| April 4 - 11, 2010 – Capturing Coral on Koh Tao |
Following on from our previous months expedition to capture and propagate coral larvae our efforts were expanded this week with the preence of Dr James True from Prince of Songkla University in Hat Yai, Southern Thailand.
Dr True has been working on this project for some years and has recently brought the concept of capturing coral larvae and propagating artificially to Koh Tao.
Essentially a Reef Restoration Technique the idea is that through painstaking research and observation one can accurately predict when a coral will attempt to reproduce. The second and third moons of the year seem to be the prime time for Koh Tao with the possibility of a third spawning later in the year. |
Coral Larvae being released from a
'assive' coral |
Members of Eco Koh Tao and Crystal Dive teamed up with Dr James and Marine Conservation Koh Tao to set up nets to capture coral larvae as they spawn.
We spent an hour or more underwater as the coral eggs were released into the water column. Some species release their eggs slowly and can continue to do so for an hour or more. Others release them in an explosive cloud and if you miss the event, then you’ll have to wait for next time. Which is exactly what happened to us with one particular species. |
One the colony starts to release eggs we place a net over the coral to catch as many eggs as possbble. |
Once the net is 'full' the eggs, which float, are transferred to a jar for storage and transport. |
Once on land with the jars of eggs and sperm these are propagated in buckets for a few days until they are ready to swim down and attach to a suitable substrate. This suitable substrate are the concrete ‘mushrooms’ placed in the buckets specifically for the corals to settle onto. They usually do being the ONLY suitable substrate available.
The buckets need to be aerated, which is done using aquarium filters and the water needs to be changed to keep it clean.
After a few days the corals are ready to settle and in a week or two, once the corals have settled we’ll place them in coral nurseries in the ocean where hopefully we’ll have some new genetically individual corals to add to the reef diversity on Koh Tao. |
Dr James True taking photos of the
coral larvae trying to settle |
Satya & Kailash Cook with Chad Scott of Marine
Conservation Koh Tao putting the 'mushrooms' into the buckets for the corals to settle onto. |
This has been, and continues to be an exciting new project for Koh Tao broadening the options for resource managers when looking at ways to preserve and restore the reefs. It enhances and expands the knowledge base so that projects can be conducted with the requisite amount of insight and understanding to lead to successful and positive outcomes.
Special thanks to New Heaven Dive School for all of their logistical support during this project. |
|
Kailash Cook with one of the concrete 'mushrooms' |
In this photo you can see the coral larvae on the dark background of the mushrooms. |
It is a bit hard to see but the coral larvea is looking around for the best place to
settle. It is only about 1 - 2mm wide at this stage. THis little guy was sniffing around
for a while but never avtually settled while we were there. |
