Maunalua Bay is one of  three locations where the restore with resilience project is currently operating. Maunalua bay holds tremendous marine biodiversity ranging from cryptic benthic invertebrates to some of the largest marine mammals in the world. Due to this bay having high wave energy as well as being a watersport hotspot, corals see localized anthropogenic stress (anchor damage, overfishing etc) coupled with the ever-present chronic stressor, climate change. The restore with resilience project aims to give these corals a chance to thrive against adversity.

They do so by finding corals of opportunity, corals that have broken off the reef. These corals are then transferred to a nursery table where the threat of smothering is relieved and they will be able to photosynthesize. Once they have recovered, fragments are taken to a lab-setting where the temperature of the water is incrementally increased to find the most resilient colonies within each species. Resilient colonies are then fragmented and placed back onto the nursery table, where they will eventually be out-planted back onto the reef.  Replenishing the coral stock of a reef with more resilient colonies gives these corals an advantage when facing future coral bleaching events. 

The nursery table is currently back under construction, and will be deployed early-mid 2023 via the restore with resilience project. We are conducting ecological monitoring at the adjacent reef, turtle canyon. When the nursery is re-deployed, we will assist in the collection of corals of opportunity, attachment to the nursery table, monitoring coral health, and maintenance of the nursery table. For more information on this project and how you can get involved on land, check out Malama Maunalua