Current location:business >>
Scientists struggle to protect infant corals from hungry fish
business31832People have gathered around
IntroductionFORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. —South Florida researchers trying to prevent predatory fish from devouring lab ...
South Florida researchers trying to prevent predatory fish from devouring laboratory-grown coral are grasping at biodegradable straws in an effort to restore what some call the rainforest of the sea.
Scientists around the world have been working for years to address the decline of coral reef populations. Just last summer, reef rescue groups in South Florida and the Florida Keys were trying to save coral from rising ocean temperatures. Besides working to keep existing coral alive, researchers have also been growing new coral in labs and then placing them in the ocean.
But protecting the underwater ecosystem that maintains more than 25% of all marine species is not easy. Even more challenging is making sure that coral grown in a laboratory and placed into the ocean doesn't become expensive fish food.
Marine researcher Kyle Pisano said one problem is that predators like parrot fish attempt to bite and destroy the newly transplanted coral in areas like South Florida, leaving them with less than a 40% survival rate. With projects calling for thousands of coral to be planted over the next year and tens of thousands of coral to be planted over the next decade, the losses add up when coral pieces can cost more than $100 each.
Pisano and his partner, Kirk Dotson, have developed the Coral Fort, claiming the small biodegradable cage that's made in part with drinking straws boosts the survival rate of transplanted coral to over 90%.
"Parrot fish on the reef really, really enjoy biting a newly transplanted coral," Pisano said. "They treat it kind of like popcorn."
Tags:
Reprint:Friends are welcome to share on the Internet, but please indicate the source of the article when reprinting it.“Global Glimpse news portal”。http://saintlucia.ekjotinstitute.com/news-89c899902.html
Related articles
Minnesota Uber and Lyft driver pay package beats deadline to win approval in Legislature
businessST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A plan to boost pay for Uber and Lyft drivers in Minnesota that lawmakers bel ...
【business】
Read moreHyderabad pulls off 1
businessHYDERABAD, India (AP) — Sunrisers Hyderabad pulled off a sensational one-run win off the final ball ...
【business】
Read moreToday's campus protests aren't nearly as big or violent as those last century
businessIn a way, the black-and-white Palestinian scarf draped over Hannah Sattler’s shoulders this week and ...
【business】
Read more
Popular articles
- NBA playoffs: Edwards leads Wolves to 98
- Mike Yaz homers at Fenway after visit from Hall of Fame grandfather; Giants beat Red Sox 3
- NCPA's annual chamber music festival to kick off
- Answering readers' questions about the protest movement on US college campuses
- Election 2024: Biden and Trump bypassed the Commission on Presidential Debates
- Sadiq Khan and Tory rival Susan Hall cast their votes in London mayor election
Latest articles
Cruise worker 'murders newborn son on board ship': Shocked co
Photography exhibition by Italian journalist opens in Xi'an
Britney Spears reaches divorce settlement with estranged husband Sam Asghari
Marlins slip past Rockies 5
Lynn Williams breaks NWSL goal
Thousands rally in Slovakia to protest a controversial overhaul of public broadcasting
LINKS
- Trump seeks Supreme Court pause in 2020 election case
- Westfield Bondi Junction evacuated after alleged stabbing and shots
- Jimmy Lai provided HK$1.5 million loan to activists, court hears
- Kenneth Eugene Smith: Alabama carries out first US nitrogen gas execution
- No OCR cut expected with inflation still over 5 percent
- Jimmy Lai provided HK$1.5 million loan to activists, court hears
- Chilean vet helps dogs, cats and rabbits injured in wildfires
- Kenneth Eugene Smith: Alabama carries out first US nitrogen gas execution
- NASA's historic Mars helicopter Ingenuity grounded for good after 72 flights
- In China, a factory is turning old wedding photographs into fuel