In April 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, and the ensuing blowout spewed oil for the next three months, making it the largest oil spill in U.S. history. The oil coated more than 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) of coastline, but an estimated 35% of it sank to the seafloor, damaging deep-sea habitats across a vast area including coral reefs.
The limited knowledge of these deep, inaccessible habitats is a big challenge to their restoration. To close that knowledge gap, eight scientific expeditions set out in 2022 to collect data, samples, imagery and sonar scans from the depths. Now, researchers are using that information to guide one of the first attempts ever to restore a deep-sea coral community.
Scientists and divers with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S Navy, the University of Rhode Island and other institutions have collected more than 200 coral fragments, broken them into smaller pieces and then planted them in the open ocean. Most have survived.
At the same time, researchers are growing these deepwater corals in labs for the first time. The next step? Once the lab-grown corals are mature enough, scientists place them in the damaged areas.
While this first-of-its-kind deepwater coral restoration project is still in its early stages, researchers are already seeing promising signs of success, including coral spawning in the lab setting.
Credits
