Coral reefs are the most biodiverse ecosystem in the world.

Will it be possible to someday, through underwater nurseries, to begin restoring the devastating loss of coral reefs off our shores?

In addition to negative consequences caused by overfishing and pollution, coral reefs face another major existential threat: increased acidity from warming oceans...a report from the nearby Florida Keys about the dire outlook for coral reefs, as well as efforts and research to try and save them.

According to data from more than 100 monitoring stations in the Florida Keys, there has been a 44 percent decline in coral reefs over the past 20 years.
On many Caribbean reefs, it's even worse. The decline is up to 80 percent over the past three decades.

There are efforts underway, utilizing volunteer ecotourists on vacation time in the Keys, to build "underwater nurseries in underwater ecosystems, where young endangered staghorn and elkhorn coral are allowed to mature for more than a year before being replanted on existing reefs."


PBS Video: Endangered Coral Reefs Die as Ocean Temperatures Rise and Water Turns Acidic
www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1AyIs1xNCk