Photos: Jordann Tomasek, Birch Aquarium
This World Reef Day, Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego is better equipped than ever to further its coral conservation efforts thanks to a few new features!
The aquarium is now home to two new coral habitats behind the scenes – a coral reproduction habitat and a coral fragment farm – dedicated to enhancing and expanding ongoing coral growing efforts. Additionally, several coral habitats have been upgraded with new energy-efficient equipment, including low-energy pumps and programmable lights, further promoting the aquarium’s long-term sustainability goals.
“Aquariums provide a unique opportunity for us all to learn what we need to do to care for corals and how we can better protect them. I’m excited to see how these new habitats and equipment will advance our knowledge and coral care efforts. Given the various threats corals are facing in the wild, we must do our part to conserve them,” said Fernando Nosratpour, Associate Curator.
Coral Reproduction Habitat
In the past, the aquarium’s Coral Care Team would stay up all night hoping for coral to spawn but now, thanks to a new coral reproduction habitat, the team can mimic moonlight during the day! This new habitat features energy-efficient programmable lights that help “flip” the natural timing of when coral spawns.
Many coral spawning events are influenced by natural cues — such as the lunar cycle — however, the exact timing of these events remains somewhat unpredictable. Instead of spawning hours after sunset, the coral will hopefully spawn during daylight hours when the Coral Care Team is onsite.
“This significantly increases our chances of capturing a spawning event and creates more opportunities to fertilize coral eggs, thereby advancing efforts to nurture future generations of coral,” said Nosratpour.
Coral Fragment Farm
The new coral fragment farm provides an ideal environment for coral fragments to grow into new coral colonies! It features enhanced shelving, improved filtration and optimized water flow that better replicates a natural reef environment. The reserve is also more energy efficient, further promoting the aquarium's long-term sustainability goals.
Fragmentation is a natural process corals experience in some shape or form from waves, storms and reef-dwelling animals. Under favorable conditions, these fragments can continue to thrive and develop into larger coral colonies.
A leader in coral conservation, Birch Aquarium has propagated coral through fragmentation for more than 25 years to support critical research and reduce pressures on wild populations. To date, the aquarium has shared coral with 16 UC San Diego and Scripps researchers as well as 13 accredited zoos and aquariums. To learn more about Birch Aquarium’s coral conservation efforts, visit aquarium.ucsd.edu.
About Birch Aquarium at Scripps
Birch Aquarium at Scripps is the public exploration center for Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego. Perched on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, Birch Aquarium features the groundbreaking work of Scripps Oceanography and UC San Diego scientists as well as conservation breeding programs and interactive exhibits. Birch Aquarium’s mission is to connect understanding to protecting our ocean planet, which it achieves through engaging hands-on learning opportunities for more than 500,000 guests and 40,000-plus pre-K-12 students each year. Visit aquarium.ucsd.edu for more information.
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