It has been a good half month for Coral

Good News from the Caribbean and Middle East.

Coral reefs are truly wonderful, but in trouble. In the past fortnight tested solutions made the news in the form of a special paste and, um, er, clay tiles?

In the Turks and Caicos, a tireless effort to safeguard the region's coral reefs, from stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) has made great progress with another great thing… antibiotics!

This disease affects over 30 species of coral, often resulting in their rapid decline and death, and to combat it, a local team is applying an antibiotic paste to infected corals, which has shown significant success in halting the spread of the disease.

For more on this effort, read about it here.

Off the shores of the United Arab Emirates, a small expanse of the Arabian Gulf features an unconventional sight—clay tiles covering the seafloor. In this unique underwater landscape, marine biologist-turned-entrepreneur Vriko Yu and coral ecologist David Baker, founders of Hong Kong-based Archireef in 2020, are undertaking a groundbreaking endeavor to revive endangered coral reefs. Utilizing 3D-printed terracotta clay tiles, the duo customizes and installs these tiles on the seafloor, transforming what are essentially "underwater deserts" into a more suitable habitat for corals. Dr. Baker emphasizes the fundamental needs of corals, including a hard bottom substrate, clean water, and sunlight, and notes that widespread reef damage has depleted the necessary hard bottom. Archireef's innovative solution claims an impressive 95% survival rate for baby corals, marking a significant advancement in small-scale reef rehabilitation. The startup has successfully seeded an area of approximately 500 square meters in both the UAE and Hong Kong.

It’s understood that it’s man-made factors that have lead to acidification and raising temperatures of our waters.

So it’s very nice to see man-made efforts and research that are looking to mitigate this and to save or rehab our coral.