Floating shade helps Florida corals recover from heat stress
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In August 2024, divers in the lower Florida Keys installed floating shade structures over 20 brain coral colonies to protect them from a marine heatwave.
Researchers compared these shaded corals to 20 unshaded colonies and found the shaded corals regained color while the unshaded ones paled. This experiment followed a record marine heatwave in the Florida Keys in 2023, which bleached nearly all coral at monitored sites and caused significant tissue loss.
Karen Neely of Nova Southeastern University led the study, aiming to demonstrate a way to protect corals during future heat events. The shades, constructed from PVC frames and nylon mesh suspended above the coral, blocked sunlight and ultraviolet radiation, not cooled the water, reducing heat-related bleaching. However, the researchers acknowledge that shading is not a long-term solution.
Global hard coral cover decreased by 8.9 percent between 2023 and 2024, the largest single-year decline recorded, and bleaching events now happen every five to six years instead of every ten. While shading can buy time for individual, important coral colonies to recover, addressing ocean warming through emissions reductions remains crucial for the overall health of reefs, which support a quarter of all marine life and protect coastlines.
