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Source of the image: Van OordA consortium consisting of Van Oord, the Australian research institute CSIRO and the Delft University of Technology has taken a new step: this week it tests a new method of large-scale coral rehab at the Grande coral reef in Australia.
Climate change and coral bleaching have resulted in the loss of more than half of the reef's coral cover since 1985. The consortium hopes to find the best method to overcome a critical obstacle to rehabilitating reef rehabilitation.
The method of rehabilitating consortium partners is to harvest coral eggs and then transplant them to areas where the corals are expected to grow.
It is a proven concept that is already applied on a small scale and in tanks.
In this new phase of testing, researchers will analyze on-site if the method can be extended. Van Oord's dredging vessels collect a large number of coral eggs using specially adapted pumping systems.
It is important that fragile eggs are still alive when they reach the storage tank.
To make their trip as smooth and safe as possible, researchers from TU Delft and Van Oord have spent the past few months optimizing pumping systems. For example, the pump should not cause swirling during suction and should remain floating on the surface of the water. In addition, the type of pump played an important role in the design.
On-site tests will show in the coming weeks how pumping systems actually work in currents and waves. Researchers will test two types of pumps and two types of storage tanks in Australia.
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