oral Reefs are lively ecosystems that support myriad coral, fish and other creatures. The reefs, in essence, are a critical link in the chain of ocean health. In 2024 over 75% of our reefs had bleaching events, primarily caused by the rise in ocean temperature. Dr. Joanie Kleypas founded Raising Coral Costa Rica to develop restoration methods to help invigorate our damaged reefs. While coral reefs can come back from bleaching events, the pressures on the reefs for the last decade have been extraordinary, making it a slow process and fraught with setbacks, but the methods RCCR have developed are promising and in 2025, they are seeing success in growing new coral colonies.
Coral Nurseries in Drake Bay, Costa Rica
Coral Nurseries in the Lab
This year the temperatures are a little lower and the coral have been thriving. RCCR captures data as they use a variety of techniques to harvest species and grow the coral in their nurseries in the lab, transfer to a structure in the ocean.
Transplanting
When they are still fairly small they move the coral fragments onto a structure in the ocean. Finally when the Coral has grown to a transplantable size, they attach the coral to a reef. through their work they have developed successful methods they can share with other organizations so the rate of new coral colonies can proliferate around the globe. You can watch the full videos on their website, and please consider donating to their incredible work.
https://www.raisingcoral.org/resources
