A million corals to celebrate World Oceans Day

Today is World Oceans Day, a moment to celebrate the beauty of the waters that make our earth the ‘blue planet’. And this year, the theme is Revitalization: Collective Action for the Ocean – an opportunity to reconsider the way we treat this immense source of life and resource. Humanity’s impact has left its toll on the ocean and the clock is ticking to turn the tide against pollution, overfishing, and climate change. 

But amidst this storm we would like to celebrate an extraordinary ray of hope. 

Our legacy grantee Plant A Million Coral Foundation has developed a groundbreaking technology to restore coral reefs, one of the ecosystems largely responsible for keeping the natural food chain in place, and also an outstanding producer of the oxygen we breathe in this very moment. 

 

Over 50% of the world’s coral reefs are by now destroyed or disappearing, but thanks to the work of Dr. Dave Vaughn’s Plant A Million Coral Foundation, there might be a way to turn the tide on this devastation of coral reefs.

Through the grant collaboration and contacts of 11th Hour Racing Team, Plant A Million Corals Foundation were able to create a range of new tanks to breed coral seedlings that are then used to repopulate dead reefs at high speed. The new tank design adapts engineering principles that were developed in boat building to make them more durable and efficient. You can read more about the grant project here

Charlie Enright, Meredith Carroll and Kristi Wilson visited the Foundation in the Florida Keys, to see the tanks in action, learn more about the fascinating ‘micro-fragmentation’ technique, and learn more about Dr. Vaughn’s aspiration to literally plant a million corals before he retires.