SAVING THE
REEFS Aquarium Joins National Coral Rescue Project
A
t first glance, the boxes that arrived at the Aquarium’s delivery bay one summer afternoon might have been mistaken for any regular shipment, but what was inside was some truly irregular…and precious cargo.
Aquarium staff carefully transported each box inside to a behind-thescenes areas, opening each to reveal sections of bright coral, cushioned to survive their long journey from Florida. Moving quickly but carefully, each coral was placed in a large aquatic tank.
These several dozen corals, now residing at the Aquarium, are survivors of a deadly disease ravaging the “rainforests of the sea” off the coast of Florida. But they could also be key to helping this reef system one day recover. The Florida Reef Tract, the only living coral barrier reef in the continental United States, has been devastated by a stony-coral tissue loss disease, which has swept across nearly 100 miles of marine habitats, destroying whole sections of this underwater ecosystem. In July 2018, official decided to remove healthy corals that the disease had yet reached and keep them in land-based aquaria. This monumental undertaking would hopefully keep these corals, many which were on the Endangered Species List, from becoming infected. Members of the Associations of Zoos and Aquariums, including the Texas State Aquarium, were the only group believed to have the resources and expertise to play the role of coral caretakers in this unprecedented rescue effort. The AZA-Florida Reef
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Aquariust Alex Hirota and Senior VP and COO Jesse Gilbert open shipment containg rescued coral
FALL 2019
