In an unassuming shed in a coastal town on the doorstep of the Great Barrier Reef, a new and exciting industry is spawning.
At Australia's largest coral farm near Bundaberg in regional Queensland, staff bustle around long tanks filled with psychedelic colours.
Some of the thousands of corals have been propagated from the reef, but others have never seen the ocean.
Monsoon Aquatics founding director Daniel Kimberley said most of the corals were exported for the aquarium market, but there was the potential to play an important role closer to home.
"Our future is definitely in the aquacultural realm, and a key part of that will be coral spawning and settling corals on a large scale," he said.
"Firstly for our ornamental market, but our goal for the future is to be involved in reef restoration efforts as they become a reality on the Great Barrier Reef."
The coral farm has received more than $500,000 in federal funding to continue its coral spawning work, in the hope it could one day lead to finding a species that could future proof the reef.
"Those corals will be selected for their tolerance to environmental change," Mr Kimberley said.
"Corals that have been adapted in captivity, rather than just taking the corals that are there now and trying to replant them, if they're dying for whatever reason, there's no use replanting them.
"That's where aquaculture comes in, to develop those super corals that are going to be resilient to change out on the reef."
Super corals
The University of Technology Sydney's Future Reefs Program team leader Emma Camp said scientists were concerned about the increasing stress and threats faced by the reef.
"Resilient corals – corals that have got a better capacity to deal with the stresses we know they're going to have to deal with – is one of the aspects that scientists are exploring," Dr Camp said.
Dr Camp said most of the studies into different species were still in the early stages.
"We first have to industrialise these processes if we are really going to try to have a significant effect on the reef," she said.
"Now it's a matter of considering where and if they should be applied, what the risk is associated with them, what's the cost, where and when they may be most beneficial."
Large-scale coral
Monsoon Aquatics lead scientist Jonathan Moorhead said creating spawning events had flow-on effects to the broader research pool.
"We can find a lot of things out about corals and their life history and their biology that will supplement and improve our knowledge of corals in general," he said.
"We have the advantage of being able to do these things on a much larger scale compared to universities."
Federal Member for Hinkler Keith Pitt said it was fantastic work.
"It's great news for the region and it's great news for the reef," he said.
"These are really unique activities, taking it from spawning to coral growth in an environment which is not the reef."
Future conservation
For Mr Kimberley, the goal of reef restoration was well-worth the effort.
"It would be a huge achievement, because I have a real affinity with the ocean," he said.
"I've seen changes in the reef in all parts of Australia, and I'd love to be part of that maintenance to ensure that future generations are going to be able to enjoy it."
