Coral reefs function as cosmopolitan cities where sea animal partnerships thrive. [VID: Compilation footage of coral reef underwater] | Nature | PBS

Corals, the building blocks of coral reefs, are incredible organisms. They can reproduce in two ways: sexually and asexually. Scientists have long used asexual reproduction—breaking off fragments of existing colonies and replanting them—to restore reefs suffering from hurricanes and other threats. But California Academy of Sciences scientist Raphael Ritson-Williams calls that approach “fundamentally flawed.” Instead, he’s working with an international group of scientists from Secore Internationa

For a few nights each year, pockets of our Great Barrier Reef synchronise the release of millions of eggs and sperm into the water in the hope of producing baby corals. So, what are the chances of baby corals developing? With such a narrow spawning window each year, find out how researchers are working to improve the odds from one in a million to as high as one in four: https://www.barrierreef.org/news/explainers/coral-spawning-what-are-the-odds Qantas Lendlease Garnier Australian Institute of M