Scientists in Australia are attempting to restore the Great Barrier Reef by using IVF-style techniques on coral.

Experts will try to capture millions of coral eggs and sperm during the annual coral spawning in the Larval Restoration Project, dubbed "IVF for the Great Barrier Reef".

The tiny corals will then be grown in floating booms for around a week and when the larvae are ready they will be reintroduced to the most damaged parts of the reef.

Image: Experts will try to capture millions of coral eggs and sperm. Pic: Biopixel/James Cook University

Professor Peter Harrison, from Southern Cross University in New South Wales, one of the project leaders, called it "the largest larval restoration project that's ever been attempted not only on the Great Barrier Reef but anywhere in the world".

He said: "For the first time we are going to try on a large scale to capture literally millions of eggs and sperm during the coral spawning event. We're building spawn catchers floating off Moore Reef off Cairns.


"Our team will be restoring hundreds of square metres with the goal of getting to square kilometres in the future, a scale not attempted previously."

The annual coral spawning reportedly began earlier this week and lasts between 48 and 72 hours as many millions of coral eggs and sperm are released into the waters off Cairns, northern Queensland.

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Rising sea temperatures linked to climate change, have damaged the 2,300km (1,429 miles) length of the reef, a World Heritage Area, leaving behind skeletal coral remains - known as mass bleaching.

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Professor Harrison said their aim was to fix the damage done by the coral bleaching in 2016 and 2017, which some fear may be irreparable.

"On the Great Barrier Reef we've lost more than half of the corals in those recent two bleaching events," he said.

Image: Experts fear the damage may be irreparable. Pic: Biopixel/James Cook University

"We've lost so many corals that fewer corals are able to spawn and rates of fertilisation are going to be lower and the billions of larvae the reef needs to be replenished naturally [won't be produced]."

The team behind the project hope the reseeding can help reverse the trend, but he cautioned the effort will not be enough on its own to save the reef and stronger action on climate change is needed.

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