SYDNEY, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- Marine researchers have launched one of the largest coral restoration field trials on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, coinciding with the reef's annual mass coral spawning event.
The Australian Institute of Marine Science's (AIMS) Pilot Deployments Program aims to deliver up to 120,000 specially designed seeding devices carrying young corals to reefs around the Keppel Islands, off Cairns and Port Douglas, during the 2026-27 season, according to an AIMS statement released Thursday.
The program is training coral aquaculture operators and Indigenous groups in the state of Queensland to operate ReefSeed units and rear corals in land-based facilities before transporting and seeding young corals on reefs, the statement said.
ReefSeed units are transportable, containerized coral aquaculture systems developed by AIMS. They are capable of producing millions of coral larvae, and hundreds of thousands of young corals for reefs in Australia and abroad. The first ReefSeed unit has already been installed and successfully tested in the Maldives. ■
