NOAA Takes Emergency Steps to Protect Nursery Corals Ahead of Summer Heat

By Scott Atwell and Rachel Plunkett

June 2024

NOAA has issued an emergency rule establishing three, temporary special use areas in Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary where coral restoration partners can quickly relocate nursery corals to cooler, deeper water. These temporary special use areas and associated access restrictions will expire on October 25, 2024.

The three sites, approximately 0.07 square miles and within federal waters of the sanctuary, were permitted last year by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, but only one of the three sites was utilized. Funding for installation of anchors that will hold the coral trees was provided by the Marine Preservation Society of the Florida Keys.

“Nursery corals represent rare genetic stock,” said Sanctuary Superintendent Sarah Fangman. “The proposed action would prevent any delay in getting them to deeper water, and the special use protections would limit physical impact from anchoring, unintentional fouling of fishing gear, and bottom tending fishing gear, including traps.”

Last summer, when climate change heated the ocean to teapot levels in the Florida Keys, restoration practitioners rescued thousands of baby corals growing on tethered ropes in the water column, and relocated them to temperature-controlled tanks on land. Meanwhile, Reef Renewal USA, a partner of NOAA’s Mission: Iconic Reefs restoration program, had a different idea: move the ropes to a deeper location in federal waters off Tavernier.

a scuba diver swimming near the surface of the water towards a boat while holding a rope with many coral fragments attached to it — Step one of the coral relocation in 2023 was removing coral ropes from the shallow nursery and bringing them to a boat for transport to the deeper location. Photo: Florida Keys News Bureau

“By the time we were able to move corals the tank space was taken,” said Reef Renewal’s Ken Nedimyer, whose baby corals were showing signs of paling. “Besides, I wasn’t keen on the idea of putting staghorn and elkhorn [branching corals] in tanks because I didn’t think they would do well.” In the end, twice as many corals survived at Nedimyer’s temporary deep water site than at inshore, shallow sites.

The Tavernier site is included in the three locations being proposed by NOAA, along with two others in the Middle Keys (Marathon Special Use Area), and Lower Keys (Looe Key Special Use Area). Coordinates for the proposed locations are listed below, and also available with GPS precision by utilizing the Marine Sanctuary Explorer mobile app. The locations were chosen for their proximity to existing nursery sites, which will limit exposure of the corals during transit. While active, the areas carry special use area regulations, including the prohibition of entry except for restoration activity with a valid sanctuary permit.

image looking down in the ocean to see a rope with corals attached to it and a scuba diver working in a coral nursery near the seafloor — Temperatures at the deeper nursery are at least two degrees cooler. Photo: Florida Keys News Bureau

While NOAA had to use its emergency rulemaking authority again this summer, NOAA is also now collecting public comment on a more permanent solution, asking for the stakeholder input on whether NOAA should start a new rulemaking process to make offshore zones permanent, while only imposing access restrictions when nursery practitioners need to use the sites during future marine heat waves. The public may submit comments here.

Section 15 CFR 922.164(e) of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary regulations allows the director of NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries to set aside discrete areas of the sanctuary as special use areas in order to provide for, among other uses, the restoration of degraded or otherwise injured sanctuary resources.

“Fast-growing staghorn and elkhorn corals like to be in the top 20 feet of water, which is why we don’t keep them in the deeper locations year-round,” Nedimyer said. “Besides, the process of keeping them cleaned and maintained at those depths is untenable. I know I speak for all of the practitioners when I say this will be another important tool in our toolbox to fight climate change.”

Table 1: Tavernier Special Use Area (Temporary)

Point No.	Latitude	Longitude
1	24.96925	-80.44376
2	24.97079	-80.43950
3	24.96763	-80.43768
4	24.96616	-80.44180
5	24.96925	-80.44376

Point	Latitude Degree	Latitude Minutes	Latitude Seconds	Longitude Degree	Longitude Minutes	Longitude Seconds
1	24	58	9.3	-80	26	37.536
2	24	58	14.84	-80	26	22.2
3	24	58	3.468	-80	26	15.648
4	24	57	58.176	-80	26	30.48
5	24	58	9.3	-80	26	37.536

a map with a gray box marking the location of the special use area — Map showing the location of the Tavernier Special Use Area. Image: NOAA

Table 2: Marathon Special Use Area (Temporary)

Point No.	Latitude	Longitude
1	24.65411	-81.01286
2	24.65412	-81.00869
3	24.65044	-81.00870
4	24.65044	-81.01289
5	24.65411	-81.01286

Point	Latitude Degree	Latitude Minutes	Latitude Seconds	Longitude Degree	Longitude Seconds
1	24	39	14.796	-81	46.296
2	24	39	14.832	-81	31.284
3	24	39	1.584	-81	31.32
4	24	39	1.584	-81	46.404
5	24	39	14.796	-81	46.296

Table 3: Looe Key Special Use Area (Temporary)

Point No.	Latitude	Longitude
1	24.54255	-81.41811
2	24.54256	-81.41357
3	24.53903	-81.41356
4	24.53901	-81.41812
5	24.54255	-81.41811

Point	Latitude Degree	Latitude Minutes	Latitude Seconds	Longitude Degree	Longitude Minutes	Longitude Seconds
1	24	32	33.18	-81	25	5.196
2	24	32	33.216	-81	24	48.852
3	24	32	20.508	-81	24	48.816
4	24	32	20.436	-81	25	5.232
5	24	32	33.18	-81	25	5.196

Scott Atwell is the media coordinator for Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
Rachel Plunkett is the content manager and senior writer-editor at NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries