How multivitamins could help save coral reefs

Scientists say new data suggests that a multivitamin could help save coral reefs.

Researchers in America have found that the nutrients could help boost the health of corals.

Coral reefs are among the world's most threatened ecosystems.

They are very vulnerable to pollution, and a change in sea temperatures can have a huge impact on them, leading to coral bleaching.

Researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the University of the Virgin Islands decided to take a closer look at how coral reefs could be protected from climate change.

The team tested tiles stuffed with nutrients to see whether they could boost the health of coral, helping them withstand factors such as warming ocean temperatures that lead to coral bleaching.

Bleaching happens when sea temperatures get too high or low.

They say that data collected from more than a year of lab experiments shows that coral which was treated early on with multivitamins, were stronger and more resistant to heat stress.

Colleen Hansel from WHOI, who worked on the project, said: "We are studying how corals react when grown on substrates that have been infused with essential metal micronutrients, like manganese, zinc, and iron."

Experts are now planning further experiments and will plant the nutrient-infused tiles in the concrete structure of an artificial reef they're making.

“The artificial reef we’re building is going in next to a natural reef that has been severely impacted by marine heat waves and extreme storm events,” explained Marilyn Brandt, from the University of the Virgin Islands.

The team say the structure will provide a solid foundation to plant young corals, while the tiles will spread essential nutrients and vitamins into the surrounding waters for them to absorb, building their resilience toward environmental stresses.

They added that they hoped that the nutrient tiles, along with the artificial reef, will create a diverse environment for reefs and species that rely on them.

It might look like a plant, but coral is actually an animal!

Coral, or polyops as they're also called, are closely related to creatures like sea anemones and jellyfish.

They have a hard, protective limestone skeleton called a calicle, which they use to help anchor them to the sea floor.

They often live in groups called colonies, and can form reefs when lots of colonies join together.

Some of the coral reefs on the planet today began growing more than 50 million years ago!