Watch It Wednesday #43

Coral covers less than 1% of the seafloor yet it provides habitat for 25% of the ocean’s marine life, acts as a natural breakwater protecting infrastructure, and provides food and livelihoods for millions of people. By 2050, over 90% of the world's reefs are projected to die.

Coral Vita, a for-profit company in the Bahamas, has made it their mission to boost the resiliency of coral reefs by ‘farming’ coral on land. They can grow coral 50x faster than in the wild while also creating more resilient corals by exposing them to controlled stress through raising and lowering the temperature of the water they are growing in. This boosts the coral's ability to survive in rapidly changing ocean conditions. Currently most of Coral Vita’s business is funded by hotels and hospitality services in the Bahamas looking to preserve coral reefs for tourism.

It should be noted that ultimately the recovery of corals must be predicated on reducing the anthropogenic impacts driving their decline. While the challenges of preserving coral ultimately start with mitigating our impact on the marine environment and preserving wild corals, Coral Vita represents a glimmer of hope for recovery efforts that can be taken in tandem.