Programs & Services
Learn About Our Work
From emergency grounding response to long-term coral nurseries, our programs span the full spectrum of marine habitat protection and restoration.
Current Projects
RENOVACIÓN DE ARRECIFES: Unprecedented Scale, Driven by Locals, Guided by Experience, Focused on Resilience
RENOVACIÓN DE ARRECIFES — Transformational Reef Restoration. Unprecedented scale, driven by locals, guided by experience, focused on resilience.
Rubble Stabilization
Turning rubble fields back into thriving reef habitat
Over the last five decades mass mortality of corals and the physical impacts caused by storms and human activities (groundings, for example) have led to the production of massive amounts of coral rubble. Coral reef rubble is natural and many organisms make use of it as long as it is stable and doesn't become a projectile. However, loose rubble covers vast coral reef areas, especially in reef lagoons, where natural recovery is unlikely due to the frequent movement of rubble and debris caused by high wave energy events such as tropical cyclones and groundswells. Rubble movement results in the loss of quality substrates for coral recruitment, loss of essential fish habitats, accelerating erosion, and further physical impacts on corals. When properly managed, Sea Ventures has always considered rubble as an ally in coral restoration projects.
Coral Disease Response
SCTLD monitoring and antibiotic intervention in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands
The major causes of reef deterioration are disease and bleaching events associated with climate change in addition to synergistic stressors from local human activities. Caribbean corals have to face many diseases like the Yellow Band, White Plague, and Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD). Many of these diseases are lethal, affecting most Caribbean reef-building coral species. In Sea Ventures MRU we work in the SCTLD response in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
Wave Attenuation
Outplanting Acropora palmata at scale to restore reef-based coastal protection
One of the main socioecological benefits of coral reefs is the protection of coastal communities due to their capacity to absorb up to 90% wave energy. This is sustained by keystone species such as the elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata) which can grow fast (~10 cm linear extension annually) under high wave energy conditions creating highly tridimensional structures.
Coral Nurseries
Growing the next generation of reef-building corals and sponges
Coral nurseries are at the core of coral reef restoration. These spaces serve to harness the power of asexual reproduction by increasing growth and survivorship in a controlled setting. Our in-situ nurseries provide a balance between isolation (from predation, competition, disease, etc.) and exposure to real-world conditions (water quality, temperature, nutrients, etc.). We have tested multiple nursery designs and sites over the years, allowing us to increase nursery installation, maintenance, and monitoring efficiency at tested sites.
Monitoring
Photogrammetry, 3D models, and machine learning for reef-scale coral data
At Sea Ventures MRU, we recognize that monitoring is key to celebrating success and overcoming challenges. We use a variety of monitoring methods and approaches to evaluate quantitative outcomes in our restoration projects that require systematic measurements rather than relative observations or opinions. However, monitoring has been a challenge in coral restoration, as funding limitations often hinder the capacity to assess long-term restoration success indicators such as coral growth, survivorship, and ecological drivers of change (predation, diseases, water quality, mechanical damage, etc.). Given these limitations, in recent years we have harnessed the utility of photomosaics to carry out our coral outplanting monitoring. Our approach harnesses the vanguard technology to evaluate the growth, survival, and other vital metrics of coral outplanting projects. In recent years we started to integrate photogrammetry, visual computing, and GIS tools to deliver clear and detailed products to our stakeholders.
Groundings
Emergency grounding response across the U.S. Caribbean from Mona Island to the Virgin Islands
Sea Ventures MRU was born supporting grounding responses in Puerto Rico with historical large-scale T/V Margara and T/V Matthew grounding events. Our grounding response efforts address the needs of government agencies and responsible parties such as biological impact assessments, extraction planning and implementation, logistics, debris removal, and compensatory mitigation/restoration.
Want to Work With Us?
Contact us to discuss restoration projects, monitoring programs, or emergency response partnerships.
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