Just 150 fragments of staghorn coral planted off Florida’s shore might give new hope to the state’s endangered reefs.
A boat carrying those fragments set off Tuesday afternoon in Jupiter, marking the beginning of a study on the temperature tolerance of coral on Florida’s northern reef tract.
“This is the farthest north that this species has been out-planted,” said Shelby Thomas, the founder and CEO of the Ocean Rescue Alliance. “This will really help give us more insight in the future if it’s a suitable site to expand doing coral restoration efforts in Florida, and seeing if the species can survive further north.”
