1 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:06,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works, Hey, brain 2 00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:10,280 Speaker 1: Stuff Laurin Vogelbaum. Here, coral reefs are being killed off 3 00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:14,320 Speaker 1: faster than they can regenerate due to factors such as pollution, overfishing, 4 00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:17,919 Speaker 1: and the rising ocean temperatures associated with global warming, but 5 00:00:18,040 --> 00:00:21,400 Speaker 1: there is hope in a developing process for helping coral regrow. 6 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:26,040 Speaker 1: First the bad news. According to coral Vita, a coral 7 00:00:26,079 --> 00:00:29,760 Speaker 1: farming and restoration organization based in Freeport Grant, Bahama, more 8 00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:31,960 Speaker 1: than thirty percent of the world's reefs have died in 9 00:00:31,960 --> 00:00:35,479 Speaker 1: the past few decades, and scientists predict sev of those 10 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:40,160 Speaker 1: left will die by Reefs provide a habitat for fish 11 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:43,080 Speaker 1: and wildlife, which promotes a diverse ecosystem and provides a 12 00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:46,040 Speaker 1: source of food for people. Coral reefs also provide jobs 13 00:00:46,040 --> 00:00:48,919 Speaker 1: in the fishing industry, plus the recreation and tourism industries 14 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:52,040 Speaker 1: thanks snorkeling and scuba diving, all while protecting shorelines from 15 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:56,240 Speaker 1: erosion and storm damage. The ecosystem of coral reef can 16 00:00:56,280 --> 00:00:59,280 Speaker 1: also provide renewable resources for medical research and in the 17 00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:02,320 Speaker 1: development of such things as painkillers and bone graft methods. 18 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:06,240 Speaker 1: The world's coral reefs are in decline, but coral farming 19 00:01:06,360 --> 00:01:09,679 Speaker 1: may provide a solution. Coral farming is the practice of 20 00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:12,840 Speaker 1: collecting coral pieces from the ocean, growing them in aquariums, 21 00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:15,880 Speaker 1: and then returning them to the wild. Coral farms can 22 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:18,840 Speaker 1: be established and maintained at a low cost, and controlling 23 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:22,440 Speaker 1: growing conditions helps the coral grow more quickly. Some farms 24 00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:25,039 Speaker 1: are actually installed in the ocean, making them less expensive 25 00:01:25,080 --> 00:01:27,880 Speaker 1: to run, while land based farms allow scientists to work 26 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:30,840 Speaker 1: under optimal conditions and learn more about how to slow 27 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:35,160 Speaker 1: or prevent coral loss and decay. Florida based MOTE Marine 28 00:01:35,240 --> 00:01:38,160 Speaker 1: Laboratory and Aquarium is credited with the discovery that coral 29 00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:40,760 Speaker 1: grows faster and when it's cut or broken because of 30 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:44,800 Speaker 1: its natural self healing response to injury. Director doctor David 31 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:47,440 Speaker 1: Vaughan developed the quick grow technique by accident in two 32 00:01:47,480 --> 00:01:50,240 Speaker 1: thousand six after breaking some coral in a tank, but 33 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:52,520 Speaker 1: he didn't start using the technique on a large scale 34 00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:56,760 Speaker 1: until the process of fragmenting coral has been used since 35 00:01:56,800 --> 00:02:00,200 Speaker 1: at least the nineteen sixties, but experts say MOTES project 36 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:03,520 Speaker 1: is the most promising attempt to mass produce reef building 37 00:02:03,560 --> 00:02:06,680 Speaker 1: corals for transplant onto dead or dying reefs so far, 38 00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:10,720 Speaker 1: depending on the species, The corals are grown on tree 39 00:02:10,720 --> 00:02:14,080 Speaker 1: like structures constructed from PVC pipe or frames made from 40 00:02:14,120 --> 00:02:16,799 Speaker 1: cement and plaster. They look a little bit like Charlie 41 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:19,880 Speaker 1: Brown's Christmas tree. On a bigger scale, A wet saw 42 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:22,360 Speaker 1: is used to cut the coral into one centimeter wide 43 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:24,400 Speaker 1: cubes that's a little less than half an inch, a 44 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:29,000 Speaker 1: process called microfragmenting. Some corals are micro fragmented and put 45 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:32,480 Speaker 1: through the growth process again instead of being transplanted. After 46 00:02:32,520 --> 00:02:37,040 Speaker 1: being transplanted in groups, the coral eventually fuses together. The 47 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:40,160 Speaker 1: moat team experiments with different temperatures and acidity levels in 48 00:02:40,160 --> 00:02:43,320 Speaker 1: their tanks to cultivate coral better suited to warmer temperatures 49 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:46,799 Speaker 1: and rising acidity in the ocean. Once the coral is 50 00:02:46,840 --> 00:02:49,720 Speaker 1: ready to be transplanted, the team searches for dying coral 51 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:52,440 Speaker 1: of the same species. The new coral is left to 52 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:55,440 Speaker 1: fading color for thirty days before being transplanted, because the 53 00:02:55,480 --> 00:02:58,120 Speaker 1: bright colors of new coral may inspire fish to be 54 00:02:58,160 --> 00:03:00,680 Speaker 1: too aggressive with it. The new a coral is then 55 00:03:00,720 --> 00:03:03,480 Speaker 1: attached to the old coral with epoxy, and the team 56 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:07,079 Speaker 1: waits for the new growth to begin. A similar project, 57 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:10,600 Speaker 1: reported in Aeen issue of Science Daily, was completed in 58 00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:14,120 Speaker 1: Indonesia from fifteen as part of a study from the 59 00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:19,000 Speaker 1: University of California, Davis and Mars Symbio Science. Researchers supplemented 60 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:22,040 Speaker 1: a coral reef with small hexagonal structures that supported new 61 00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:24,960 Speaker 1: coral fragments to try to encourage fusing a new growth. 62 00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:28,600 Speaker 1: This technique increased life coral by about six at a 63 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:31,119 Speaker 1: cost of about twenty five dollars per square meter that's 64 00:03:31,200 --> 00:03:35,440 Speaker 1: roughly eleven square feet. Though coral restoration efforts have been 65 00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:38,440 Speaker 1: successful so far, it's important to remember that lab grown 66 00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:41,200 Speaker 1: coral is just a bandage on the real problem. This 67 00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:43,480 Speaker 1: isn't a cure for the problems caused by global warming, 68 00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:46,600 Speaker 1: researchers caution, but it's a method of buying time because 69 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:49,040 Speaker 1: there isn't enough time to wait for coral to replenish 70 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:52,560 Speaker 1: itself naturally. A cupcake sized piece of coral would normally 71 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:55,160 Speaker 1: take about two years to grow, but with this method, 72 00:03:55,400 --> 00:03:58,560 Speaker 1: it grows in about four months. Wild coral takes twenty 73 00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:01,920 Speaker 1: five to seventy five years to reach sexual maturity. The 74 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:04,720 Speaker 1: exact dator reproduction depends on the coral species, but the 75 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:07,480 Speaker 1: lab method reduces that time frame to just three years. 76 00:04:08,280 --> 00:04:11,720 Speaker 1: Dr Vaughn told PBS that a coral structure the size 77 00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:14,160 Speaker 1: of a car could be anywhere from five hundred to 78 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:17,880 Speaker 1: a thousand years old. According to David Gross, a coral biologist, 79 00:04:18,040 --> 00:04:21,120 Speaker 1: Von's goal is to plant one million corals before he retires. 80 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:28,760 Speaker 1: Today's episode was written by Cheri's three Wit and produced 81 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:31,159 Speaker 1: by Tyler Clang for iHeart Media and How Stuff Works. 82 00:04:31,440 --> 00:04:33,880 Speaker 1: To learn more about this and lots of other developing topics, 83 00:04:33,960 --> 00:04:47,440 Speaker 1: visit our home planet, how stuff works dot com.