Nurseries Bring Coral Reefs Back to Life

With its sandy beaches and endless ocean vistas, Florida's natural beauty is famous. And the Sunshine State is just as beautiful below the surface of the water as it is above, thanks to the hundreds of square miles of coral reefs that span its shores.
These coral reefs are not just spectacular sites to behold; they're also essential to the ecosystem, providing a habitat and breeding ground for countless species of fish, and protecting land from erosion.
Ken Nedimyer, a longtime diver, created a nonprofit conservation organization called the Coral Restoration Foundation, which aims to bring coral reefs back from the brink of death by employing a technique Nedimyer pioneered: reproducing disappearing species of coral in underwater nurseries and then replanting them in the dying reefs.
Emboldened by the success in Florida, Nedimyer has taken his fight global, helping to start nurseries near the Caribbean islands of Bonaire, Jamaica and Mustique, as well as off the coast of Colombia in South America. He has plans to start programs this summer in Curacao, Barbados and St. Lucia.