TAMPA, Fla. — The Florida Aquarium has unveiled a project that aims to restore and reproduce, according to a press release sent out Thursday.
On Nov. 24, the aquarium stated that they have broken ground on a coral care complex at their Apollo Beach conservation campus.
They said the project, set to be completed in May 2023, will help expand their coral research and further critical advancements in coral reproduction and restoration.
“Here, we will be expanding our coral reproduction work and rearing thousands more coral offspring to be placed on the reef in the effort to restore threatened populations,” The Florida Aquarium’s senior scientist and coral conservation program manager Keri O'Neil said.
The facility will provide 4,200 square feet of additional space beyond the aquarium’s existing coral greenhouses and coral spawning laboratories and will be a space entirely dedicated to preserving, breeding and rearing corals that are declining along Florida's Coral Reef.
“Infrastructure dedicated to coral propagation and rearing is a major limiting factor to scaling up coral restoration efforts in the state," said Allie McCue, Regional Director, Southwest, Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission.
