Senior Biologist Brooke Zurita feeds a mixture of plankton, algae and fish eggs to coral at Moody Gardens Aquarium on Feb. 9, 2024, in Galveston.GALVESTON — Biologist Brooke Zurita lowered a turkey baster into a tank’s still water. She squeezed a stinky, chocolate-milk-colored mixture with plankton, algae and fish eggs over a piece of rescued, wild coral. The food swirled like a wispy cloud.
A new report found that by 2040 Flower Garden coral could bleach, meaning they expel the symbiotic algae that give them color and nourishment, and start to die rather than recover. And they can maintain and grow the coral collection, which Moody Gardens houses and pays for using both its own money and federal grants.In Texas, scientists hope to study which types of coral are most resistant to heat and disease. They might breed the strongest ones and plant them in the sanctuary to test how they grow.
The inspiration for rescuing coral from the wild grew out of an emergency. Scientists saw the deadly Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease take hold a decade ago in Florida reefs that stretch around the state’s southern and eastern coasts. By 2019, panicked scientists pleaded with facilities across the country to take in coral from their damaged reefs as the disease spread.
Zurita remembers the week that she was put in charge of the coral lab. She got a big scare because one coral in her care suddenly bleached. She coaxed the coral back to health.What started as a three-year ask for banking Florida coral grew into a long-term project. The ecosystem threats weren’t disappearing. Scientists in some facilities started propagating the coral to go back to the reef.