What do technology and ocean conservation have in common? Not only can underwater footage shed a light on what’s beneath the surface, but new technology can also advance conservation efforts. A landmark data crowdsourcing pilot project in Florida is getting divers involved in coral restoration which could prove invaluable for protecting the world’s most important coral reefs.
Imagine diving in warm, clear waters, gazing at thousands of tropical fishes and coming across an abundance of corals, while effortlessly doing something for ocean conservation. A unique citizen science data crowdsourcing pilot project in Key Largo brings together water enthusiasts, technology, and ocean conservation and has high hopes for the future…
We are in Key Largo on the upper Florida Keys on the famous Florida Reef Tract. Also known as the world’s third largest barrier reef, it runs from north Miami all the way down to Key West. Sadly, like so many other coral reefs around the world, it is in crisis. Once dominated by two reef-building coral species, staghorn and elkhorn, many sites only hold around two-percent of the coral cover that they had in the 1970s. Furthermore, both coral species are now listed as ‘critically endangered’ on the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species. Organisations such as the Key Largo based Coral Restoration Foundation™ (CRF™) offer a glimmer of hope, however.
CRF™ currently manages the world’s largest coral restoration programme. A special method to raise and return staghorn and elkhorn colonies to the wild has not only brought more than 140,000 corals back onto Florida’s Coral Reef, but the organisation has also teamed up with the Danish dive camera manufacturer Paralenz to work on a landmark approach to ocean conservation.
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