MEXICAN CARIBBEAN ECOSYSTEMS RESTORED ONE 3D PRINTED CORAL REEF AT A TIME
Up to 4 million cruise ship passengers visit Cozumel annually, making it one of Mexico's most popular tourist destinations. The ecosystems that first draw tourists have been impacted by this, though. The region's coral reefs are severely bleaching due to increased environmental stress and rising temperatures resulting from overtourism and climate change.
Recognising the value of the reefs to the ecosystem, the Cozumel Coral Reef Restoration Program (CCRRP) aims to repair the harm and save the remaining corals.
Dr. German Méndez observed that the corals around Cozumel were dying and decided to establish the CCRRP. The neighbouring Villa Blanca Reef lost around 97% of its surrounding coral when the Mexican government chose to construct a cruise ship pier in the protected Cozumel Marine Park in 1994. Mendez, who was determined to take action, started CCRRP, which became a non-profit organisation in 2017, while pursuing a degree in marine biology.
In response, the CCRRP established coral nurseries, which are maintained by a group of committed volunteers. The team explains to My Modern Met that coral nurseries are underwater constructions made of a wide range of materials and substrates that are intended to produce coral fragments and encourage their growth by eliminating fast-growing algae that overwhelm the slower-growing corals. "We replant species onto damaged reefs and new artificial reefs once the ecosystem is sufficiently established."
Underwater constructions called platforms, which have been constructed from various materials over the years, are where the coral fragments are planted. Coral didn't adhere to concrete as well when some of our initial platforms were constructed, according to CCRRP. Coral polyps are naturally drawn to recycled rebar grids coated with calcium carbonate, which is another example. Using sargassum to create new technologies and substrates is one of the novel strategies.
Among these emerging technologies is 3D printing. Together with Alena Kharissova from the tile firm Interceramic and start-up Thrasos, the team has combined sargassum and coralline with a new substrate. The end product is beautiful geometric structures that can be 3D printed and encourage coral polyps to adhere to them and form larger colonies.
In comparison to free-living corals, "Platforms offer a protected environment, sheltering corals from stressors such as sedimentation, fast-growing algae, and predation, allowing for quicker growth rates and improved survival," the CCRRP states of its novel strategy. "This method is essential to efforts to restore coral reefs."
In addition to the corals that have been affixed to the local living rock, CCRRP has planted over 10,000 corals over seven years using 35 platforms spread across 2,153 square feet. "We count the number of fish species in the restored regions and record transects to monitor and measure the coral pieces and to assess colours for bleaching to gauge our effectiveness in restoration," they discuss.
There are numerous ways you may do to support their efforts to rehabilitate corals. Become a licensed diver and assist the team in maintaining their nurseries for a more hands-on approach. "We can continue to fight the fast-growing algae and give our corals a fighting chance because of the continuous rotation of volunteers and interns from all over the world," says CCRRP.
You can donate once or every month if you are unable to visit Cozumel. If you are unable to do this, the team advises that assisting them in promoting their message on social media also makes a big difference. CCRRP adds, "We are educating people about coral ecology and the relevance of them for the human economy and the underwater ecosystem." "We want to transform the island's rapidly expanding development into sustainable growth so that we may live on an island that values its nature."
