Crews are working feverishly to save the coral reefs that are literally being cooked alive from record high ocean temperatures in the Florida Keys.
WESTMINSTER, Colo. — When it comes to extreme weather events, Florida has had its fair share. This summer’s record-breaking heat is one of the worst.
Scorching 100-degree ocean temperatures are stressing, bleaching and killing coral in the Florida reef tract.
“What that is doing is that it is raising those temperatures in the ocean far past temperatures that coral can do well in,” explained Sara Stevens.
Stevens is the Director of Animal Collections at Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster. She’s working with a team at the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary to help care for about 5,000 corals. The corals were recently pulled out of the ocean to weather the heat safely on land.
“In these land-based nurseries, we can better control temperature and keep things consistent,” Stevens said.
The idea is to give the corals a chance at survival.
Coral reefs support over a quarter of all marine life. They also protect property and people.
“From an environmental standpoint, they’re really important for buffering storms,” said Stevens. “So as we have these big tropical storms or these big hurricanes coming through, healthy reefs help slow those down.”
Butterfly Pavilion has been a member of the Florida Reef Tract Rescue Project since 2019. It is currently the only place in Colorado where the public can see the rescued coral on exhibit.
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Heather Genuchi the center’s aquarist.
“The biggest thing is just educating everyone,” Genuchi said.
The center’s goal is to teach people about coral. That it is an ecosystem critical to our ocean health. And it is on the brink as our climate warms, our storms get bigger, and our heat waves get worse.
“So, doing your part to try and reduce your impact is going to be critical,” said Stevens.
So that future generations can enjoy the beautiful creatures in the wild, not just behind glass.
The crews in Florida do plan to return the rescued coral to the ocean once the ocean temperatures cool down. They are hoping that happens in October.
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