Marine life will migrate easily as we sit at the edge of the Gulf Stream
Marine life will migrate easily as we sit at the edge of the Gulf Stream. The project also helps ease pressure on natural reefs. Artificial reefs can and will rebuild fish populations to support offshore fishing. The Celebration Reef is situated in a No Take Zone, where any type of fishing or removal of marine life is prohibited.
Artificial reefs are used for educational purposes too, like those at the Celebration Reef Project. We are facing a crisis: our reefs are dying at an unprecedented rate due to ocean acidification, overfishing, coastal runoff, rising ocean temperatures, and other reasons. Artificial Reefs are part of the solution.
Along with ocean organisms such as plankton, coral reefs provide over 50% of the Earth’s oxygen and 17% of all consumed protein worldwide. Coral reefs are, without a doubt, the rainforests of our oceans.
…and they’re dying at an accelerated rate…
When completed, this reef will provide acres of habitat to a plethora of aquatic life hiding in holes, nooks, and crannies while being fed a smorgasbord of marine nourishment from Gulfstream.
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WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF BUILDING REEFS WHEN REEFS ARE DYING AROUND
US? ARE WE PUTTING A BAND-AID OVER A BROKEN BONE?
No! Reefs For Oceans will establish the Celebration Reef as an underwater laboratory where Marine Biologists will establish the next generation of Sustainable Super Corals engineered to be more resistant to the acidification and heating of our ocean waters. The science of assisted evolution and in situ, conservation training may be the solution.
WHAT IS ASSISTED EVOLUTION?
Assisted evolution is the process by which dedicated scientists have worked to guide and accelerate the evolutionary processes of life in corals hard and soft. At the Imagination Reef, the assisted evolution of corals will encourage fast-track coral growth by:
- Ensuring the transmission of warm-water adaptation genes across generations of coral.
- Exposing our coral to stressful but controlled environments to increase their fitness for survival – also ensuring that their resistance is passed on to future generations of corals.
- Crossbreeding our corals to increase genetic diversity.
- Introducing probiotics and bacterial symbiotic communities to our artificial reef.
REEFS & OCEANS AN UNDERWATER LABORATORY
With acres of artificial reefs, it will be a hub for a network of conservationists who are committed to saving our reefs and spreading their knowledge globally.
This protected space will serve as a laboratory for Marine Biologists from universities across the country for an in-situ experience, learning directly on the reef. Students will see how accelerating the evolutionary timeline for our corals works and ultimately learn how we can reverse the damage our natural ecosystems have suffered.
Getting student marine biologists out of the classroom and into the water is where Reefs For Oceans comes in. We hope you will support us in this most important mission.
