A very special night

A very special night

Three nights after the full moon in August, we humans have the opportunity to witness an incredible natural event. As night falls and at a special time that biologists keep in mind, the elkhorn corals spawn and I have been fortunate enough to witness this beautiful phenomenon of the continuity of life.

I was invited by Emilio and Nati to film this event because they are making a documentary for a theme park.

We met at 4 in the afternoon to receive instructions and have all the equipment ready, we set out to sea to a place not too far away and very shallow where they have detected and studied several colonies. Still in the afternoon light, the coral colonies were marked with luminous buoys. Once this was done, we returned to the boat where the equipment was checked again.

At 9 at night we were assigned the pairs and they were provided with nets that had a kind of funnel and at its thinnest end, a very clean jar. They explained to me that it would be used to collect the eggs and take them to the laboratory. Scientists suggested that we use the lowest amount of light, as this can cause the corals to become stressed and not spawn.

With extreme care, the nets were placed over the previously chosen corals and we waited a few minutes. At 9:15, as if receiving a superior order, the small eggs begin to emerge from the coral polyps and the sea is filled with these little eggs called gametes, which are millimeters in size and also contain eggs and sperm, which break and release their contents into the sea. Water. The sperm from one colony joins the eggs from another coral colony of the same species and thus fertilization is achieved.

This entire process lasts no more than 20 minutes, enough time for the miracle of the continuity of life to be recorded in your mind and heart.

The collected eggs are carefully taken to the laboratory where, after a certain time, we will also see them grow to be transplanted into the sea, where they belong.

Thanks to the biologists and all the Xcaret staff for the great effort they make to conserve the reef.

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