NOAA and its partners in the Florida Keys have kicked off a three-year effort to outplant more than 60,000 fragments of nursery-raised coral at Eastern Dry Rocks Sanctuary Preservation Area off Key West.
The project was started in the spirit of this monthâs Earth Day theme, âRestore our Earth.â
The work at Eastern Dry Rocks Reef is the first large-scale outplanting of coral as part of the ambitious Mission: Iconic Reefs, an unprecedented effort kicked off nearly two years ago to restore seven coral reefs within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
The goal is to increase the coral cover on Eastern Dry Rocks and the other six Iconic Reefs sites from the current 2% to 25%, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Superintendent Sarah Fangman said.
President Biden has picked Rick Spinrad, an oceanographer with decades of science and policy experience, to run National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the government’s leading agency for weather, climate and ocean science.
The White House announced Spinrad’s selection along with several additional climate and environmental nominees, including Tracy Stone-Manning, a senior adviser for the National Wildlife Federation tapped to lead the Interior Department’s Bureau for Land Management.
Spinrad, a professor of oceanography at Oregon State University, served as chief scientist at NOAA under President Barack Obama and before that led the agency’s research arm and ocean service. He also held ocean leadership positions in the Navy.
Federal officials and environmental groups have begun to plant more than 60,000 fragments of nursery-raised coral at reefs located off the Florida Keys.
Published April 21. 2021 12:05AM
Associated Press
KEY WEST, Fla. Federal officials and environmental groups have begun to plant more than 60,000 fragments of nursery-raised coral at reefs located off the Florida Keys.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Tuesday that workers have started the three-year outplanting project at Eastern Dry Rocks Sanctuary Preservation Area near Key West. The announcement came just two days before Earth Day, an annual event to demonstrate support for environmental protection.
“Outplanting at this unprecedented scale is one of many immediate actions needed to address the rapid decline in our treasured coral reefs,” acting NOAA Administrator Ben Friedman said in a statement.
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