Coral Reefs That Can Finally Beat the Heat | WILD HOPE

Coral reefs around the world are threatened by rising ocean temperatures, but hope is growing off the coast of Hawaii. There, researchers at the Coral Resilience Lab selectively breed corals to withstand ever-increasing amounts of heat stress.
Corals are tiny animals that have a mutually beneficial relationship with an algae that lives within their cells. When stressed by heat, many expel their algae and turn white - known as “bleaching” - losing their main source of food and often dying within days. Half of all coral has been lost since the 1950s. But some corals do survive these bleaching events, and they’ve become the focus of Kira Hughes and her team’s work. By selectively breeding the coral that doesn't bleach, Kira hopes they can increase their resilience from one generation to the next.
To scale up their efforts, Kira’s team collects coral pieces that have naturally broken off in the ocean. With the help of volunteers, they prep and test these corals, and eventually replant the heat-tolerant corals they’ve found back into the reef they came from. This year, for the first time, the selectively bred coral “babies” will be planted too, giving the reef a fighting chance to survive the warming ocean.
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[@richardmanuel3072]

Love to know more of the science behind it. Does heat tolerance mean that the algae is heat tolerant, does the coral protect it, or does the coral tolerate the algae toxins? Also, if we can assume many coral will bleach and die, is there any work to preserve the species that won't survive?

[@camerica7400]

These are the questions that I wanted answered so bad! I hope your comment is popular and people answer these questions.

[@ShiningSakura]

to my understanding its the coral itself and not the alge, since its the coral that if under stress it will not produce what the algae needs; and the algae then leaves. These new coral strains can handle the heat stress and survive with the intact algae.

[@GGoAwayy]

I was interpreting it as the coral cells are able to withstand whatever bad chemical the algae makes when its overheated, so the coral is able to hold on to the algae and not starve to death... but maybe its algae that doesnt produce whatever chemical that harms the coral when its hot? I still assume coral since its coral theyre selectively breeding, not algae.

[@thatonedog819]

There's a lot of people who work to bring corals into captivity in order to make more and protect it. Sometimes they replant coral in the wild as is, like release programs for other species in zoos, sometimes they hold onto it in hope of a better future. That may mean humans get their shit together and bring a halt to global warming and other habitat destruction, or waiting for GMO technology to advance to help the other species with resistance.

[@86marryrocha]

Great questions! Corals can be heat tolerant because they are genetically more tolerant, or/ and they can host algae that is more tolerant (and therefore make them more tolerant). Nature is complex, many mechanisms can happen together. Yes, with climate change many corals will bleach and die. Some species are more resilient than others (some have proteins that act as sunscreen and make they bleach less, others have ticker tissue, protecting the algae, etc) . But we also see difference in resilience among individuals of the same species. In this project, the more resilient corals of different species are being used for restoration so that when they reproduce, they can naturally repopulate the reef with tolerant corals, who will survive future bleaching events. There are scientists from other labs also trying different technologies to save the corals who might die (for example cryopreservation, where they freeze the eggs and sperm of corals, to have a biobank).

[@leonnzioka2219]

i know coral reefs take thousands of years to form but this reminds me of a certain Greek proverb." A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit". These guys are doing a great service to humanity

[@angelikalindenau943]

Great service for coral reefs - which might outlast our species after all

[@coralfish12g]

This is awesome! Well done to the researchers and locals in Hawaii for taking on this project! 🐠💙

[@thatskrazy8145]

This is great but is we focus on heat strong corals then overpopulate reefs with them once global warming changes to cooling we may have made more heat tolerant corals but now we lost the cold tolerant ones bc we never focused on that and now spread heat toterant ones to areas cold tolerance will be more necesssary. Humans trying to play God never works out,

[@Valorene]

The team turning this into an interactive, community project with volunteers is really cool.

[@FreeJaffa92]

This made my day significantly brighter.

[@tedbomba6631]

Everyone involved in this project, from the scientists to every single volunteer, are doing important work to ensure that coral reefs can thrive globally. I was unaware of the existence of heat tolerant corals and was under the impression that it was only a matter of time before all of these reefs would die off. Now if nations around the world can work together to prevent the mining of minerals off of the bottom of all oceans we could be one step closer to keeping our oceans healthy.

[@kma3647]

Don't feed their emotional needs. Good lord, it's bad enough that they're presenting junk science here without having you feed their savior complex.

[@Laughadaffadil]

at least they're trying something, unlike you. and the sea trawlers definitely wont help either. the chinese boats are already bad enough@@kma3647

[@WhiskeyAfterHours]

another nobody doing nothing of value for the world in the comments preaching their own theories, shocker.@@kma3647

[@AyameFyuu]

It does make sense since Coral are animals there bound to be some that mutated a heat tolerant gene at some point. So I'm so happy to hear that they do exist and they are doing a breeding initiative to try and help them have the best chance at survival. These kinds of project work best when you bring in the community and hope to see it progress more in the future!

[@quentinmanson3287]

Your group of coral saviors are helping ensure future generations can experience what we do today in the ocean

[@artofescapism]

Fantastic work! I love seeing people helping coral, and the communities being involved!

[@TiberiusIan]

Temperature stress can also be slow increase in temperature (to which they can adapt) then some violent storms that bring cold streams that cause thermal shock.

[@ballpython3310]

Good point as this is well documented in island bays and is much worse as it can also cause a temporary change in salinity. Luckily in bays this happens eventually anyway as the coral grows and moves to the surface causing uv exposure and death that way, eventually just adding to island's mass.

[@user-wy2oh5yq8r]

Major props to these people dedicating their lives to saving the corals. Truly inspiring shit

[@shaguftafahmid9632]

Great work that realize us how extreme efforts will require if we destroyed our natural resources. Hope for the best heat resistance coral generations.

[@tgraham213]

LOVE THIS! The loss of our amazing beautiful reefs is absolutely heartbreaking and makes me so angry with the human species. We need to be better to our planet, nurture and protect it at all costs. Life truly is more precious than anyone can truly appreciate.

[@quentinmanson3287]

Temperatures in earth shifted warm and cold long before human impact.

[@ballpython3310]

Hence why reefs are actually doing fine relatively. There a plenty of reefs that are completely unaffected by bleaching since they are growing and remote. Australia lost a lot of reef to low tides exposing it to uv, not human related. Coral dies from hard contact, hence why touristy places see more bleaching, human caused but much more localized. Arguably the increase in rain changes salinity in bay reefs and wipes them out but this too is normal, just speed up maybe. one has to remember there are whole islands made of coral reefs, it is natural they die as they grow to form islands and move closer to surface. No one addresses this.

[@quentinmanson3287]

@@PessoaAleatoria01 it’s a fact that the earth’s temperature has changed dramatically from ice ages to heat waves. But I guess your not smart enough to pick up a book

[@Daquiriwolfgirl]

Bless your team. We need this attention in the Cayman Islands. The difference within my lifetime is absolutely heartbreaking. I feel like i'm losing my home every time I go swimming and notice the differences.

[@lincolnross9000]

As a reef tank keeper, this is super dope.

[@LaconicMuse378]

If humans were able to breed wolves into pugs, we can totally selectively breed coral. I’m hopeful for this project.

[@juanbait9670]

Yup people breed a bunch of useless stuff, it will be fun reading about this failure in 20 years.

[@alexisasheep6554]

This is why I love science. My only question is how these corals react to ocean acidification bc that's the second part of the problem, as far as I understand.

[@mattkrumm8141]

the corals produce a slime/mucus coating, but no real testing of coating for thresholds.

[@ballpython3310]

Also have to deal with low tides, that's what got australia, and rain water retention that can mess up bays by changing salinity.

[@paleozoey]

our best hope is to have marine producers- algae, seagrasses, etc- simply extract the carbonic acid from the water and convert it into carbohydrates, then get sequestered into the marine sediment. in a healthy sea, more dissolved CO2 means faster plant growth, and it would be a negative feedback loop, but with pollution and other stuff going on not so much anymore.

[@BumblyBear]

Caring about one thing passionately and dedicating yourself to it is how you make effective change. Bravo

[@Exquailibur]

That is an underrated conservation tool, many endangered animals breed rather well in captivity so selective breeding to increase hardiness could be a solution.

[@SuperShyaro]

I think it's less "the algae leaves the coral", more "the coral ejects the algae"

[@OliviaLovesPugs]

Amazing! This gives me so much more hope for the future of our coral reefs and oceans. I hope this breeding program can be adapted and expanded internationally where coral grows!

[@fareshajjar1208]

Stop believing lies of people who get paid for dooming. The Great Barrier Reef was never in trouble. All the claims were exaggerated and the local scientists who stated the truth were silenced and de-funded. The seas have not warmed and have not risen any more than is normal and cyclical. Every single climate model prediction has turned out to be wildly inaccurate. Fires, droughts, and hurricanes are less common and impactful today than in the past.

[@sayurasem]

Those corals in the tubs look like aiptasia resilient as well. Nice!

[@BW-81]

Fantastic. Can’t wait to see the updates on stronger coral from these conservation efforts

[@troygoss6400]

This is the direction that brings me hope.

[@dusk1947]

Thank you, simply thank you. I adore seeing restoration efforts for these incredible habitats. And have the utmost respect for those dedicating their careers to helping them. Well done on your resilient F1's.

[@nedime2468]

Bless 🙏🏻 continue saving the coral reefs

[@jasepoag8930]

"Corals of opportunity" I'm in the reef aquarium hobby. I just call those "oops frags." lol

[@dereks5407]

Your "hobby" steals coral from where it should be and is another part of the devastating effect our actions are having on these ecosystems. You shouldn't brag about aiding in destroying what's already a dying ecosystem GLOBALLY.

[@cheri238]

🙏❤️🌎🌿🕊🎵🎶🎵 Thank you, PBS Nature for all humanity. I have watched many of these documentaries. Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka pono The life of the land is preserved in righteousness.

[@ashleygoggs5679]

Should be looking more into how we can got corals in the hobby back into the oceans, Most tanks are running between 26-30 degrees and when replanted into the oceans seem to do very well.

[@MichaelMartinussen]

Love it! Thank you :)

[@Lou_Mansfield]

People have bred dogs for thousands of years already, to get specific traits. I'm glad these researchers are doing the same for coral.

[@samlarkin8102]

Amazing work y’all 👏💙🙏

[@reginaerekson9139]

5:21 did Florida figure out the 100 degree coral bleaching resistance? You might want to cross breed with the other coral programs to include that for jumpstarting biodiversity.

[@paleozoey]

caribbean corals that we have in florida are different species, or even different genera entirely, from indo-pacific corals. we have enough issues with indo-pacific invasives on the reef from the lionfish alone, and hawaii has plenty of invasives itself too, so we can't just transplant different species into new locations. it's gotta be done the hard way

[@phospheredhuman5630]

Excellent

[@thedesk954]

When you find the most heat resistant Coral you've found the Coralation

[@wizzle4live]

This project is so exciting.I wish it could happen in Thailand too.

[@wither5673]

Saving the Ocean is key to saving humans as a species.

[@TroyTheCatFish]

Thank You 🙏

[@101spacecase]

wow Amazing work being done here!

[@OceanEthos]

Great work Y’all! 👏🏼

[@asteforce]

THAT IS SO AMAZING SO MUCH WORK EFFORT AND PEOPLE HAD TO BE REALLY INVOLVED

[@iwanabana]

beautiful work!

[@Debbie-henri]

Very encouraging. We naturally think of tree planting, hedgerows planting, rewilding and greening deserts when it comes to aiding the climate. The seas, unfortunately, are all too easily forgotten, I think because the vast majority of us don't have the opportunity to do very much to help without opening our wallets/purses (and since that produces very little in the way of money these days, at least for many of us, we tend not to support so many projects). However, there must be immense areas that have the potential to be 'planted' - as I do remember a Sir David Attenborough wildlife programme discussing vast swathes of the ocean that are shallow, warm, yet lifeless, like an underwater desert. No seaweeds live there, only the occasional large fish will pass through. So if the same process was applied to seaweeds as here with the corals, could scientists not find plants that are able to tolerate more extreme conditions, to be planted in such zones and bring out more carbon from the sea (it's not like they would be invading another organism's domain. It may just make it more hospitable for many more to adapt). If we are trying to green deserts on land, why not under the sea too?

[@ricepresidents]

They should add a acidification resistance program in addition to this. super cool

[@GregWittstockThePondGuy]

Awesome work!!!

[@silverflame2501]

These are the REAL Heroes ...🤩

[@jocelynadolfo-cg1vm]

Thank you .

[@-crazypants-3199]

I can’t believe I could live to see the year 2092

[@--Paws--]

I remember seeing another video about this but that was years ago. It seems this program has continued and getting some results.

[@PalmettoCoralCo.]

Love love love this!!!

[@matthew3136]

Evolution is amazing.

[@arnaldorentes5371]

This is AWESOME!!!

[@BussyBoyBonanza]

"🎶 Coral come back, and repopulate the sea!🎶"

[@alato8057]

Natural selection also works

[@EyesOfByes]

We need more hope in the galaxy

[@Jameson1776]

Hope fixes nothing. But education and action can.

[@Dramn_]

Oh okay I will become a scientist without the hope of doing anything positive @@Jameson1776

[@msergio0293]

A new hope

[@Manumanunitomidri]

INTERTIDAL ZONE CAN HAVE SOME RESILIENT STRAINS OF CORALS RESISTENT TO HEAT.........BY THE WAY GREAT JOB...CONGRATS FROM BRAZIL...

[@laughinglighting4343]

This is so cool!

[@tracylee4442]

Fantastic news!

[@Matty002]

its so cool how this is just the same genetic manipulation weve been doing for thousands of years for food and other animals. who wouldve ever guessed we would do it to corals!

[@Oscarcat2212]

It's great that you have the community involved ( only way to do it ) but where are all the blues, greens and colorful corals? Pretty coral gathers more interest.

[@Arenesz]

And the sea is gmo now. I wish a happy life and succesful survival to mr corals.

[@christopherellis2663]

As I told someone last century, they will simply grow where it best suits them. Corals aren't restricted to the Tropics. Same thing for fish.

[@psychoedge]

The kind of news I wanna hear about.

[@gabrielgonzalez7790]

Why don’t we genetically modify the algae to be more resilient to heat? How long is the genome of that algae? I know of a group of people who take in samples of mushrooms to sequence the genomes. Could we not combine these brains?

[@lokesh303101]

Yes Heat Stress Species need to be encouraged by Hybridization process. But the Kelps do soak the Heat from the underwater currents.

[@Baul_Punyan]

Power to the Refer!

[@Matraskul]

Great!

[@ro-zeea.8734]

Any updates on this story??

[@milojahangirova2766]

you guys are doing amazing work! i would love to be a part of this conservation effort, but UK is a bit far from that lush Hawaiian paradise lol

[@sebastian8922]

Que fino!!

[@kaze987]

... Keystone Species!!!

[@FurryToraChan]

Are corals a keystone species? In coral reefs, as the name suggests, corals are the keystone species. Stony corals, the corals that make calcium carbonate skeletons, are at the basis of reef structures. These skeletons are secreted by the coral polyps. Each year, corals grow a few millimetres or several centimetres depending on the species. What would happen if coral reefs died? If all coral reefs were to die, 25% of marine life would lose their habitat. There are roughly around 1 million different species that rely on coral reefs for food and shelter. Why is coral important? Coral reefs protect coastlines from storms and erosion, provide jobs for local communities, and offer opportunities for recreation. They are also are a source of food and new medicines. Over half a billion people depend on reefs for food, income, and protection.

[@MrGarciaJr]

As a reefer I could've watched an hour+ long video about this.

[@Juancam132]

Although they cover a very very tiny amount of the sea floor they are responsible for almost half of the oxygen present on earth

[@Mike__B]

I wonder if bright colors are in any way related to thermal tolerance. Everything in the hotter tanks all seem to be that "ugly" brown color, where as all the images of the reef that get planted in our head are of vibrantly colored corals.

[@dwrecktheanimal]

Heat isn't the problem; lower oxygen content in warmer waters is the problem.

[@CMZneu]

As a backup and experiment to learn about coral this is great but idk how helpful this is because it's still messing with nature, in the end it's not really heat resistance what we should be artificially selecting for but adaptability to whatever may happen, temperature swings, invasive species, declining water quality, etc and there really is no substitute for natural selection but to let it do its thing by leaving it to fend for itself, like it has been doing since life happened. The problem with artificial selection for re introduction to nature is that when you select for a certain trait inadvertently you are not selecting for the own organisms adaptability to get there on their own.

[@markserour9115]

At what water depth are these noticable temperature changes occurring?

[@davidtitanium22]

any information on how much more resilient are these new corals? like how much longer it took to bleach, or how high the temperature they can withstand

[@elseby]

Please I hope you're keeping your security for the corals in mind.

[@MalaysianTropikfusion]

Wait, what are those things at 2:00?! 😳

[@Peterrdee]

I have this pink tabling acropora in my fishtank and I’ve done EVERYTHING to kill it ripped it out, let it basically die out but she just comes back more PINK than ever coral is very very resilient and it is alive and knows everything that goes on around its environment in the ocean, it works with algea and fish invertebrates to survive they are absolutely amazing and mean so much to me as a fish keeper and a scuba diver !

[@jeremiahhowell6147]

Wait but they said the Algae was the one that reacted badly to heat and was the source of the problem? Why aren't they just breeding better algae? Don't they reproduce super fast and like, in a lab?

[@williamlau7247]

This is pretty great but how do they combat ocean acidity from higher CO2 levels?

[@carlobenhurarines6234]

Hope theres like that in philippines

[@carocuno06]

Test chemicals on them to see which ones are bad for coral. Water sampling around coral bleaching areas for lab analysis of chemical levels. Bleached coral chemical lab analysis. Is it also suntan lotion, saline, chemicals, warming, acidification,

[@ulgenrabishlave4645]

So many aptaisia on the frags hahaha

[@DepressionKnowsBest]

Use crisper?

[@ava4689]

Will this finally counteract coral bleaching?

[@deathbunny1718]

awesome but I thought acidification was the major issue.

[@greggencarnacion3916]

Hope..

[@geraldfrost4710]

The algae don't leave; they are ejected. Each algae species has an optimal heat and light profile. The coral "knows" this, and ejects one species to allow another to be hosted. Corals grow faster in warmer water. Do a google search.

[@airsoftninja44]

"Do a google search." I did, and the results I found were shocking, to say the least... The google search said that you enjoy spending your freetime wearing diapers filled with mashed potatoes while twerking in front of dementia patients... wasn't the results I was expecting, but hey if that's what you enjoy then you do you. No idea why you wanted people to find that info, but thanks I guess? :/

[@vinniepeterss]

❤❤

[@user-jt1yi7ng8o]

Something tells me that the corals will adapt without you, and temperatures of +28 are very rare in the ocean, usually around 0. Что то подсказывает, что кораллы без вас приспособятся, а температура +28 большая редкость в океане, обычно около 0.

[@gallodeplata]

"Im much off a point to live clean anymore"

[@jonathancociorvan4577]

So I’m curious, usually selective breeding will bring out the traits that your selecting for, however sometimes it has unintended consequences where the new coral maybe weaker and susceptible to disease or some other issue. Has the newly bred coral been tested for any of these conditions?

[@dragoonzen]

oh yeah, let's go

[@Crypto_Briefs_]

By planting heat resistant varieties, we reduce the species diversity which supports the ecosystem down the food chain. Feels like a coral plantation and not all animals survive eating bananas. Good research still, will help advance research on coral.

[@kurhooni5924]

as every time we try to introduce or modify species, it will end very well as always right?

[@aguiloco23]

I don't get it, if the algae is leaving due to high temperature and they can come back, why are they breeding the corals? Isn't the algae the problem?

[@boredwarlock5216]

This narrator is not bad

[@simonlockley-evans3925]

The description the woman in this video gave is incorrect. Algae do not grow in corals tissue, zooxanthelle are symbiotic dinoflagellates. A completely different organism.