Planting Your Own Coral Reef! (in Key Largo)
Event information
Coral Restoration in the Florida Keys
Florida Keys Dive Center, Tavernier, FL
** SOLD OUT- THIS OPPORTUNITY NO LONGER AVAILABLE FOR 2013 **
This is a full day excursion to the beautiful Florida Keys to visit an underwater coral nursery and take part in an active coral reef restoration program. The Coral Restoration Foundation (CRF), a Florida Keys based non-profit educational and environmental organization, has built the world’s largest underwater coral nursery program dedicated exclusively to coral reef restoration and research, and is now beginning the most ambitious coral reef restoration program ever attempted in U.S. waters. Over the next five years, CRF will be planting over 40,000 nursery-raised corals on the reefs in the Florida Keys in an effort to restore native staghorn and elkhorn coral populations.
Participants will meet at 9:30 am in Key Largo for a 90 minute training session during which CRF staff will discuss various topics, including causes of coral reef decline, CRF’s role in restoration, and what you can do to help. Lunch on your own from 11:00 to noon, followed by a two tank guided dive excursion to the offshore coral nursery and an active reef restoration site. The nursery dive will consist of a tour followed by hands on coral propagation and nursery maintenance activities. The reef dive will consist of a tour of one of the reefs where CRF has been restoring corals, and (if weather conditions allow) participants will be able to help plant nursery grown corals onto the reef.
This is primarily a dive excursion, and active participants must be certified open water SCUBA divers. All skills necessary for participation will be taught during the training session and on the boat, and all underwater activities will be supervised by trained team leaders. The maximum depth is 30′, water temperature is expected to be near 75 degrees F, and sea conditions will vary. Tanks and weights are included in the package, and all other gear is available for rent at the dive shop. Hats, sunglasses, sun protective clothing, and sunscreen are recommended. Reef safe sunscreens are preferred by CRF and will be available for use or purchase at the boat. Snorkelers can attend the training session and go on the boat trip, but opportunities to participate will be limited.
** SOLD OUT- THIS OPPORTUNITY NO LONGER AVAILABLE FOR 2013 **
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