Thomas M. Strom

A "coralsicle" under the spotlight.

Biscayne National Park's coral nursery was born of the need to find a use for broken corals that resulted from boat impacts and other traumatic injuries to healthy coral, while at the same time creating a large source of hard corals for use in reef restoration and enhancement.

Most coral reef restoration projects have focused largely on areas physically damaged during a vessel grounding and rarely involve more than the stabilization of the remaining reef framework and transplanting a large number of hard coral colonies into the area. Some restoration efforts are more creative, reconstructing the topography in an effort to restore habitat complexity. A few projects have included transplanting other coral reef organisms to the area being rehabilitated. Transplanted corals used for rehabilitation typically come from one of two sources: the damaged area itself through the recovery of larger colony fragments and dislodged soft corals, or by harvesting material from the surrounding intact reefs. Biscayne National Park's innovative restoration program focuses on restoring damaged reefs with corals grown in a field nursery. The nursery is seeded by rescuing coral fragments from vessel grounding sites, and allowing them to continue to grow in protected areas for eventual transplantation back to the damaged reef.

Community volunteers are the key to the nursery's success. They work to attach damaged coral pieces to PVC rods that can then be placed in locations that provide ideal growing conditions (the nurseries) and can later be transplanted to previously damaged reef areas. Because of the appearance of these corals on a stick, volunteers have dubbed them "coral popsicles" or "coralsicles!" Additionally, volunteers help to maintain the nursery and document the growth of the corals.

New volunteers are welcome! Click here to learn more about the Coral Nursery Club.