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Most of the coral reefs on Earth are in a very bad state. In fact, if current climate trends continue, there is a very real risk that your grandchildren will grow up in a world devoid of coral reefs. But in the waters off the coast of Hawaii, scientists have recently discovered a collection of corals that can not be knocked down.
A new study has documented the discovery of "super corals" that seem to be adapted to the harsh and inhospitable waters of Kāne's bay in Hawaii. Although the battle is far from over, marine biologists who have discovered the reef claim that it "offers hope for reef resilience and effective conservation over the next decades".
Marine biologists at the University of Hawaii have reported that the coral reefs of Kāne's bay have been devastated by human activity from the 1930s to the 1970s. Sewage and pollution have also been detrimental to the waters, but have also been subjected to global warming and ocean acidification. This resulted in nearly 95% of reefs suffering from catastrophic bleaching and damage. Then, in the late 1970s, the situation began to recede when the sewers evacuated from the reef. In just 20 years, some parts of the reef had recovered from 50 to 90%.
In general, as we have seen elsewhere in the world, this level of stress is sufficient to trigger widespread bleaching episodes so severe that coral reefs can not recover. However, in Kāne & # 39; ohe, many coral species seem to have gained tolerance to acidic and warmer waters and are rebounding vigorously.
To dive deeper into this phenomenon, they took coral colonies in Kāne & Ole Bay and another reef in Waimānalo Bay, about 18 km away, and compared their resistance to difficult water in the laboratory. After living in a reservoir for 2.5 months in adverse water conditions, the corals of Kāne & ohe were significantly more resilient and grew more than twice as fast as the corals of the Waimānalo Bay.
It seems like it's not just a short-term adaptation either. "The question is now what mechanisms allow corals in these places to show increased tolerance to pH and temperature." Although our experiments in Kāne Bay suggest a short-term acclimatization, the mechanism remains unknown, "wrote the authors of the study. .
It is too early to say how "super corals" are common elsewhere in the world, or whether they could recolonize devastated reefs in other parts of the planet. Nevertheless, research shows that there is still hope for the world's troubled reefs.
"If we take the necessary steps now, we will begin to witness this coral re-establishment in our lifetime, and our children and grandchildren will be able to witness the recovery of coral reefs during their lifetime as we make the decision to value them. Christopher P. Jury, author of the study, Hawaiian Institute of Marine Biology at the University of Hawaii in Mānoa, told the AFP news agency.
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