Along the Great Barrier Reef, spawning corals release packets of eggs and sperm into the water at specific times of night.
Billions of Coral Sperm Banked in a Race to Save Reefs
In the wake of mass bleaching events, scientists are building a huge repository of frozen sperm to ensure the future of these key ocean species.
Under the light of the moon and stars, scientists in Australia recently scooped up some of the most valuable treasures in the sea: packets of coral sperm from the Great Barrier Reef.
On a three-week expedition to Heron Island in mid-November, teams collected 171 billion sperm from 31 coral colonies, representing eight species of hard corals. These samples were then flash frozen and added to the vaults of the world’s largest coral sperm bank, held at the Taronga Conservation Society’s Western Plains Zoo in New South Wales.
Ultimately, the scientists would like to bank all 400 or so coral species that make up the famous 1,400-mile-long reef system, says Mary Hagedorn, a Smithsonian marine biologist who pioneered the technique
