‘Super Coral’ may be able to withstand hotter and more acidic oceans

At the time when scientists have been raising concerns about the pessimistic condition of coral reefs across the world, a group of researchers on Coconut Island are going to make an initiative to grow 'super coral', which could survive the extreme climatic conditions and more acidic oceans happening owing to global warming.

Coral reefs are important as they create habitats for marine life, protect shorelines and drive tourist economies. Owing to changing environmental conditions, coral comes under stress owing to which they start secreting algae that live in it and its color changes to white or bright yellow, which in scientific language is known as coral bleaching.

Ruth Gates, director of the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, said that if the coral enter into this condition then it is very important to revive them as if they are unable to recover then they can die. According to Gates, around 60 to
80% of the corals in Kaneohe Bay have already bleached this year.

Gates shared that they will take the coral to their center and will then gradually expose them to more stressful water. Gates said that they are going to test a theory known as assisted evolution. Though this technique has been applied on many plants and animals, it would be the first time that it will be implemented on the corals in the wild. "We've given them experiences that we think are going to raise their ability to survive stress", affirmed Gates.