Coral Nurseries of Elkhorn and Staghorn Acropora need our support, adopt a coral today

By on Feb 02, 2010

Staghorn-coral-acropora-cervicornis-curacao-aldo-croquer

Elkhorn and Staghorn coral nurseries in the Florida Keys are beginning to bear the fruits of their labor. Now that the coral farm founded by Ken Nedimeyer has been in operation for several years, it’s thousands of coral pieces ranging in size from nubbins to colonies are strong evidence that the mariculture project is working. Acropora palmata and A. cervicornis are the only species of Acropora in the Atlantic Ocean and both endemics are federally protected coral species. Both species were once very abundant throughout the Caribbean Sea but successive years of very low reproduction has kept these species from repopulating to offset the widespread die offs of mature colonies. Nedimeyer’s coral nurseries and Coral Restoration Foundation have gone a long way towards giving mother nature a helping hand in bridging the gap between newly settled larvae and robust, stable Acropora colonies. As you can see in the video above, the Acropora nursery is well stocked and already repopulating corals to the reefs that need them. Hopefully Ken’s work in Florida will restore the staghorn coral to massive stands like the one from Curacao in the photo to the left, and elkhorn corals into huge tree sized colonies like the one below growing in Puerto Rico. All that coral farming doesn’t come free but if you want to help the CRF and it’s efforts to return these iconic coral species to prominence on our very own red, white and blue American coral reefs, anyone can sponsor a piece of these endangered coral species with prices starting at $40 a coral nubbin all the way up to $5000 for a small Acropora forest.Acropora palmata, elkhorn coral growing in Puerto Rico

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  • the ed

    awesome video.thanks for posting

  • the ed

    awesome video.thanks for posting

  • Tim Morrissey

    That is great to hear! Such a good program, I wish I could donate to help out.

  • Tim Morrissey

    That is great to hear! Such a good program, I wish I could donate to help out.

  • http://coralidea.com Jake Adams

    Tim I am sure Ken would rather have you volunteer some dive hours than donating money. You ought to hit him up.

  • http://coralidea.com Jake Adams

    Tim I am sure Ken would rather have you volunteer some dive hours than donating money. You ought to hit him up.

  • Tim Morrissey

    That is a good idea. I shot him an email. It is kind of a trek, but hey that is something cool to be a part of, and I’m sure it would be fun learning experience helping out.

  • Tim Morrissey

    That is a good idea. I shot him an email. It is kind of a trek, but hey that is something cool to be a part of, and I’m sure it would be fun learning experience helping out.

  • Michael

    Just curious, anyone know how the nurseries fared with the cold front that went through Florida?

  • Michael

    Just curious, anyone know how the nurseries fared with the cold front that went through Florida?

  • http://reefbuilders.com/2010/01/26/win-em-buy-em-nano-evo-koralia-240-grabs/#comments Gerard

    Is this like where you can adopt a star and have it named after you?

  • http://reefbuilders.com/2010/01/26/win-em-buy-em-nano-evo-koralia-240-grabs/#comments Gerard

    Is this like where you can adopt a star and have it named after you?

  • Tony

    I have donated to them, and I can say that Ken is awesome. I made the donation in mid January and he said that the water temp was down to 58*. The new coral “nubbins” looked good and he hoped that they made it through the abnormal cold. I havent personally had an update since then, but I’m hopeful everything made it. Such an awesome program, and for the price of a decent frag from the LFS you can actually put something back on the reef for once :)

  • Tony

    I have donated to them, and I can say that Ken is awesome. I made the donation in mid January and he said that the water temp was down to 58*. The new coral “nubbins” looked good and he hoped that they made it through the abnormal cold. I havent personally had an update since then, but I’m hopeful everything made it. Such an awesome program, and for the price of a decent frag from the LFS you can actually put something back on the reef for once :)

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  • http://galaxyconstellations.com/11595/ ELISABETH

    when i came here i assumed it was going to be filled with useless advice, but actually it came out to be quite interesting. keep writing!

  • http://galaxyconstellations.com/11595/ ELISABETH

    when i came here i assumed it was going to be filled with useless advice, but actually it came out to be quite interesting. keep writing!

  • http://galaxyconstellations.com/StarID/ TRINITY

    we appreciate this blog post. i have alerted my friend harry about this because he cares for this kind of information as well!

  • http://galaxyconstellations.com/StarID/ TRINITY

    we appreciate this blog post. i have alerted my friend harry about this because he cares for this kind of information as well!

  • http://www.calipsovolunteers.blogspot.com jasbeto

    Hi,
    We have a similar program in Tayrona National park. We started last year as a private efford. Calipso dive center in Taganga is supporting the whole program which is becoming everything expensive. Now, with the contribution of volunteers we taking care of it. We want your help to inform people that love scuba dive and conservation to joint us in this program. For more information visit calipsovolunteers.blogspot.com or calipsodivecenter.com.co

  • http://www.calipsovolunteers.blogspot.com jasbeto

    Hi,
    We have a similar program in Tayrona National park. We started last year as a private efford. Calipso dive center in Taganga is supporting the whole program which is becoming everything expensive. Now, with the contribution of volunteers we taking care of it. We want your help to inform people that love scuba dive and conservation to joint us in this program. For more information visit calipsovolunteers.blogspot.com or calipsodivecenter.com.co

  • http://www.calipsovolunteers.blogspot.com jasbeto

    We have a similar program in Tayrona National park Colombia. We started last year as a private efford. Calipso dive center in Taganga is supporting the whole program which is becoming expensive. Now, with the contribution of volunteers we taking care of it. We want your help to inform people that love scuba dive and conservation to joint us in this program. For more information visit calipsovolunteers.blogspot.com or calipsodivecenter.com.co

  • http://www.calipsovolunteers.blogspot.com jasbeto

    We have a similar program in Tayrona National park Colombia. We started last year as a private efford. Calipso dive center in Taganga is supporting the whole program which is becoming expensive. Now, with the contribution of volunteers we taking care of it. We want your help to inform people that love scuba dive and conservation to joint us in this program. For more information visit calipsovolunteers.blogspot.com or calipsodivecenter.com.co

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