s in a
touch pool at the
Apollo Beach campus. Over the course of 250 years, the state of Florida has seen 50% of its coral disappear, due to pollution, climate change, human contact, bleaching, and now the idiopathic disease known as Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) that is killing the U.S.'s only inshore reef tract, spanning almost the entirety of it, and affecting 22 different species of stony corals to the point of suffering complete mortality. To fight this loss, and attempt to save the coral – of extreme importance to the well-being of the state - the Florida Aquarium has joined a consortium led by the
University of Miami, including
Nova Southeastern University, coral conservation organization SECORE International, and the
Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science. The goal is to restore 125 acres of coral reef by planting 150,000 coral colonies, including five species of coral, by 2022. In 2020, Florida Aquarium was the first to ever successfully reproduce Ridged Cactus Coral. Scientists are now taking care of the reproduced coral and discovering for the first time basic information on their biology. In 2022 Florida Aquarium scientists successfully reproduced elkhorn coral in the care of marine biologists.
Coral Conservation & Research Center On March 22, 2024 the Florida Aquarium a unveiled a new 4,200-square-foot expansion of its Coral Conservation and Research Center at its Apollo Beach campus. The addition expands beyond the current capabilities of the aquarium's coral greenhouses and spawning labs, increasing to over 9,000 square feet specifically dedicated to the conservation, breeding, and nurturing of coral species at risk of extinction in their natural habitats. This includes the breeding of 14 unique coral species within the aquarium's coral center, species that are seldom maintained under human care. ==Education==