One Man's Quest To Restore Florida's Coral Reef
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Ken Nedimyer first dived into the pristine waters off the Florida Keys at the tender age of 13, whilst on vacation with his parents. He loved it so much, that he returned in 1969, to obtain a degree in Zoology from the Florida Atlantic University and never left.
Everything went well until 1977, when a series of cold fronts resulted in such extreme temperatures that two of Florida's reef building corals - the Staghorn and Elkhorn were severely impacted. The ones that were not killed were weakened and destroyed by an outbreak of the 'White Band disease' - A condition that peels off the coral skeleton in a uniform band.
In 1985, just as the corals were beginning to recover, a couple of destructive hurricanes hit Florida's coast forcing them into such a serious decline, that they had to be placed on the endangered list.
While distressed at seeing the beautiful coral disappear, Ken had no idea how to fix the issue. Then in 2000, he noticed tiny Staghorn coral beginning to grow in his underwater live rock farm. Intrigued, his daughter and he decided to try artificially cultivate some for a high school project.
They were so successful, that Ken decided to approach the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary to see if they could use their method to help restore Florida's coral. Ken received his first grant in 2004 for a pilot project and since then, there has been no looking back!
While things are still not back to normal, a lot more funding has been granted and the Coral Restoration Project has now been extended along the entire Florida Reef Tract and all the way down to the US Virgin Islands.
Though Florida's issue was unique, disappearing coral is a problem worldwide. Scientists estimate that about 25% of the world's coral has been lost, primarily due to the rising sea temperatures and higher carbon dioxide levels caused by global warming. They believe that if something is not done soon, more than half of the world's coral will vanish within the next 50 years. Ken Nedimyer believes that his method of coral re-planting can be implemented anywhere in the world and hopes, that others will follow his lead.
Resources: coralmagazine.com,www.fla-com, reefresileince.org
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320 Comments
- Hannahalmost 13 yearsThat is nice that he cares that much about the reef to help restore it.
- Rayalmost 13 yearsI saw something like this on a TV show. They had to make these big blue tubs and put corals throe it. I found it cool to see how they grow it strait.
- joeyalmost 13 yearsthis is awesome and cool
- danica warbintonalmost 13 yearsi love marine life i would love to help restore all the marine life i can going to florida in 3 years cant wait to help.................in school in bit hope i dont get in trouble bahahahahaha.............!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- xXlOvEralmost 13 yearshay this is so cool and i am doing a report on it ITS COOL
- andreaalmost 13 yearsThe corals are dieing and going missing. The temperature and global warming. They will coral replant and he hopes that other people will fallow his lead.
livingfirelordzalmost 13 yearsSAVE THE EARTH ITS THE ONLY PLANET WITH VIDEOGAMES....- Franalmost 13 yearsSeriously people? ....ok
- k.palmost 13 yearscool fish
- jahmaralmost 13 yearsthis amazing i would love to something like that