BISCAYNE NATIONAL Park, Florida — The view of a sampling of the Florida Reef Tract through my face mask was disturbing: No forests of staghorn or elkhorn corals, no schools of fish darting about, no black spiny urchins, no colorful riots of sponges.
Eight miles offshore in Biscayne National Park, the views I took in during a morning of snorkeling were only a snapshot of the 350-mile-long reef tract that stretches from Biscayne to Dry Tortugas National Park.
But the relatively barren reefs were alarming.
When you consider the length of the reef tract, that it’s the only barrier reef in the continental United States, and that it’s the world’s third-longest barrier reef, hopefully you’ll share my concern over the reef’s health.
Fortunately, help is on the way. Across South Florida a handful of organizations are hard at work growing hundreds of thousands of corals that can be “out-planted” onto the reef in a bid to replenish corals lost to disease, pollution, and warming oceans.
National Parks Traveler Special Projects Editor Patrick Cone joined me last week as we toured some of these coral nurseries to better understand the techniques being used to, essentially, manufacture on an industrial scale myriad corals with hopes they’ll restore the reef’s vitality.
It’s not a pipe dream. The technique to rapidly multiply and grow corals to be transferred to the ailing reef has been proven. Other countries have used the techniques on their own barren reefs, some of which were transformed into vibrant underwater “rain forests” teeming with biodiversity.
Nevertheless, the task at hand is daunting. The Florida Tract Reef has been in steep decline since the 1970s.
“Emergency action is required to change the trajectory of the health of coral reefs in Florida, and to protect the economy that depends on them,” states the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries arm.
In the coming weeks, the Traveler will bring you in-depth stories and videos about the work being done to restore the reef and explain how you can help.
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