MV Makai

13/07/2022

Another beautiful day in the Atlantic Ocean

23/04/2022

18/04/2022

Protect our reefs! Together we will plant 10,000 new corals! 🌊

Coral reefs provide half of the oxygen on the planet and absorb roughly a third of the carbon dioxide produced by fossil fuel use. 🌍

Over half of all surviving coral in the oceans has died since the 1950s. 😥

We need your help! 🙏

Stream2Sea will be donating $1 for every tube of our reef-safe mineral-based sunscreen to Reef Renewal USA as we commit to planting 10,000 new coral reefs. 💙

Reef Renewal USA, Inc.
1% for the Planet

📸: Stream2Sea CEO & Founder Autumn Blum planting corals
,

02/04/2022

Reef Renewal Innovation.

we started with pvc trees🌱
which evolved into Vertical Nurseries, or VERNs🌿
which became biodegradable🌳

Now we can outplant an entire VERN in on piece. And the h**p rope it grew over in the nursery will biodegrade away before the coral has time (in its multi-centenarian lifespan!) to blink.

Check our story to see the innovative simplicity of a h**p VERN.

31/03/2022

24/03/2022

For , we celebrate those across the USGS are making history every day.

Dr. Ilsa Kuffner is a Research Marine Biologist at the USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center “I love that I have the honor of working with and among people that are just as passionate about their jobs as I am,” she says. Her job is focused on providing information about , the threats they are experiencing, and strategies to help preserve and restore these ecosystems.

Ilsa works to provide answers to questions about how our Nation’s precious natural resources can best be managed. Having objectively collected data and information is key to making informed decisions, and some of the decisions are not easy ones. For example, her work addresses the potential risks and rewards of transplanting threatened species (like the elkhorn coral) across hundreds of miles of reef. Knowing when the risk of extinction outweighs the risks in taking action could be key to the persistence of coral species under threat from warming and fast-spreading diseases.

“Like many ecosystems on land, coral reefs are an ecosystem in crisis—and they need our help. I study coral reefs to help provide knowledge humans need to make decisions on how best to manage and restore these critical natural resources. Coastal communities throughout the tropics are safer and more economically prosperous with healthy coral reefs than without them.” –Ilsa Kuffner

12/03/2022

Corals spawn in captivity for the first time | Sci NC - YouTube

Check out this mini-documentary highlighting our reproductive work with 2 coral species that had not previously spawned in a laboratory setting. Congratulations Drs. Fogarty and Warner, former graduate student Kory Enneking, and all the amazing undergraduate and graduate students that have made this research possible!

Special thanks to Michelle Lotker and PBS NC/Sci NC for helping us spreading the word of the unprecedented loss of coral reefs and the scientific efforts to help them recover.

10/03/2022

Here's a great example of some sanctuary fieldwork!Check out this week's Earth is Blue video featuring Lonny Anderson, an Environmental Specialist with the F...

04/03/2022

Look for FKNMS Superintendent Sarah Fangman at tomorrow’s Open House at Keys Marine Lab in Layton. She will be on hand from 1-3 p.m. to answer your questions about our 3,800-square mile sanctuary.

02/03/2022

01/03/2022

Did you know??

Favia fragum, commonly known as Golfball coral, is a unique and widely dispersed Caribbean coral that does not get the attention we think it deserves. Although it is a stony coral, it is not a significant reef building coral due to its small adult size. Nevertheless, this beautiful and diverse coral is one of our favorites.

The Reef Institute is honored to be the sole facility holding this species of coral under the Florida Coral Rescue Project. In addition, we have spawned and counted over 150 babies! They are currently in perfect health under the care of our coral veterinarian, and we are excited to see what the future holds for these coral babies.

28/02/2022

28/01/2022

01/12/2021

Christmas lights on !!!

25/11/2021

29/10/2021

Howard McKinney is a volunteer for Reef Renewal USA. He has been diving in the Keys for years, and jumped at the chance to give a helping hand in the effort to restore them back to what they once were. Visit http://ow.ly/vbub50GB81G for more video, and subscribe for future content!

27/10/2021

Bouldering is one method which we have been innovating at Reef Renewal USA. By emulating the skeletal structure the coral would normally create over a long period of time, we give these boulder type corals a head start.

27/10/2021

24/10/2021

At our Looe Key Nursery, a pair of Angel Fish took refuge under the ‘trees’. These are only some of the species of fish that call our nursery home. Watch our story to see video of these beauties.

23/10/2021

22/10/2021

Learn more about this technique at our youtube channel: http://ow.ly/SR9R50GtpVM
Reef Renewal USA has perfected a new, more sustainable method of propagating Staghorn and Elkhorn coral. Using rope, composed of biodegradable h**p, coral is raised to a robust size, in one easy-to-manage piece. This method requires little maintenance to raise, and once the coral is ready, it can be outplanted with minimal handling. We call it the VERN, short for "Vertical Nursery."

20/10/2021

Still known to many aquarium hobbyists simply as Scolies or Scolys due to their former placement in the genus Scolymia, the captive-breeding of this highly-prized large polyp stony coral from Australia was once simply a daydream. It's time to wake up and face a new reality with the first successful....

10/09/2021

31/08/2021

Here's a baby lobster (look carefully, find its antennaes and work back) that was hiding in one of the sea urchins on boulder coral frag trays.

29/08/2021

What is a land based nursery?

When it comes to rescue coral, a land based nursery can be a huge asset! We hold our corals on land as opposed to in the ocean. We can control essentially everything needed to maintain coral health- our water, our lights, our temperature, etc. Our facility is equipped with state of the art technology that can be used in emergency situations to keep everything in the facility up and running even if staff can’t get there.

Have any questions about our facility and how it runs? Drop them in the comments below!