Using underwater umbrellas to protect coral reefs

17 days ago by solo to c/tidalpunk

Placing underwater umbrellas over vulnerable corals could help to protect them from marine heatwaves, according to a new study.

These shades reduce the amount of light reaching the corals by around 60 percent. Although they don’t cool the water, they can protect the corals from UV damage.

Neither the shaded corals nor controls died during the heatwave, despite it being the second highest on record. The corals under the underwater umbrellas, regained some of their colour once sheltered by their new shading and lost less colour than expected during the heat stress event.

“Solutions like shading can offer temporary protection on small scales,”

rockSlayer 2 points 17 days ago

It looks like they're made of PVC though...

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solo 3 points 17 days ago

Part of them, yes - the frame to be more precise. Then there is sealed foam in it for floating, as well as agricultural shade cloth.

Shade structures consisted of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) frames, which were filled with spray foam for flotation and then sealed against water intrusion. Frames were sized for each individual coral, such that the frame extended 5 cm on each side from maximum length and width. Light tan agricultural shade cloth (NCSNA Inc Model PS6160TAN) was attached to each frame using zip ties. The cloth was made from UV-resistant high-density polyethylene, which is durable and chemically stable to prevent degradation or toxic leaching. [source]

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rockSlayer 4 points 17 days ago

As long as they acknowledge that it can only be temporary due to microplastics I suppose. But I feel like there could be a solution that doesn't involve plastic

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solo 4 points 17 days ago

I'm pretty sure right when saying there could be a solution that doesn’t involve plastic. I hope the next step to this proof of concept project would be to create these shades with totally eco-friendly materials

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TammyTobacco 2 points 16 days ago

Make these floating solar panels and let's double down.

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