Plant A Million Corals

The Plant A Million Corals Foundation works out of Summerland Farms at 23801 Overseas Highway on Summerland Key, where it runs a land-based coral nursery holding over 50,000 fragments in flow-through saltwater systems, with solar-powered water treatment and a greenhouse expansion nearing completion. Fragments are grown on tiles here and then transplanted onto reefs in the Florida Keys.

The method behind it came from an accident. Dr. David Vaughan broke a coral specimen in the lab and found that the pieces, rather than dying, grew back faster than the intact colony had. That observation became micro-fragmentation, which the foundation says can grow coral 25 to 40 times faster than natural rates, and which turned coral restoration from a problem of decades into a problem of years.

Vaughan has spent more than 45 years in aquaculture research. He directed the aquaculture division at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution for 17 years, including its 60-acre development park, developed the technology behind Florida’s clam farming industry, and founded a marine ornamental production facility before coming to the Keys. He went on to serve as Senior Scientist at Mote Marine Laboratory and Executive Director of Mote’s Elizabeth Moore International Center for Coral Reef Research and Restoration, also on Summerland Key, where he started the coral restoration program. In August 2017 the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force recognized him for advancing restoration methods and training the scientists who come next, and he has been inducted as one of eight Ocean Sentinels. He is the author of The Secret Life of Corals.

The foundation is set up to spread the method rather than hoard it. It builds portable nurseries inside shipping containers so the technique can be deployed in other reef regions, runs training for community-level restoration, and has carried the work to places including Mo’orea, the Maldives and Puerto Rico. Its stated aim is to cut the cost of replanting a single coral to about a dollar.

Visitors can see the nursery. Tours run by appointment for individuals, families, school groups and organizations, arranged through the foundation, and there are workshops, volunteer opportunities and internships for people who want to do more than look.