Coral Spawning! Our @marinesavers biologists have observed 9 coral spawning events, in 7 species at different locations,…

Coral Spawning! Our @marinesavers biologists have observed 9 coral spawning events, in 7 species at different locations, throughout the Maldives over the last 2 months. Using cues from the lunar cycle and water temperature, among others, this event involves the coral colonies releasing sperm and eggs into the water column simultaneously.

The team at Landaa Giraavaru have successfully collected and fertilised the released gametes in the lab and are extremely delighted to announce that they have achieved settlement of the resulting larvae on October 30. This last step involves the mobile planulae larvae attaching to the substrate and forming a new coral.

It is the first time the settlement in a species of Acropora has been recorded within the Maldives! Swipe to see the process and one of our new corals at the very end.

Follow the progress of subsequent coral spawning events and new juvenile corals at www.marinesavers.com and @marinesavers @reefscapersmaldives

? @oceanmargaux @salty_photo

#fsmaldives #maldives #coral #reefrestoration #marinebiology #marineconservation #nobluenogreen