sites. 



The elkhorn coral is a different 

 matter. "We have less history on what it 

 does from year to year, and it did not spawn 

 this year in the Florida Keys or Puerto Rico," 

 Szmant says. 



"It could be that it still is recovering 

 from the 1998 bleaching episode. When 

 corals lose their major food source, they 

 may not have the energy for reproduction 

 the following summer." 



Coral bleaching she explains, is a 

 major factor in the loss of corals world- 

 wide. Scientists suggest it is caused in part 

 by global warming and associated with 

 elevated water temperatures. It can be 

 exacerbated by ultraviolet radiation or 

 disease. 



"The bleaching event in 1998 — with 

 the warmest temperatures in thousands of 

 years — was the worst on record. It killed 

 huge amounts of coral all over the world," 

 Miller points out. 



The 2001 odyssey 



In August 2001, the researchers will 

 return to the reef for what they hope will be 

 a summer free of hurricanes and bleaching. 



"You can't get discouraged," Szmant 

 says. "Some things — especially Mother 

 Nature — are beyond our control." 



Meanwhile, Diadema urchins — also 

 known as spiny black sea urchins — are 

 thriving in Capo's Key Biscayne laboratory 

 culture system. Diadema spawn in winter, 

 so collection picked up when coral 

 culturing ceased. 



"We already have three batches — the 

 first major effort to culture them with more 

 to come," Capo reports. "It's a spectacular 

 sight." 



By late March, they ranged from 

 extensive larval to benthic juvenile stages, 

 and would require another six months 

 before they would be ready to be intro- 

 duced into the coral reef environment — 

 just before a new batch of cultured coral 

 larvae would be ready for release. 



Capo is keeping a detailed account of 

 every stage, noting optimal water tempera- 

 tures and salinity. During the grow-out 

 stage, he'll be interested in the food of 

 choice for the urchin — brown, red or 

 green algae. 



"There is no literature to rely on for 

 any of this, so we're trying a varied menu 

 to see what works best," he says. 



"We're heading for a couple of very 

 interesting months. After all, studying the 

 interaction of sea urchin and coral opens up 

 Continued 



COASTWATCH 9 



