SYDNEY: Scientists working on Australia's Great Barrier Reef have successfully trialled a new method for freezing and storing coral larvae that they say could help rewild reefs threatened by climate change.
Scientists are trying to protect coral reefs as rising ocean temperatures destabilise delicate ecosystems. The Great Barrier Reef has suffered four bleaching events in the last seven years, including the first bleach during a La Nina phenomenon that typically brings cooler temperatures.
Cryogenically frozen coral can be stored and later reintroduced to the wild, but the current process requires sophisticated equipment including lasers. Scientists say a new lightweight cryomesh can be manufactured cheaply and better preserves coral.
In a December lab trial, the world's first with Great Barrier Reef coral, scientists used the cryomesh to freeze coral larvae at the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences. Coral had been collected from the reef for the trial, which coincided with the brief annual spawning window.
The technology for coral reefs in the future is a game-changer, according to Mary Hagedorn, Senior Research Scientist at AIMS.
The cryomesh was previously trialled on smaller and larger varieties of Hawaiian corals. A trial on the larger variety didn't work.
There are trials of larger varieties of Great Barrier Reef coral.
The trials involved scientists from the AICMS, the Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, and the Taronga Conservation Society Australia as part of the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program.
The mesh technology that will help store coral larvae at 196 degrees Celsius, was devised by a team from the University of Minnesota s College of Science and Engineering, including Dr Zongqi Guo, a postdoctoral associate, and Professor John C Bischov. It was first tested on corals by PHD student Nikolas Zuchowicz.
Jonathan Daly of the Taronga Conservation Society Australia said that this new technology will allow us to do that at a scale that can actually support some of the aquaculture and restoration interventions.