Harvesting-coral-Long

EcoRRap long 16x9 1

 

 

[Music plays and an image appears of a view looking down on an island, and then images move through of a “Heron Island Research Station” sign, and a bird sitting in a tree]

 

[Image changes to show Dr Christopher Doropoulos talking to the camera, and text appears: Dr Christopher Doropoulos, Senior Researcher, CSIRO]

 

Dr Christopher Doropoulos: We’re here at Heron Island to conduct some work on the coral spawning event.

 

[Image changes to show a diver entering the water from a boat]

 

We’re investigating the processes that limit coral recovery.

 

[Image changes to show Christopher winding a wheel on a piece of equipment, and then the image changes to show a diver underwater swimming over the coral]

 

To do that we’re conducting experiments on the land and in the water.

 

[Images move through to show an inflatable boat moving through the water, a group of people seated around tables, and a female putting on diving gear]

 

We’re here with a team of people of about ten, and that includes staff from CSIRO, staff and students from the University of Queensland, as well as two land and sea rangers from the Gidarjil Corporation.

 

[Image changes to show a view looking down on the reef, and then the image changes to show researchers throwing out sampling devices into the water from a boat]

 

So, the first project is looking at larval supply to the reef, and that’s a predominately a field based study.

 

[Images move through to show a towed sampling device under the water, a researcher looking through a microscope, and test tube samples in a tray]

 

Also with that study we’re using molecular approaches to try and validate exactly how many larvae are coming onto the reef and the identity of those.

 

[Images move through of different types of coral in plastic tubs of water, a researcher taking a sample pot of water from a plastic tank of coral and water, and Christopher syringing up a water sample]

 

And to complement the field study we’re also conducting larval culturing in the lab from which we can sample specific coral types to understand their molecular signature as they go through their development.

 

[Images move through to show Christopher placing the syringed water into another bucket, Christopher talking to the camera, and coral spawning under red light]

 

So, we’ve also brought in a range of coral colonies here, withholding them down in tanks, and once they spawn we’ll then capture those and culture them en masse.

 

[Images move through of a researcher looking at a sample by torchlight, two divers placing a plastic tub on the ocean floor amongst the coral, and coral growing on a plastic tray on the ocean floor]

 

Then in a lab we’ll settle those larvae on the different kind of substrates, plant them out onto the reef, and let them grow until they’re at a certain kind of stage, around 1cm which is a juvenile coral.

 

[Images move through of a female looking through a microscope, a female adjusting an insulated pipe experiment, and Christopher looking at equipment which is vibrating up and down]

 

With those corals we’ll then conduct manipulative experiments to simulate outplanting in different kind of designs to see how their survival and growth differ.

 

[Image changes to show Christopher talking to the camera]

 

Another aim of the project is to look at how thermal stress affects the fecundity, so that’s the reproductive development, and then the development of the larvae of corals.

 

[Images move through of a female taking a lid from a tank and looking at the coral inside, and then a close view of a researcher taking a sample from the coral under torchlight]

 

So, down in a mesocosm system we’re simulating future warming events to see what happens to the reproduction, and then the developmental phases of coral larvae.

 

[Images move through to show the coral in the tank again, a sample being placed in a petri dish under a microscope, coral in a tank spawning, and a close view of coral spawning]

 

So, coral branches are being held in tanks and sampled over time to look at how their egg sizes might differ as well as their spawning times, and then what happens to those larvae as they develop through time.

 

[Image changes to show Professor Peter Mumby talking to the camera, and text appears: Prof Peter Mumby, Professorial Research Fellow – UQ]

 

Prof Peter Mumby: These experiments that we’re doing between One Tree Island and Heron Island

 

[Images move through of a diver holding a piece of coral and swimming, water being taken from a tank with coral in it and being put into a container, and a male syringing liquid into sample pots]

 

will be very helpful in providing targeted information on how densely do you need to pack a reef with corals if you want to restore it,

 

[Image changes to show a close view of the coral]

 

so that that restored population can actually act in a biologically realistic way.

 

[Images move through to show Peter talking to the camera, a close view of coral spawning, and then Peter talking to the camera again]

 

So, that they can actually reproduce and help deliver new corals to other reefs, and even sustain their own population by releasing corals that might actually come back to that same reef. These are important questions we have to answer.

 

[Image changes to show a close view of coral spawning, and then the image changes to show Devin Rowell talking to the camera, and text appears: Devin Rowell, PhD Candidate – UQ-CSIRO]

 

Devin Rowell: One of the biggest challenges of working with corals is obviously that they usually only spawn once a year.

 

[Images move through of a sunset over the water, and a view of researchers working in fast motion while the light turns from day to working by torchlight]

 

So, a lot of our work is tied to this crucial period of time, and you have one, maybe two nights where you’re able to catch them in the act of spawning and use those gametes for your experiments.

 

[Image changes to show a close view of coral spawning under red lights]

 

So, we have to be ready to go and prepared for when it happens because we can’t predict it as much as we try.

 

[Images move through to show a researcher looking into a microscope, and then two researchers lifting a sample tub from a boat]

 

Elizabeth Buccheri: All the collaborations are really cool, like especially with this group that’s here right now.

 

[Image changes to show Elizabeth Buccheri talking to the camera, and then the image changes to show a close view looking down on coral, and text appears: Elizabeth Buccheri, PhD Candidate – UQ-CSIRO]

 

We have so many people doing different things but they’re all very linked to each other and all of the information is going to be so crucial to telling us more about reef reproduction and recovery.

 

[Images move through of close views of different types of corals]

 

The corals are, they’re a very charismatic ecosystem in a way but there’s still so much that we don’t know, and especially about reproduction and their early life stage.

 

[Camera pans over the coral, and then the image changes to show Elizabeth talking to the camera again]

 

A lot of this group is going to give us a lot of information about that which we can hopefully use to tie to how we can conserve these ecosystems but then also eventually restore certain areas that we need to. And I think that’s super exciting to know more about.

 

[Image changes to show Isabelle Orchard-McInnes taking a sample from a bucket, and then the image changes to show a close view of liquid being syringed into a petri dish]

 

Isabelle Orchard-McInnes: It’s important to me the knowledge that I’ve learnt here so I can take it back to Gidarjil and assist them with their coral monitoring

 

[Image changes to show Isabelle standing on a beach talking to the camera, and text appears: Isabelle Orchard-McInnes, Gidarjil Land and Sea Ranger]

 

for the health of the Reef so we can continue with our traditional methods and knowledge and share it with everyone else.

 

[Music plays and the image changes to show a sea turtle resting amongst the coral, and the camera gradually zooms out]

 

[Image changes to show the Australian Government Coat of Arms, and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, The University of Queensland, the Australian Institute of Marine Science, the James Cook University, the QUT, the Southern Cross University, and CSIRO logos on a black screen, and text appears: Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program, a partnership]

 

[Image changes to show new text on a black screen: We would like to acknowledge the traditional owners belonging to the Port Curtis Coral Coast area, the Byelle, Gooreng, Gurang and Taribelang Bunda peoples on whose country this project was conducted]

 

[Image changes to show the CSIRO logo and text on a white screen: Australia’s National Science Agency]