#coralmorphologic

We are happy to announce the publication of a new research paper by University of Miami coral scientist Dr. Allyson DeMerlis in collaboration with Coral Morphologic. This paper studied the genetic changes staghorn corals (Acropora cervicornis aka ACER) underwent when transplanted from an offshore nursery to the inshore urban habitat at the Coral City Camera in PortMiami. Typically, staghorn corals are grown for restoration in offshore hanging ‘tree nurseries’ under stable, ideal water conditions. However, the reefs most in need of restoration are typically inshore of these nurseries and/or have suffered coral mortality due to deteriorating water quality. Understanding how endangered staghorn corals adapt to less-than-ideal conditions is the first step towards selecting strains that can survive long-term and restore Florida’s reefs. The paper, titled ‘Transcriptomic response of Acropora cervicornis following transplantation to a marginal, nearshore environment’ was published in the research journal Frontiers in Marine Science.

The Coral City Camera site at PortMiami offers an ideal location to study and monitor experimental coral transplants from offshore. By transplanting nursery-grown Acropora cervicornis into the highly urbanized, marginal habitat of the Port of Miami, Dermerlis’ research explores the frontier of urban coral resilience. Four months after outplanting, these staghorn corals demonstrated an impressive 92% survivorship. Despite facing greater thermal extremes and the dynamic stressors of a man-made waterway, the corals successfully persisted. This proves that the city’s coastal edges can serve as a vital real world laboratory for testing the acclimatization capacity of reef-building corals.

The secret to the staghorns’ survival appears to lie deep within their molecular biology. The transcriptomic data reveals that these urban outplants underwent a massive genetic shift, significantly upregulating 961 host and symbiont genes compared to their offshore nursery counterparts. The corals achieved this by maintaining a sustained activation of environmental stress response and innate immunity pathways, actively synthesizing heat shock proteins, managing unfolded proteins, and boosting cellular defense mechanisms. This persistent genetic plasticity suggests that they are actively acclimatizing to their novel environment. Ultimately, this research underscores that the future of marine conservation depends on leveraging this molecular flexibility, guiding us to select the most rugged, stress-tolerant genotypes to populate the resilient coral cities of tomorrow. We look forward to supporting further research and collaboration with Dr. Demerlis and the University of Miami’s Rescue a Reef restoration program to help rebuild Miami’s nearshore reef communities.

We are proud to unveil the world’s longest underwater timelapse, starting May 1st 2023 and running 1,000 days through January 28, 2026. This period covers summer 2023’s unprecedented coral bleaching mortality event, and indeed multiple corals can be seen bleaching, but then recovering and growing through 2024 and 2025 into 2026.

Watch 30fps and 60fps versions of the above 10fps timelapse here and here.

Of greatest interest to us is the success and proliferation of the urban strain of staghorn coral native to PortMiami (Acropora cervicornis aka ACER ‘Ventura’). Not only did it not bleach, but has grown swiftly. In just four years, a single branch of ACER ‘Ventura’ has increased thousands of times in biomass, to the point that we now have one of the densest thickets of this endangered coral in the State of Florida!

Just in the past six months, these corals have endured significant extremes in temperature. With our new Aqualink buoy, we recorded late summer temps reaching 90F (32.6C) and recent 2026 winter lows of 60F (15.5C). This represents a huge range of thermal tolerance for this strain of critically important reefbuilding coral, and a reminder that corals grown for nearshore reef restoration in Florida need cold-stress adaptation as well as heat-stress.

Working with our partners at NOAA AOML and University of Miami’s Rescue a Reef, we continue our scientific investigation into the mechanisms of the strain’s resilience, and continue to amplify it for the purpose of restoring Miami’s nearshore reefs.

Of particular interest is observing how dynamic the sediment is at the site. PortMiami is subject to intense currents, magnified by passing ships displacing huge volumes of water. Despite these unnatural conditions, the corals and fish have adapted well to this anthropogenic environment.

Our ability to timelapse the growth of PortMiami’s urban corals highlights the scientific value of the Coral City Camera and its ability to document what was previously undocumented. After 6 years of near-continuous recording, and nearly 220 species of fish cataloged, there is no underwater coral reef site anywhere in the world that has been as thoroughly recorded and archived!

If you’d like to make a tax-deductible donation to support the Coral City Camera you can do so here via our fund at the Key Biscayne Community Foundation:

This month marks 5 years of the Coral City Camera, our ongoing live stream of Miami’s underwater world! To celebrate this milestone, have a listen to an NPR 'All Things Considered' segment with Colin.

We are proud to share a new scientific paper co authored with NOAA - AOML on Miami's intertidal urban corals and their potential scientific value. Read 'Coral persistence despite marginal conditions in the Port of Miami' in the research journal Scientific Reports: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-33467-7

In July of 2021, our first research paper with NOAA AOML (https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.695236/full) yielded strong evidence that these pioneering corals avoid bleaching and stem disease better than their conspecifics offshore on the natural reefs. 

In this new paper, the monitoring of sites throughout the Port since 2018 revealed periodic extremes in temperature, seawater pH, and salinity, far in excess of what have been measured in most coral reef environments. Despite conditions that would kill many reef species, we have documented diverse coral communities growing on artificial substrates at these sites—reflecting remarkable tolerance to environmental stressors. Furthermore, many of the more prevalent species within these communities are now conspicuously absent or in low abundance on nearby reefs, owing to their susceptibility and exposure to stony coral tissue loss disease.

Greetings, Earthlings! Today we offer a special #EarthDay Coral City Camera Mix from Animal Collective. Tune into http://www.coralcitycamera.com/ to jam the 23rd CCC Mix, 'Dream Stuff’ 〰️✨🌎✨〰️

For the 23rd CCC Mix, 'Dream Stuff', Deakin and Geologist of Animal Collective present a two-hour water magic mixtape that gently segues from golden hour meditations to gauzy twilight jams.

From their inception, the four members of Animal Collective: Deakin, Geologist, Avey Tare and Panda Bear have created music as primal as face paint and as expressive as the yells they first fed into their sampler. Every new record is a change in direction on a journey undertaken without maps. The destination remains the same - the Collective consciousness, where formulae and rules can never be applied.

Tracklist:

00:00 - Lia Kohl - or things may be dropping 05:06 - Extradition - A Water Song 09:30 - Shabaka - Ital is Vital 13:51 - Laraaji - All Pervading (excerpt) 22:15 - Marconi Notaro - Oh. Greedy Life 25:48 - Pierre Henry - Etudes transcendantes pour un piano imaginaire: No. 4, Étude à l'accordage 26:20 - Monoton - Singsang 28:59 - Mary Hopkin - Ocean Song 32:48 - Eric Vann - Bubble Snail 35:00 - David Casper - Dream Journey 39:29 - Roberto Musci - Water Music 41:20 - Brian Hodgson, Delia Derbyshire & Don Harper - Liquid Energy (Underscore Version) 41:53 - John Martyn - Small Hours 50:10 - Zomes - Improvisitions No. 2 (excerpt) 58:35 - Kendra Smith - Iridescence 31 1:11:26 - Branko Mataja - Da Smo Se Ranije Sreli 1:14:24 - Daphne Oram - Phensic 1:15:17 - Caterina Barbieri - Fantas Variations 1:21:54 - Bendik Giske - Cruising (Laurel Halo Remix) 1:28:15 - Lifted - Best (feat. Panda Bear) 1:33:15 - Markus Guentner - In Moll 6 1:38:54 - Francesco Fonassi & Marta Solagni - Deriva 1:42:50 - Patricia Wolf - Under a Glass Bell 1:47:10 - Peter Lind Hayes and Tommy Rettig - Dream Stuff

@anmlcollective www.instagram.com/anmlcollective/ www.discogs.com/artist/207958-Animal-Collective

Mix art by @coralmorphologic Mix art direction by @vacationsnyc

We and Rhythm Foundation are proud to announce ‘Aqua Garden Flow,’ a special live audiovisual performance from legendary ambient musician Laraaji accompanied by Coral Morphologic films with animations by Robert Beatty, on Sunday, May 21st, 2023 at the Miami Beach Bandshell. Laraaji, joined by Arji OceAnanda, will perform ‘Aqua Garden Flow,’ a new piece of music composed to the films of Coral Morphologic. This landmark performance is the inaugural installment in a new series of live audiovisual ambient collaborations from the Miami Beach Bandshell and Coral Morphologic as part of the Bandshell Laboratories initiative. Join us this May for an unforgettable, transcendent experience of healing music and film.