Florida reefs are in trouble. Could the answer lie in coral from the Caribbean?

JUNE 22, 2024 5:30 AM ET
By Jenny Staletovich



Cailyn Joseph, a PhD student in Andrew Baker's lab, organizes brain and elkhorn coral in Honduras before the trip to Miami.
University of Miami Rosenstiel School

MIAMI — Off the northern coast of Honduras, thick stands of endangered elkhorn coral have mysteriously defied warming oceans fueled by climate change to blanket the reef with healthy, cocoa-brown colonies branching toward the water’s surface like antlers.

Reefs near the small colonial town of Tela have more than three times the amount of live coral found elsewhere across the Caribbean.

Now scientists at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School hope to unlock that secret and crossbreed the sturdier coral with Florida elkhorn as they work to buy more time for a shrinking reef battered by rising ocean temperatures and disease.

“Usually we associate reefs with crystal clear water and lovely temperatures. These are rough, tough reefs,” said Andrew Baker, a Rosenstiel coral biologist leading the research. “There are enormous stands of elkhorn corals and great coverage of other corals. It's kind of a mystery why the corals are doing so well.”

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