Motes Ocean Fest 22

SATURDAY APRIL 23 • 2022

TRUMAN WATERFRONT PARK KEY WEST

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O C E A NKE Y.COM | 8 4 4 . 7 9 9 . 2 7 3 3 | KEY WE ST, F L

CONTENTS FOR ALL OF YOUR RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE NEEDS

THE SERVICE YOU DESERVE

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Letter from the President

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Event schedule Where to be and when to be there

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What is Mote?

The ultimate rundown

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License plate program Your easy way to help the reefs

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Reef reliever Carribbean King Crabs lend a helping claw

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Case study Coral and disease resistance

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DEREK EPPERLY, P.A. PRINCIPAL BROKER

Event map & vendor list The who, where & what of the festival

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Derek@KeysAtlanticRealty.com KeyWestRealEstate.info

State-of-the-art A look at Mote’s gene bank

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Bottoms Up “The Resistant Strain” continues to give back

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Reef Revival Coral restoration is in your hands

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Land-based 1st and only land-based coral nursery

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Coral sex Making coral babies

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Look around Oceanfest’s scavenger hunt is back!

305-923-4833

A KEY WEST FAMILY TRADITION IN FINE FOODS SINCE 1926

ABOUT THIS ISSUE DELIVERY & GIFT CARDS AVAILABLE 522 FLEMING STREET 1105 WHITE STREET WWW.FAUSTOS.COM

Keys Weekly Newspapers 9709 Overseas Hwy Marathon, FL. 33050 305.743.0844 Key West office 5450 MacDonald Ave. No. 5 Key West, FL. 33040 305.453.6928 Tavernier office 91760 Overseas Highway Tavernier FL 33070 305.363.2957 www.keysweekly.com Published MMXXII

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2022 Mote’s Ocean Fest

Publisher Britt Myers britt@keysweekly.com Editor Mandy Miles mandy@keysweekly.com Account Executive Stephanie Mitchell stephanie@keysweekly.com Art/Design Irene de Bruijn irene@keysweekly.com

The Weekly would like to extend special thanks to Haley Burleson, Anna Stinsonand and Allison Delashmit for their help on this magazine.

We are excited to join together with all of you, our Florida Keys community, for Mote’s 10th annual Ocean Fest on Saturday, April 23, in Key West. There is much to celebrate, and there is also a great deal of urgent information to share about our treasured coral reef and connected marine and costal ecosystems in the Florida Keys. As the third-largest barrier coral reef on the planet, Florida’s Coral Reef is invaluable; it supports more than 80,000 full- and part-time jobs, draws more than $8.5 billion into the economy and buffers our coasts from wave energy and other storm impacts in our hurricane-prone region.

As I write this, Mote Marine Laboratory scientists are responding to multiple stressors assaulting the last vestiges of a once-vibrant barrier reef ecosystem in the Florida Keys. Between warming water temperatures, to ocean acidification, to unprecedented coral disease, it’s clear that conservation efforts alone cannot solve this dilemma. Therefore, Mote is leading a paradigm-changing, sciencebased, coral reef-restoration revolution to bring back to life a vibrant and self-perpetuating “rainforest of the sea,” starting with a major initiative for the next decade.

Mote, a Florida-based, independent, nonprofit, global marine research institution, has an innovative approach using coral reef restoration techniques that can ”reskin” a dead, 100-year old coral skeleton in just two years with living tissue from native coral strains resilient to the impacts of disease, warming waters and ocean acidification. Our team has already planted more than 140,000 corals onto Florida’s reefs, and we plan on planting an additional 40,000 this year.

Our facility on Summerland Key, The Elizabeth Moore International Center for Coral Reef Research and Restoration, is a state-of-the-art research facility complete with molecular and microbiology labs, two indoor wet labs, a land-based nursery growing thousands of coral fragments, and dedicated ocean acidification indoor and outdoor labs to mimic future climate change scenarios. This facility is operated by next-generation, Ph.D. scientists and an incredibility dedicated staff working nearly around the clock to help scale up our research and restoration efforts.

Last year, we opened a satellite landbased coral nursery at famed Bud ‘N Mary’s Marina in Islamorada. And this year, we will open another satellite coral nursery in Key Largo, at Reefhouse Resort and Marina. In addition to land-based nurseries, we are also poised to add additional in-water (field) nurseries in the Upper Keys this year. These new nurseries, in concert with our existing nurseries in the Lower Keys and Key West, will give us access to the entirety of the reef for our restoration and research efforts. Mote is more resolved than ever to achieve our mission, serving as a champion for our oceans through science, technology, passion and partnerships. The needs are great, but we are up for the challenge.

Learn about all the ways you can help by visiting our booth during Ocean Fest, and visit mote.org for more information.

Dr. Michael P. Crosby President & CEO Mote Marine Lab

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2022 Mote’s Ocean Fest

EVENT SCHEDULE @TRUMAN WATERFRONT PARK 10 A.M. - 5 P.M. 10 a.m.

Festival Opens 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.

Live Animals in the Conservation Village provided by Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Animal Farm!

10:15 a.m.

Emily Springsteen performs 11:45 a.m.

Jason Lamson performs

Proud Supporters of Mote Marine Laboratories & 2022 Ocean Fest!

12 p.m. - 4 p.m.

Keys Energy bucket rides by the boat ramp 1:15 p.m.

Joal Rush performs 2:45 p.m.

Micah Gardner performs 4:00 p.m.

Festival Concludes Directions to Truman Waterfront Park In Old Town Key West, follow Southard Street (it’s one way) to the end. When you reach the ocean and the fun, stop.

To download our treatment notification app or to make a service request, go to www.keysmosquito.org or call 305.292.7190

keysoceanfest.org

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WHAT IS MOTE?

Primary Research Campus & Aquarium in Sarasota.

DR. ERINN MULLER Science Director of Elizabeth Moore International Center of Coral Reef Research or Restoration & Program manager of coral health & disease.

145,000

CORALS OUTPLANTED

149

Aquaculture Research Park in Eastern Sarasota County.

NUMBER OF RACEWAYS

200

PROTECT OUR REEF LICENSE PLATES

30,000

The Elizabeth Moore International Center for Coral Reef Research & Restoration on Summerland Key.

LAND-BASED NURSERIES

12,500 Florida Keys Eco Discovery Center, Key West.

WHERE IS MOTE? The Florida Keys History and Discovery Center, Islamorada.

2022 Mote’s Ocean Fest

CORAL REEF RESTORATION PROGRAM TEAM • Summer Brooks • Zachary Craig • Sarah Hamlyn • Dr. Hanna R. Koch • Celia Leto • Alicia MAnfroy • Dakotah Merck • Clayton Pelkey • Jason Spadaro • Michael Timm CORAL REEF MONITORING & ASSESSMENT • Erich Bartels • Joe Kuehl • Samantha Simpson • Cory Walter OCEAN ACIDIFICATION TEAM • Dr. Emily Hall-Senior scientist & program manager • Amanda Quasunella • Melissa Sante

FRAGMENTS IN FIELD NURSERIES

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WHO IS MOTE?

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protect ou Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium, a 501(c)3 nonprofit marine science organization, established the Protect Our Reefs (POR) program in 2003 to support their coral reef research lab in the Florida Keys. It gets better though — the POR program also supports various coral reef scientists throughout the United States through the POR grant.

As a Florida Resident, when you purchase a POR plate from your local tax collector, $25 will come back to Mote Marine Laboratory's International Center for Coral Reef Research & Restoration to support their efforts in coral reef research, restoration, education and outreach.

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2022 Mote’s Ocean Fest

ur Reef PROTECT OUR REEFS GRANT FUNDED PROJECTS: Grant: 2018 POR M8 Project Title: Refining Techniques For the Settlement and Output of Coral Recruits To Enhance the Survival Back Into the Field Organization: Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium Project Manager: Erinn Muller, Ph.D. Grant: POR 2020 14 Project Title: Targeting Actinobacteria in Coral Microbiomes: Surveying Populations and Coral Restoration Organization: Smithsonian Marine Station Project Manager: Valerie Paul, Ph.D. Grant: POR 2020 21 Project A Sticky Situation: Sponge Transplants As A Natural Adhesive Stabilizing Coral Rubble for Restoration Organization: Islamorada Conservation and Restoration Education Project Manager: Kylie Smith, Ph.D.

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HOW CARIBBEAN KING CRABS MIGHT HELP SAVE FLORIDA’S CORAL REEF

Baby Caribbean king crabs in a bowl at Mote’s Keys campus.

NEW CRABS ON THE BLOCK

Scientists at Mote Marine Laboratory have taken a critical step toward diversifying efforts to restore Florida’s Coral Reef. In early February, Dr. Jason Spadaro, a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Mote’s Elizabeth Moore International Center for Coral Reef Research & Restoration on Summerland Key, Florida, hatched Mote’s first clutch of Caribbean king crabs (Maguimithrax spinosissimus) as part of a project, funded in part by the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation to develop and refine aquaculture-based methods to build capacity for their production. These and successive clutches of juveniles will eventually be introduced onto Florida’s Coral Reef as part of the ongoing Mission: Iconic Reefs (M:IR) initiative led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in partnership with Mote, and other organizations.

As a primary science contributor to M:IR, Mote is committed to resilience-based restoration strategies that apply a science-based approach on multiple fronts.

While Mote is a long-standing pioneer and leader in coral restoration methodologies that are being used by coral restoration practitioners as part of M:IR, it now also stands at the forefront of mitigating algal overgrowth and seaweed dominance—both significant challenges to successful long-term coral restoration—by growing a program to bolster populations of a key reef herbivore, the Caribbean king crab.

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2022 Mote’s Ocean Fest

COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION

Mote is a long-standing pioneer and leader in coral restoration methodologies that are a foundation of M:IR. However, Mote is also committed to resilience-based ecosystem restoration strategies that apply a science-based approach on multiple fronts, and is now also positioned at the forefront of mitigating algal overgrowth and seaweed dominance—both significant challenges to successful long-term coral restoration—by growing a program to bolster populations of a key reef herbivore, the Caribbean king crab.

While reestablishing grazing functions on Florida’s Coral Reef has long been recognized as a priority for ecosystem restoration, previous efforts by many organizations have had very limited outcomes. Dr. Spadaro is now in a position as a Mote Postdoctoral Research Fellow to translate his previous innovative research in the field, which has highlighted the Caribbean king crab, into real impacts to advance ecosystem coral restoration efforts in M:IR. “The potential for the Caribbean king crab to support coral recruitment and reef fish diversity has been demonstrated,” he said, “but the challenge is to establish aquaculture systems that support adequate levels of production and survival to support large-scale coral reef restoration.”

The project is a natural fit for Mote which, in addition to its work in coral health, disease, monitoring, and assessment, also has decades of experience in the development of innovative technologies for marine and freshwater aquaculture systems. “This project is a prime example of Mote’s focus on recruiting the next generation of the best and brightest minds in marine science and technology, like Dr. Spadaro, and our ability to address the broad range of stressors facing Florida’s Coral Reef,” said Mote President & CEO Michael P. Crosby. “There is no singular solution to the grave realities facing our coral ecosystems, so we must develop innovative science-based solutions that address the problem holistically.”

This work is conducted under permits FKNMS-2021-044 and SAL-21-2314-SCRP, and funding from philanthropic support for Mote’s Postdoctoral Research Fellowship program.

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MISSION: ICONIC REEFS

Coral Case Study CAN CORALS PASS DISEASE RESISTANCE TO THEIR BABIES?

KEY DISEASE-RESISTANT PARENTS DISEASE-SUSCEPTIBLE PARENTS

Mote scientists have found that two staghorn coral genotypes (genetic varieties) are resistant to white band disease—an illness that has devastated their populations. These corals are valuable for reef restoration, but Mote must use many other genotypes too — healthy reefs need genetic variation. One key way to produce more genotypes is sexual reproduction, a natural process in which two genetically different coral parents make babies together.

BABIES FROM DISEASE-RESISTANT MOM & DAD BABIES FROM DISEASE-SUSCEPTIBLE MOM & DAD BABIES FROM RESISTANT MOM, SUSCEPTIBLE DAD

If disease-resistant corals reproduce sexually, will their babies inherit that resistance? If they do, and there aren’t any big tradeoffs—gaining one good trait but losing another—then these disease-resistant corals could be true gems for reef restoration.

BABIES FROM RESISTANT DAD, SUSCEPTIBLE MOM A SINGLE PARENT SERVING AS BOTH MOM & DAD. NOT EXPECTED TO PRODUCE VIABLE BABIES BUT HELPS RULE OUT UNDESIRED SELF-FERTILIZATION.

This summer, Mote Postdoctoral Research Fellow Dr. Hanna Koch and colleagues led a complex experiment to find out. Using their land-based system for coral spawning (a key part of sexual reproduction), Mote scientists bred two disease-resistant staghorn coral genotypes with two disease-susceptible genotypes. Each coral produces both eggs and sperm, so Mote scientists ensured that each genotype served as mom, then dad, in sexual reproduction with every other genotype.

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2022 Mote’s Ocean Fest

GENOTYPE 3 GENOTYPE 7 GENOTYPE 31 GENOTYPE 50

Will any of these baby corals resist disease like their parents? Time, and continued research, will tell!

dad

GENOTYPE 3

mom

The resulting coral babies are being raised now.

Future experiments will test their disease resistance. Also, Mote scientists will examine the babies’ microbiome— the collection of bacteria and other microscopic life associated with them. The disease-resistant parents have a different microbiome than disease-susceptible ones; scientists wonder if their resistance comes from that microbiome, their genetics, or other aspects of their biology.

GENOTYPE 7

GENOTYPE 31

GENOTYPE 50

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10TH FLORIDA KEYS OCEAN FEST

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SATURDAY, APRIL 23 - KEY WEST @ TRUMAN WATERFRONT PARK ARTISAN VENDOR • Amiga Mia Home • Art By Nicole Miller • College of the Florida keys • Island Girl Designs • KEEZ BEEZ LLC • Key West Candle Company • Keyfillery LLC • Lionfish Jewelry • Lucy Hawk Art • Market Organics LLC • Nauti by Nature Design • Noel Skiba • Ocean Blues Studio • Red Rum International • Rewine Glassworks • Sea, Key West • Tunaskin Aquatic Apparel • TwistedSea Designs • Wowfactor7

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EXHIBITOR • American Icon Brewery • Coastlove • Coral Restoration Foundation • DIVEN2LIFE • Dry Tortugas National Park • Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority • Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary • Florida Sea Base • Health Insurance Navigation Program with Epilepsy Florida • I.CARE • Key West Aquarium • Key West Botanical Garden Society, Inc. • Keys Energy Services • Mel Fisher Maritime Museum • Monroe County Coalition Inc • Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Animal Farm • Pawsitive Beginnings Inc • Reef Relief • Save A Turtle of the Florida Keys • Seacamp Association, Inc • Summer Breeze IV Health & Hydration

• The Alliance for Florida’s National Parks • The Turtle Hospital • Youth Making Ripples FOOD & BEVERAGE • Dirty South Dishes • Dominick’s Meatballs • Dusty Dogz Key West/ VFW • FigJam Coffee, Inc. • Kool Treats by Mama Dukes • The Courthouse Deli & Whit’s Frozen Custard CONSERVATION VILLAGE • Florida Sea Base • Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary • Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Animal Farm • Sea Camp Association • Save a Sea Turtle of the Florida Keys • Mote’s Education Program • Youth Making Ripples SPONSORS • Ocean Key Resort & Spa • Fury Water Adventures • Florida Keys Brewing Co. • American Icon Brewery • Papas Pilar Rum • Monroe County Tourism & Development Council • Keys Weekly SPECIAL THANKS TO • Four Star Rentals • The Art of Sound • Waste Management • Ocean Blues Studio • Toadfish Outfitters • No Shoes Reefs • Reel Skipper • Sand Cloud • Fin Pin Shop • MANG Gear • Leatherback Naturals

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MOTE’S STATE-OF-THE-ART

GENE BANK Mote’s International Coral Gene Bank facility is located in an environmentally hardened building with redundant power and re-circulating seawater systems on the 200-acre Mote Aquaculture Research Park campus ~20 miles inland from the coast.

The current holding facility contains four separate life-support systems thus ensuring genetic preservation through independent redundancy among the raceways. Mote’s Gene Bank contains 100% emergency generator backup and enough supplies on site to conduct three complete water changes during any emergency situation. Each of the four systems contains four raceways, measuring 4’x 8’x 3, with an independent sump for maintaining optimal seawater chemistry conditions.

The entire Gene Bank has the capacity to contain approximately 7200 gallons (27,250 liters) of seawater and can hold up to 500 reproductive-sized corals for focusing on coral spawning initiatives, or at least 15,000 small fragments of corals the size used for research, propagation, gene banking, and outplanting for restoration purposes).

The system is temperature controlled and monitored using 18

2022 Mote’s Ocean Fest

a computer automated controller system providing realtime data and automatic alarm notifications. Environmental regulation of the seawater provides the optimal environmental conditions for coral survival, growth, and reproduction. Parameters for each raceway can be modified to suit the needs for species-specific requirements and regionspecific environmental conditions.

INTEGRATION OF MOTE’S LAND-BASED CORAL SPAWNING LABORATORY Mote’s International Coral Gene Bank is outfitted with a separate dedicated coral spawning laboratory with the capacity to hold several ex-situ coral spawning systems.

These systems are programmed to follow seasonal variations in temperature, light, and lunar cues to allow for coral spawning year-round. Complete control of these parameters provides the necessary cues to produce gametes (eggs and sperm) and elicit spawning for controlled fertilization. The ability to create sexually produced corals within a controlled environment increases the adaptive potential of populations that will be used to restore our world’s coral reefs, thus increasing resiliency through these assisted reproductive events.

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GOALS Mote’s International Coral Gene Bank will: 1. provide a safe-haven for corals that are on the brink of local and regional extinction;

2. maintain genetically diverse broodstock for future generations of corals; 3. ensure genetic diversity within restoration populations; 4. create thousands of new corals through assisted sexual reproduction; 5. eliminate the need for harvesting corals in the wild for research-based purposes, and 6. encourage the study and preservation of corals for biomarker development and resilient reef restoration activities.

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CHANGING LIVES ONE SMILE AT A TIME! From left to right: Dr. Hector Guzman D.D.S, Dr. David McDonald D.M.D Dr. Natalia Vazquez-Marrero D.M.D and Dr. Oscar Rodriguez D.M.D

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2022 Mote’s Ocean Fest

THE RESISTANT STRAIN Florida Keys Brewing and Mote continue partnership

Florida Keys Brewing Co., located near MM 81, Oceanside, in Islamorada has partnered with Mote Marine Laboratory in releasing the beverage known as “The Resistant Strain.”

Florida Keys Brewing Co. owners Craig and Cheryl McBay say it’s a beer made with double hibiscus kolsch with a hint of locally sourced honey.

By Jim McCarthy

“It’s a lighter beer with a vibrant pink hue, and it is delicious,” Cheryl says. “It’s very similar to the local favorite, Iguana Bait, but with a little more hibiscus punch.”

Proceeds from beer sales will help identify resistant, native coral strains immune to the disease that’s killing off local stony corals all while bringing more awareness to the issue. At Florida Keys Brewing Co, Cheryl says they collaborate with all local reef not for profits.

“Florida Keys Brewing and its staff are all a bunch of fun-loving hippies who want to help protect our reefs,” she said. “We especially love what Mote is doing. Our reefs are incredibly important, and we will do anything to help protect them.”

Born and raised in Islamorada, Cheryl grew up snorkeling, fishing and enjoying the beautiful reefs.

Now that she has kids, she hopes they have the same, amazing experience that she had growing up.

“Mote is trying to make this possible for years to come,” she said.

“Mote is doing some amazing work and we all need to support them. We all need to pay a little more attention to our most valuable attraction in the Florida Keys, the reef!”

Florida Keys Brewing Co. is “over the moon excited” for the fun and education experience that Mote’s Ocean Fest is bringing. Following the beer’s debut at the festival, the Resistant Strain will be available in the taproom at Florida Keys Brewing Co.

For more information about Florida Keys Brewing, visit floridakeysbrewingco.com.

For more information about Mote’s coral health and disease research, visit mote.org/research.

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DRIVE THE CHANGE The Protect Our Reefs license plate is one of 121 specialty license plates available in the state of Florida and it is, without question, the single most important plate we have on the road today when it comes to the future of our oceans, both here in South Florida and throughout the world. The Protect Our Reefs plate is the 10th ranked and earned over $15.1 million since inception in 2004.

The Protect Our Reefs license plate not only supports coral reef restoration, research, and education, it also supports the very foundation of the entire marine ecosystem. With as much as 25 percent of all marine life dependent on coral reefs at some point during their life cycle, reefs become the feeding, breeding, and sanctuary more. Coral reefs are the cornerstone of healthy oceans and when reefs are in decline, it spells trouble for the rest of the animals that depend on them.

FLORIDA REEF LICENSE PLATE • Created: 2004 • Plate annual fee: $25 (100% goes to Mote) • Overall State Sales Ranking: 10th of 121 • Funds Raised through 2019: $15.1 million • Where the money goes: coral reef restoration and research programs 37.5%; grants 37.5%; marketing and outreach 10%; and administration: 15%

There are more than 38,000 active Protect Our Reefs license plates currently on the road today and the plates can be found on cars, trucks and boat trailers in all 67 Florida counties. Regardless of where a Protect Our Reefs plate is sold in the State of Florida, 100 percent of the annual $25 donation from each plate sale comes directly to Mote’s work in the Florida Keys. Mote has also given over $4.6 million in competitive grants. Mote shares a portion of the money through a competitive grants program with Florida colleges, universities, and research institutions such as UF, UM, USF, UCG, FWC, Smithsonian, NOVA Southeastern, Reef Relief, REEF, The Nature Conservancy,

restoration, and education.

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PLANS FOR LAND-BASED CORAL NURSERY

Coral fragments growing in a raceway. Mote is bringing a new land-based nursery to Key Largo.

FIRST OF ITS KIND IN KEY LARGO In early March 2022, Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium announced plans for future development to bring science-based coral reef restoration to Key Largo. A new landbased nursery, the first in Key Largo, will be built on the grounds of the Reefhouse Resort & Marina, formerly known as Key Largo Bay Marriott Beach Resort. As Key Largo’s first and only land-based coral nursery, it will host Mote’s coral, bringing first-in-class, resiliencefocused restoration efforts in the Upper Keys.

By expanding operations in Key Largo, Mote continues to directly respond to the urgent plight Florida’s Coral Reef is facing. Warming waters, more acidic conditions due to higher carbon emissions, a devasting coral disease and other stressors have left our once abundant, thriving reef near the brink of extinction.

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2022 Mote’s Ocean Fest

This is Mote’s second satellite land-based coral nursery in the Upper Keys. The first satellite nursery, located at the famed Bud ‘N Mary’s marina in Upper Matecumbe, opened in May 2021. Land-based coral nurseries provide a more integrated reef restoration approach, as some native coral species, such as Acropora palmata (elkhorn coral), grow faster after fragmentation on land as compared to in-water fragmentation and growout. Field-based, or in-water, nurseries will also be utilized for optimized growth of other significant species used in coral restoration. Having the ability to do both land- and in-water based restoration in hybridized nurseries provides Mote a unique advantage to further it’s resilience-based restoration along Florida’s Coral Reef.

Mote, a leader in marine research and conservation since its founding in 1955, has been actively paving the way in sciencebased restoration efforts in the Florida Keys for over 25 years.

With a growing staff of highly revered and heavily published PhDs and expert practioners, Mote is the only organization completing the entire restoration loop under one entity: from assisting sexual-reproduction cycles, to rearing the next generation of coral, to resilience testing, asexual fragmentation with scaled up outplanting and extensive monitoring. To date, Mote has outplanted over 140,000 coral fragments on Florida’s Coral Reef, with a survival rate of over 90% in most cases.

Additionally, several thousand corals are growing in Mote’s land-based nurseries on Summerland Key and Islamorada, as well as Mote’s two underwater nurseries in the Lower Keys.

Permits for additional underwater nurseries in the Upper Keys are currently in progress.

In addition to the Summerland Key and Islamorada campuses, Mote has two public exhibits in the Florida Keys, at NOAA’s Eco-Discovery Center in Key West and the Florida Keys History and Discovery Center located in the Islander in Islamorada. In 2021, Mote created a unique, large-scale, land-based, International Coral Gene Bank with living coral in massive recirculating seawater systems at its Marine Aquaculture Research Park (MAP) location 13 miles inland near Sarasota. With nearly 2,000 genotypes, Mote has the largest holding of living coral genetic diversity in existence, outside of Mother Nature herself.

Mote’s gene bank vision began with a focus on corals endemic to Florida and U.S. jurisdictions of the Caribbean, and it is now expanding to include coral genetic diversity from reefs around the world.

Construction of Mote’s new land-based nursery onsite at Reefhouse begins immediately and is anticipated to be fully operational by Summer 2022. Similar in size to the Islamorada nursery at Bud ‘N Mary’s marina, this nursery will have the capacity to hold 20,000 fragments of coral at any given time.

PERMITS Mote’s research and restoration activities are permitted by NOAA’s Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS2021-171 & FKNMS-2021-172) and pursuant to a Special Activity License by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (SAL-22-2406-SCRP).

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2022 Mote’s Ocean Fest

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By Tiffany Duong

LET’S TALK (CORAL) SEX MOTE RESEARCHERS MAKE “CORAL BABIES” IN CHALLENGING CONDITIONS Hanna Koch and her team at Mote’s International Center for Coral Reef Research and Restoration (IC2R3) facility on Summerland Key play coral matchmakers to help our coral reefs. They do so using reproductive interventions to assist with “coral sex.”

reefs. The process also creates genetic diversity, a critical component in adaptation to environmental stress or change.

“We’re sexually propagating corals for research and restoration as part of the resilience-based restoration program here at Mote,” Koch explains.

Broadcast spawning, where hermaphroditic corals simultaneously release gamete bundles of eggs and sperm into the ocean, is the first step of coral sexual reproduction. After release, gamete bundles float to the water’s surface where they break open to separate the eggs from the sperm. Gametes from different parents cross-fertilize, forming embryos, which develop into free-swimming

Sexual reproduction is crucial to the longterm persistence of coral reefs. It produces the next generation of offspring that can replenish depleted adult coral populations or disperse to establish new

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2022 Mote’s Ocean Fest

“We need corals to reproduce sexually for the survival of the species and for coral reefs as a whole,” adds Koch.

larvae and eventually coral recruits.

Recruits are larvae that successfully cement themselves back onto the reef. If they survive, these recruits become the next generation of corals in the Florida Keys.

At least that’s how it’s supposed to happen. Koch explains several reasons that this natural process, which has worked for millions of years, is failing for some species and regions. First, because of intense global and local stressors, coral populations are becoming smaller and more disconnected, she says. This lessens the chances of gametes meeting during broadcast spawning. Imagine coral singles cruising the oceans, trying to

The Mote team prepares for spawning by bringing corals from their ex-situ nurseries into tanks for observation. NILS EHMKE/Contributed

meet each other, but someone keeps moving the singles bars further and further apart.

Second, there’s spawning asynchrony, a troubling trend that seems to be increasing for some species and areas. Mass coral spawning is triggered by specific environmental cues involving moon phases, water temperatures, wave action and several other natural signals. This is how an entire reef can spawn or “go off” within minutes, leading to the greatest chance for fertilization success. Because gametes remain viable for only a few hours after release, synchronized timing is incredibly important. Therefore, Koch explains, “When environmental cues that corals rely on for synchronized mass spawning break down, you get asynchronous spawning and missed opportunities for fertilization.”

“WE NEED CORALS TO REPRODUCE SEXUALLY FOR THE SURVIVAL OF THE SPECIES AND FOR CORAL REEFS AS A WHOLE.”

Finally, local environmental conditions linked to chemical pollutants and acute stressors can lead to failed sexual reproduction and recruitment, meaning corals cannot initiate sexual development and produce gametes or if they do, the resulting larvae have a hard time sticking back onto the reef to grow into adult corals.

Basically, the signals that have been telling all coral gamete singles to meet at the same singles bar at the same time for millions of years are failing, so they’re showing up at different times to different singles bars, or not at all. And should any happy coral couple successfully fertilize and develop into larvae, even those larvae are having a hard time making it back onto the reef.

Enter science. “Asynchrony is one of the biggest issues,” Koch says. “Without synchrony, every other step in the sexual cycle will fail.”

Koch explains what her team is doing to combat this. In-situ spawning nurseries like the ones at Mote provide optimal growth conditions so corals reach sexual maturity more quickly. For most corals, sexual maturity is size-, not age-, dependent; so, the faster they grow, the sooner they’ll be ready to reproduce. Then, they can be brought into the lab for more controlled and successful breeding. On land, scientists do not battle with unpredictable weather, predators of coral gametes, and unfavorable ocean conditions, so gametes can be more easily collected and fertilized.

This is exactly what Koch and her team did this year.

During the August 2019 spawning event, they brought 62 colonies of staghorn corals into their tanks. Nine of the 62 colonies released gamete bundles, ranging from a few to hundreds. Five of the nine spawned colonies released gamete bundles on multiple nights, with the two most prolific colonies spawning on different nights (asynchrony). Even so, Koch was able to produce 400 larvae from two genetic crosses. Ultimately, she ended up with 200 genetically distinct “coral babies,” or sexual recruits.

These babies are now happily growing in tanks at Mote. They will eventually be used to add fresh genetics to Mote’s Coral Reef Restoration Program for outplanting back onto local reefs.

“This is a huge step for us, as this is our first home-grown batch of corals produced entirely from Mote’s own restoration broodstock, from start to finish,” says Koch. “Now, here at IC2R3, we can accomplish all aspects of both sexual and asexual reproduction in-house.”

The IC2R3 facility offers free public tours where visitors get behind-the-scene glimpses of Mote’s restoration activities in action.

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OCEANFEST SCAVENGER HUNT Find all of the items below and return to the Mote Education tent to receive a prize!

Microscope

Live Animal

Coral Skeleton

Musical

Scientist

Sea shell

Instruments

Lionfish spine

Science experiment

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2022 Mote’s Ocean Fest

Jewelry

Art

Food tent

Games

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2022 Mote’s Ocean Fest