As global warming threatens corals, scientists look for reefs that can withstand the heat

Corals Larvae can move hundreds of kilometers to their parents before they settled on the rock for the rest of their lives.

He said, it was an ambitious idea that would require political support and financial support – about $10 million according to his estimates – as well as community buy-in. Not all top reefs are closed to fishing and other activities, he said.

“People need to live, people need to eat. It would be difficult, he said, to negotiate and fix any protected area in the road with the areas that may be affected, as is happening in Laura.

But overall, the idea seems feasible, Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority’s Edwards said. “The idea of ​​creating an international partnership of marine protected areas that connects the hard reefs of the Marshall Islands, Kiribati, and Tuvalu is a very encouraging idea,” he said.

Some experts agree. “Protecting source reefs and reefs between them can maintain a network of divers that can share temperature changes and provide new coral larvae to help damaged reefs recover,” said Emily Darling, director of coral reefs at the Wildlife Conservation Society. “Calculating the connections between the most reliable, climate-resistant reefs increases their conservation value across the region.”

Once established, Cohen said, the first Super Reef cage could be a proof of concept for creating a global safety net.

Future corridors could be created between Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia, he said, or India, the Maldives, and the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean.

In the end, he said, the success of the network will depend on the willingness of countries to cooperate and decide which reefs to prioritize. His role, as he sees it, is to provide scientific information to inform those decisions. They want to make sure resources are delivered where they can help the most – as quickly as possible.

“This is a quick job,” he said.

Forecasters recently warned that El Niño conditions have also formed in the tropical Pacific and are expected to strengthen this fall.

In the coming months, Cohen said, “We have a great opportunity to have warming in the Marshall Islands.” He was already having nightmares about destroying the beautiful cliffs he had just visited.

“It’s just a bad feeling,” he said, looking out over the beach at Bokanbotin.

But he wanted to be there when it came. He had already started planning his trip back to the Marshall Islands before he left.

“We want to be there at the peak of the heat to send out the Yellowfin and see how the corals are doing,” he said. “I have a good idea the corals will resist because we’ve seen them before. But we have to make sure.”

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