One Piece At A Time – Restoring Florida’s Barrier Reef  

“Many would be surprised to discover that North America has its own barrier reef. Found stretching 350 miles along the coastline of South Florida’s Keys, the Florida reef is the largest in North America. Despite existing near the lower limit of water temperature for reef development, Florida Keys reefs are under threat from climate change. Combined with anthropogenic stressors, disease and extreme weather, coral cover has decreased by 90% in the last 40 years. This drastic decrease has prompted the action of the NOAA and its collaborators in preventing the extinction of this environment. Mission: Iconic Reefs hopes to halt the decline of coral reefs at this tipping point – millions have been injected into restoration efforts to save this unique environment. 
Reef restoration is intensive and fraught with difficulty, and primarily involves plating baby corals on the reef one piece at a time. For the best chance of success, new and innovative measures are being implemented in this restoration project. From manipulating genetics, creating 3-D maps and king crab grazing, this restoration effort is on the cutting edge of research and implementation.”