Page 355 - Hawaii: Diving, Surfing, Pearl Harbor, Volcanoes and More

Mote Marine Laboratory is one of the oldest marine re- reefs are estimated to be worth $7.6 billion. In developing
search laboratories in Florida. We opened our doors as the countries, coral reefs contribute to ¼ of the total fish catch
Cape Haze Marine Laboratory in Placida, Florida, in 1955. and many communities are reliant on them to produce
The Lab was later renamed to honor a major benefactor, food.
William R. Mote and the contributions he and his family
made to helping us grow — both in size and reputation. Geographically, coral reefs work as a buffer for nearby
Today, we are located on City Island in Sarasota, Florida, shorelines to prevent erosion from waves, property dam-
with field stations in eastern Sarasota County, Charlotte age, and loss of life. This is particularly important in wet-
Harbor and the Florida Keys. Our scientists conduct re- lands, ports and harbors. Throughout the world, around
search on six of the world’s seven continents. half a billion people live within 100 kilometers of a coral
reef and therefore, benefit from its protection and produc-
In recent decades, a quarter of the earth’s corals have dis- tion. But they’re dying out quickly, and scientists are racing
appeared, alarming scientists (and, you know, humans) to find a solution.
all around the world. And as oceans continue to warm,
pollution and ocean acidification continues to increase, Dr. Vaughan, along with staff biologist Christopher Page,
overfishing further decimating species that are beneficial have developed a quick growing technique called “microf-
to coral, and land runoff continues to reduce the amount ragmenting” that they believe may make it possible to mass
of life-giving sunlight that reaches the bottom, no one can produce reef-building corals that can be transplanted onto
predict what will happen to the remaining coral in our dead and dying corals in the ocean. The technique has been
oceans. Coral reefs are one of the most diverse and valuable used in Dr. Vaughan’s lab on a variety of species of coral,
ecosystems on earth, providing shelter to 4,000 species of and has successfully grown coral anywhere from 25 to 50
fish, 800 species of hard corals and hundred of other spe- times faster than their normal rate. Dr. David Vaughan is
cies. In fact, scientists estimate that there are between 1 and Executive Director of the Tropical Research Laboratory
8 million other undiscovered species living in and around and Director of the Center for Coral Reef Research at the
the reefs – species that could provide breakthroughs for Mote Marine Laboratory in the Florida Keys. A distin-
human medicine. But coral reefs do even more than that. guished and well-published aquaculture scientist, he has
Each year, healthy reefs contribute to local economics designed, built and operated a multitude of marine pro-
through money they bring in through tourists. Millions of jects and businesses since he received his Ph.D. in Botany
people visit the Florida Keys every year, and alone those and Plant Physiology from Rutgers University in 1982.