Julio Cesar Chavez and Brian Ellsworth

(Reuters) – Scientists successfully bred a new species of coral in a project to rebuild coral reefs off Florida’s coast that were damaged by a disease that is relatively recent.

Reefs in Florida and the Caribbean are facing growing threat of destruction by the Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease https://graphics.reuters.com/ENVIRONMENT-CORALS-DISEASE/0100B2CP1GL/index.html that strips coral of its color and ultimately its life altogether.

The Florida Coral Rescue Center has in recent weeks bred hundreds of new coral of a species called rough cactus coral at a 2,000-square-foot (185.80-square-meter) facility that houses a total of 18 Florida coral species that are threatened by the disease.

Justin Zimmerman from Florida Coral Rescue Center, stated that “there is potential to multiply these corals…on a scale, so you could return some corals to their natural habitat.” You could also save species by doing this.”

Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease first appeared near Miami in 2014. By 2017, it had reached Florida’s northernmost coral tract. The disease was then spread further south to Key West.

It has a death rate between 66 and 100 percent in species that are affected. This is higher than coral bleaching, which can be caused by rising water temperatures due to climate change.

SeaWorld, which is a company that makes marine animals theme parks, manages Florida Coral Rescue Center. It’s partially funded by Disney Conservation Fund.

Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease is another danger to coral reefs around the globe, already under severe threat from climate change.

“Large numbers of offspring produced by rescued corals will be essential for restoration of Florida’s Coral Reef,” said Gil McRae of the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN), a U.N. supported global data network, stated that 14 percent of coral reefs around the globe had disappeared between 2009-2018.

Coral reef damage is one of the many issues activists want to bring to our attention during Earth Day, Friday 22 April.