'Super Corals'

According to recent research, 50% of the world’s coral reefs have already been destroyed. Furthermore, the scientific community estimates that over 90% of coral reefs will die by 2050 due to climate change and direct human impact. Reef death carries dire consequences for wildlife and the homes, health, and livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people: those who fish, work in tourism and dwell on low-lying islands rely on the reef’s survival. Coral reefs protect coasts against storm surges, waves, and erosion. Reefs reduce wave energy by 97% while being one of the most biodiverse ecosystems, supporting a third of all marine life. In this bleak outlook, a group of scientists from the Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences in Eilat, Israel (I.U.I.), have discovered a rare ray of hope. Corals in the Gulf of Eilat/Aqaba and the northern Red Sea may survive and even thrive into the next century. In fact, this region might host one of the last remaining complete coral reef ecosystems by 2100.

Innovative scientific research, started in the early 2010s at the Interuniversity Institute of Marine Sciences in Eilat and led by Professor Maoz Fine, revealed for the first time the extraordinary resistance to ocean warming that the corals in the Gulf of Eilat/Aqaba possess. Fine ascribed the resistance to their unique evolutionary history in a scientific publication in 2013. His research findings showed that whilst different species may have differing levels of thermal resistance, many retain a healthy population of photosynthetic algae with an increase of 4-5°C above the current summer maximum. In extreme cases, this may be extended up to 7°C. Furthermore, one locally important species showed a 51% increase in primary productivity (photosynthesis) with a 1-2°C increase in water temperature sustained for six weeks. This indicates that these corals live below their optimum temperature and may do better in warmer waters.

Coral reefs in other parts of the world do not have the same biological capacity to survive anomalously high water temperatures. A 1-2°C increase above the local maximum summer temperature would typically induce a mass coral bleaching event. At the current pace of global warming, we’re on track to increase ocean surface temperatures by 2-3°C or more by the end of the century, putting most of the world’s reefs at immediate risk. Over the last decade, the team of scientists from the I.U.I. have continued to delve deeper into the question of what makes northern Red Sea corals more resistant to temperature stress, targeting the topic from multiple angles, including genetics, reproduction, algae symbiosis, and energy consumption.